Performance tests indicate that Windows XP Service Pack 3 runs many applications 10 times faster than XP computers without the software update. InformationWeek.com is reporting that XP Service Pack 3 demonstrated a significance performance boost on benchmark tests.

Interestingly, Microsoft makes no claims that the Windows XP SP3 update will increase performance, instead touting increased reliability and security as the big reasons to install the service pack update. Perhaps it is simply a “happy accident” that the update is testing up to 10% faster on standardized bench testing programs compared to the service pack 2 upgrade. Either way though, XP users aren’t complaining.

With Windows XP still the fastest Microsoft operating system in use, the SP3 update deals another in a long line of blows to Microsoft Vista, which has consistently tested slower than XP on a wide variety of software programs. With the new update, XP becomes even faster, drawing even more attention to the sluggish nature of Microsoft Vista, and raising further questions about the need or practicality of updating to the new operating system.

In fact, testing demonstrates that the new XP update is approximately twice as fast as Windows Vista on many benchmark programs. The question for many Windows users is “why should I upgrade to Vista when I can get a free Windows XP SP3 update and my computer will run twice as fast?” These kinds of questions have haunted Microsoft since the launch of Vista, and many Windows users feel the company has not adequately answered the question, “why upgrade?” After all, if it’s not broke — why fix it?

Designed as a simple bug fix, Windows XP SP3’s increased speeds and performance come as an unexpected bonus. But there have also been problems with the operating system update, and the Windows XP forum is filled with posts from early adopters experiencing a wide variety of “hiccups” with the new service pack, ranging from all-out system crashes, to trouble recognizing external disks and hard drives.

Typically, there are always a few glitches when a new service pack is released, but these usually get solved within the first couple of weeks. The final version of Windows XP SP3 is due to be released later this week, and will hopefully eliminate most of the bugs being currently experienced by users attempting to upgrade.

The XP service pack 3 upgrade will be made available to the general public this Wednesday in Microsoft’s online Download Center. The upgrade can also be accessed from the Windows automatic update service within XP.

Despite the fact that Microsoft has spared no expense in promoting its Vista operating system, Windows XP refuses to go away. Computer retailers are finding new and creative ways to continue selling the XP operating system beyond its June 30 deadline.

Dell and Hewlett-Packard are two of the major PC retailers that will continue to sell Windows XP beyond Microsoft’s June deadline. The companies have found ways to exploit loopholes in Microsoft’s licensing agreement to sell XP preloaded in new computers.

The reason why the “big box” distributors want to continue offering XP is simple: money. Windows Vista has received a lukewarm response from the market, and many individuals and companies are insisting upon continuing to use Windows XP when purchasing new computers.

The big PC retailers are taking advantage of a loophole clause in the Windows Vista terms of service which allows distributors to sell XP under what is known as a “downgrade license.” In practical terms, this means that Dell or Hewlett-Packard (to name two examples) will be allowed to legally install XP on some of their computers, most notably, models sold to business customers.

Hewlett-Packard has announced that they will continue selling XP through the 30th of July, 2009, though one has to believe they will extend this deadline too–if there is significant demand for XP beyond this date. Lenovo is also continuing to sell XP, but they are taking a different tact; the company will sell new computers preloaded with Microsoft Vista, but will include a Windows XP “recovery disk,” so that purchasers can elect to “roll back” their operating system if they desire.

The BBC is reporting that even Microsoft honcho Steve Ballmer admits that Windows XP could potentially be around a few more years if there is significant customer demand. Already, Microsoft has caved in to consumer pressure by extending the life span of Windows XP Home through 2010. The move is meant to apply to smaller computers and laptops which may have trouble running the more processor-hungry Vista.

With many consumers and businesses wary of upgrading to Vista, it appears that Windows XP could be with us for some time to come. On the one hand, this is a clear slap in the face to Vista, which is perceived by many as an unnecessary upgrade. But on the other hand, it is also a tribute to the elegance and stability of Windows XP, which has been around long enough now to firmly establish itself as a reliable operating system — some say the most reliable ever produced by the Microsoft camp.

Several petitions are going around online for Microsoft to continue selling and supporting Windows XP. One petition, hosted at InfoWorld.com, reportedly has more than 10,000 signatures so far, and there are many others located on blogs and sites all across the Web.

Windows users claim that XP is the most stable operating system ever developed by Microsoft, and even though XP is now six years old, many PC users cannot bring themselves to “upgrade” to Windows Vista. The problem is, Microsoft is planning to pull Windows XP off store shelves in June of this year. Microsoft boasts that Windows Vista is a superior operating system, and the time is right for all Windows users to begin upgrading.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, most windows XP users don’t agree with this sentiment. Microsoft’s Vista operating system received only lukewarm — or in some cases, downright hostile — reviews, and is generally regarded as being less intuitive, slower and with more bothersome security pop-ups then Windows XP.

There is also the question of incompatibility with certain programs and hardware devices. Vista is still not compatible with as many printers, for example, as Windows XP. For all of these reasons and more, many businesses have refused to upgrade to Vista, citing lack of cost efficiency and compatibility problems with existing hardware.

Although Microsoft is aware of the petitions going around to extend the Windows XP deadline, so far the company is refusing to budge. A Microsoft statement quoted by the Associated Press indicated the company would continue to listen to customer feedback, but offered no further promise of extending XP.

As an operating system, Windows XP has now been around for over six years, which is practically a lifetime in the computer technology arena. But the problem with introducing a new operating system every two or three years is simply this: operating systems take time to mature, develop and become stable.

In this sense, computer operating systems are a lot like people. When they are young, they are flashy and new, but as they age they become more stable and compatible, with fewer nasty surprises. Windows XP, at six years old, has reached this maturity, and is now a relatively stable operating system, which gets the job done and offers few surprises in the form of compatibility problems or unknown bugs.

