On October 25, 2001, Microsoft Corporation released its latest update of its Windows operating system.  They called it Windows XP as a way to distance themselves from the previous versions of Windows that were named after the years they were released.  The letters XP stand for experience and this operating system was designed for both home and business use.

Windows XP is known for its improved stability and efficiency over previous versions of Windows.  It presents a significantly redesigned graphical user interface (GUI) and was a change that Microsoft promoted as more user-friendly than previous versions of Windows.

New software management capabilities were introduced to avoid the “DLL Hell” that plagues older consumer versions of Windows.  It is also the first version of Windows to use product activation to combat software piracy – a restriction that did not sit well with some users and privacy advocated.  Basically, installation of Windows XP required user to input a product key and then activate that product key to insure that the specific version of XP did, indeed, belong to the computer user instead of having it being shared between several computers.

Windows XP was also criticized by some users for security vulnerabilities, tight integrations of applications like Internet Explorer and Media Player as well as for aspects of its user interface.  People always say “change is good”, but when Windows XP was released, the change was just a little more than what some people could comfortably handle.

Several new features were introduced to the operating system with Windows XP.  These features included:

* Faster start-up and hibernation sequences

* The ability to discard a newer device driver in favour of the previous one should a driver upgrade not produce desirable results

* A new more user-friendly interface including the framework for developing themes for the desktop environment.

* Fast user switching which allows a user to save the current state and open applications of their desktop allowing another user to log on without losing that information

* Support for most DSL modems and wireless network connections as well as networking over Fire Wire

* The Remote Desktop functionality which allows users to connect to a computer running Windows XP from across a network or the Internet and access their applications, files, printers, and devices.

Microsoft Windows XP is one of the most common operating systems found on computers even today. With the End of support for XP in less than year, the time to move to the latest Microsoft Operating System is upon us.

On the 18th of October 2013 Microsoft will release the next version of its client operating system Windows 8.1. Windows 8 was also criticized for it’s bold new Modern interface and Store based applications with Live tiles. The biggest change that made most people uncomfortable was the removal of the start button. For myself personally this took a couple of hours to adapt to however for others the return of the start button in 8.1 will be a welcome return.

Are you or your organization planning to switch or have already switched to Windows 7/8?

I am often told by friend that their computer is “running slow” and what can they do to speed it up. You too may have noticed a decline in your computer’s performance since you bought it. It may freeze up suddenly, or it just could be acting a bit sluggish. Instead of buying a new system, you should first try whatever you can to preserve your current one.

Here are 6 lightning quick fixes to improve your computer’s performance.

Solution #1: Run anti-virus software: Computer viruses are especially frustrating because in most cases they are made by someone with nothing better to do than to try to hurt your computer. Viruses can slow performance or even wipe out precious data. Avoid this fate at all costs by buying a good anti-virus software solution and running it all of the time. To find one, do a Web search and compare options. My preferred choice is to use Microsoft Security Essential or Windows Defender as it is called in the later version of Windows. This is available for free!

Solution #2: Run a defragment routine: Okay, this sounds esoteric and technical but it is actually bone simple to do. All this means is that you are arranging the data on your hard drive more efficiently. Do a search on your operating system for defragment and follow the prompts. This fix is free but can take an hour or more to run, so plan accordingly.

Solution #3: Clean up your hard drive: Here is another super-easy and free fix and involves ridding yourself of unneeded files on your hard drive. A less cluttered hard drive usually results in better performance. Do a search for disk cleanup and follow the prompts.

Solution #4: Clean your registry: Your computer has something called a registry that stores important information about the users and applications that access your computer. As time goes by, registries become rife with errors. My favorite free registry cleaner is ccleaner from Piriform. This also has a built in enhanced disk clean up tool.

Solution #5: Run anti-spyware software: Like a computer virus, spyware is also a pretty nasty little monster. It sits on your computer and watches your every move, sometimes even sending information about your activity to other computers. Not a pretty picture, and it can slow down your performance as well. To disable your spyware (you likely have many), find any of a number of the excellent for-pay or free anti-spyware programs available on the Internet. I suggest running at least two. There is no harm in this and you will definitely find and fix more problems than if you just use one.

Solution #6: Buy more memory: Computer memory, or RAM, is like a temporary workspace that your computer uses for almost everything it does. If the workspace gets cluttered or full, the ability for your computer to take on additional work is hampered. With most applications these days requiring more and more memory, getting an additional 1GB or so of RAM is a very good investment and a great alternative to the cost of upgrading your machine.

Please note all solutions are “as-is”. Please make sure you have a good working backup of your system and files before attempting any of these fixes.