Windows XP's Retail Sales Are Trailing Pace Set by Its Predecessor, Windows 98

Wall Street Journal ^ | Dec 19, 2001 | REBECCA BUCKMAN

[Bush2000]

Retail sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP product continue to lag behind sales of its predecessor, Windows 98, raising questions about whether the new software will help lift the personal-computer industry out of its doldrums, as many had hoped. Still, analysts don't expect the lackluster performance to crimp Microsoft's quarterly profit.

[Oschisms]

Not certain what the difference is between XP Home and Professional, but both are based on the NT kernel. It seems nonsensical to have a new OS upgrade coming out when most companies haven't upgraded to 2000 yet- but it ain't my company.

I'll speak to my boss about where he got his cracked XP- probably a newsgroup somewhere, probably broken into 20 small downloads. I do know it's out there, though. When I find out where, I'll FReepmail you.

[LivingNet]

Thanks.

[Stentor]

Define crashed.

LOL.

[Dog Gone]

Product activation was the main reason I decided not to buy XP. And yes, cracked copies of XP without product activation can be found for free on the internet.

Microsoft isn't detering piracy with this stupid concept. Just the opposite.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Exactly, and moreso because Win98 came (surprise) 3 years after the previous Windows version. XP comes only one year after Win ME and Win2k, both of which were far superior than Win95.

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

It may be faster and all that bilge but the registration requirement sucks! That's the problem there!

[Gorzaloon]

i didn't like win me, so i formatted my hard drive, and re-installed win 98, and then installed win xp.

I did what you did except for the last part. After ME I will never buy an early release of anything again. It was wonderful to get "back" to W98 OSR2.

I would rather have a case of syphillis than ever see ME again. The much touted Restore feature was, with some Symantec programs, an absolute, unmitigated disaster that took a lot of effort to clean up. Anyone want the new WME CD before I take it to the range? :-)

As for XP, there is enough spyware going around already, what with Music CD programs that "check back" through the Media Player, and the realtime registering in XP.

Nope, not me. I want to hear more about Linux..I have had it with this crap.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

I still get quite a bit of crashes on WinME, but only one so far on XP. I have 2 systems, one XP and one WinME/Mandrake dual boot. The dual boot system is almost new, Athlon 1.4 Geforce 3 based system, and my PentiumII 350 system with XP is more stable.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Why is this showing up on almost every thread and what does it have to do with the topic? I like Rush as much as the next guy, but please...

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Anyone know the difference between XP standard and XP professional?

About $100.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Nope, not me. I want to hear more about Linux..I have had it with this crap.

As I said, I'm running a WinME/Mandrake dual boot system, and as promised, Mandrake was very easy to install and it comes with alot of applications. I purchased the $69 version but the $29 version would be adequate.

One drawback though is the HCL for Mandrake didn't include my Samsung monitor, and after much tweaking in the settings I can't get any better than 640x480. Needless to say, I won't be using it much on this system.

[Chemnitz]

I am tired of the MS attitude, a constant stream of Operating Systems but no improvements. I installed ME. It stalls out about 3 times a day on me. If you join a local Linux group (do a Google search), they will help you. I just did a solo install of Suse Linux and it went smoothly. It was as easy as a Windows install. I have a lot to learn but I enjoy Linux.

The Linux groups really want to help people get over their Windows addiction. By the way, there is a great book - Linux for Windows Addicts - A 12 Step Program. Well done and clearly written.

[Malcolm]

I still have Win 98 SE, and will not upgrade until forced to by non-support of that OS. Microsoft thinks they can come up with some plan for all of us serfs to install/upgrade a new OS every year, at the tune of $100-$250 a pop. Sorry, I ain't going along peacefully with that one. I wanted to get Win 2000 Prof, but the CD is $250. Too rich for my blood. I think that Bill Gates & Co will eventually work themselves out of a job. Steve Jobs thought he could monopolize the PC, but IBM and Microsoft bombed Apple into utter obscurity. As soon as someone can develop a Linux client that is as good as Windows, I believe we will see some cracks in the Microsoft facade. I've never seen Red Hat or any other Linux system, but "free" has to beat the Microsoft system at some point in the future. Especially with all the hated features showing up on MS systems, such as sign up requirements and the like. Win 98 SE will do fine until it is no longer supported by MS.....

[ken21]

i purchased an upgrade of win xp. that means that i have to install it on win 98, correct?

[ken21]

the screen turns black and everything i'm working on, and my internet connection if i'm connected, goes bye bye.

i do a warm boot--hit the re-start button.

[ken21]

since xp is based on 2000, and more stable, there must be a software glitch, common to new packages. won't they provide a patch to fix it?

[KevinB]

i purchased an upgrade of win xp. that means that i have to install it on win 98, correct?

Maybe not. Try doing a clean install of XP. It may prompt you to put in the 98 disk during install so it can check for prior ownership, but it may not require you to actually load 98.

I have the Windows ME upgrade. I installed ME over Win98 after formatting my drive and it was very buggy. I then reformatted the HD and went straight to the ME install. All it did was ask me to put my 98 in so it could check that I had it. Then the install proceeded smoothly. ME is much more stable with a clean install. Hopefully, XP works the same way.

[ken21]

thanks.

[Bush2000]

the screen turns black and everything i'm working on, and my internet connection if i'm connected, goes bye bye. i do a warm boot--hit the re-start button.

Is there some common factor (besides Windows) that you can denote? For example, "it usually happens when I run Application X". Is there some commonality between the crashes?

[Bush2000]

Try this link.