[eno_]

That depends: The improved plug & play and multimedia are a big deal for gamers and power users. XP also brought "Home Edition" which was the first NT-kernel derivative OS for the home (at a lower price point than 2k). Other than that, XP is not a major advance over 2k.

[Paleo Conservative]

Other than that, XP is not a major advance over 2k.

If you run a DOS window in Windows 2000, and run the "VER" command, Windows will report that you are running version 5.00. If do the same thing in XP, Windows will report that you are running version 5.1. Obviously Microsoft doesn't think they are that much different. Also, Win 2K is more compatible with older and slower hardware than is Windows XP.