For these reasons, the computer industry probably needs to change its paradigm which says that “newer is always better.” When it comes to hardware, newer may indeed be better. But where software operating systems are concerned, that is not always the case. The lesson to be learned from Windows XP’s continued popularity is that a mature and stable operating system will beat out a flashy newcomer every single time.

Microsoft’s troubles with its new Vista operating system just got a bit worse. Yahoo news is reporting that the British agency in charge of educational technology (known as Becta) has banned the use of both Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 from UK schools and universities, citing compatibility issues and poor performance.

The agency was also troubled by the fact that Microsoft refuses to support the Open Document Format, which is now internationally recognized as the standardized format for educational institutions. Instead, Microsoft has developed their own open format called Office Open XML, though it has failed to receive significant support by educational institutions to date.

The UK educational agency commissioned a study to examine the practical benefits of upgrading British schools from Windows XP to Vista and Office 2007. The results of the study recommended against “upgrading” to either of the Microsoft products. The primary concerns were a poor cost-per-benefit ratio, and continuing compatibility issues between Vista and certain hardware and peripherals already in widespread use at British schools and universities.

The study concluded that the “benefits remain unclear,” according to director Stephen Lucy of the Becta agency, and that “upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not recommended.”

The British educational agengy’s ousting of Vista from the classroom mirrors similar bans now in effect in the United States. The US Department of Transportation, for example, has banned the use of Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7, citing similar cost per benefit concerns and ongoing compatibility issues.

More and more, government and educational organizations are moving toward open source software, such as the Open Document Format, which has been embraced by schools and universities around the world as a standardized format for exchanging and editing text files.

The failure of Microsoft to support the Open Document Format has been a continued source of frustration for government agencies and educational institutions around the world. And with the British educational system being highly influential worldwide, it is likely that other countries may follow their move to reject Vista/Office 2007, depriving Microsoft of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide revenue.

The British agency is leaning toward open source products such as the Linux operating system, and other “small footprint” open source software products. And although Microsoft has refused to officially comment on the British Vista ban so far, it is clearly a major blow to their continued international dominance within educational and governmental agencies.

The British report not only discourages the use of Vista and Office 2007 in schools, it even encourages schools and colleges to make students aware of free or low-cost open source operating systems, productivity suites and other software– something which could be far more devistating to Microsoft’s profitability in the long run.

Related Business Directory Categories:

• Microsoft Windows
• Operating Systems
• Office Suites

Although it’s been common knowledge among computer professionals for some time, there is now official research that proves that Windows new Vista operating system is slower and less responsive than Windows XP. The Florida-based development and research company, Devil Mountain Software, compared performance benchmarks between the two operating systems. The end result? Windows XP outperformed Vista in every single test.

The unbiased tests showed that XP loaded quicker and showed an increased level of responsiveness, regardless of the computer system and memory allocation available. The company tested on a wide range of commercially unavailable desktop and laptop computers, and each time the results were the same: XP is simply faster than Vista.

Researchers tested the two operating systems using Microsoft Office running on a dual core dell notebook. A benchmark analysis disclosed the time taken to complete standard tasks such as creating a compound document, or saving multiple documents. The test also utilized computers with both 1 GB and 2 GB’s of memory, to ensure fairness to the larger, more memory intensive Vista.

But in all tests, Windows XP was shown to outperform Vista, sometimes proving to be nearly twice as fast at basic “housekeeping” tasks such as document creation and auto-saving.

For example, on a laptop computer running Windows Vista SP1, it took longer than 80 seconds to complete a series of Microsoft office tasks, while the same notebook running Windows XP SP2 completed the tasks in approximately 40 seconds.

The tests also showed that Vista “locked up” most additional memory added to a computer. This means that by upgrading a laptop from 1 GB to 2 GB of RAM, researchers were only able to improve Vista’s performance by 4%!

The latest “Mac versus PC” commercials show a bumbling “PC” indicating that he had just recently switched back from Vista to Windows XP. While the commercials are designed to be humorous, the latest research shows that serious computer users may want to follow suit and switch from the over-bloated Vista back to the more stable Windows XP.

But Vista’s troubles don’t stop there, large PC manufacturers, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard have begun reintroducing Windows XP as an option on many of their top-selling desktop and notebook computers. Additionally, a recent survey by InformationWeek disclosed that approximately 30% of all businesses indicate they will not upgrade their office computers to Vista under any circumstances.

This latest study, combined with the widespread perception that Vista does not support many existing peripherals, such as printers or scanners that are older than one year, is bound to seriously put a dent in Microsoft’s bottom line over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Apple is the great beneficiary in all this. Sales of Apple computers have been steadily rising over the past two years and are likely to continue to do so as Windows Vista comes under increased scrutiny.

Related Web Directory Categories:

• Microsoft Windows
• Macintosh OS
• System Utilities

While I was trying to lessen the burden of my computer by deleting some programs, I deleted by mistake my calculator. If you’re an XP user, you might already be familiar that running a calculator is as easy as going to run and typing in “calc” to get the calculator running. Now that’s all gone, I squandered to look for a calculator that can run in my computer. Lucky I landed in Microsoft XP’s site that offers free software called the PowerToys. Not only did I found a calculator, there are other free software programs that I also downloaded. These are pretty simple programs as some size of the files is less than 1MB.

Here are some of the PowerToys I also downloaded (note these softwares only work in XP):

ClearType Tuner (2MB) – Ok, this one’s more than 1MB but it still runs really fast. The main reason why you want to download ClearType is because of its ability to adjust the screen to make the letters clearer. This is applicable for some XP users who have trouble looking at the sites especially in their browser. This tuner is installed in your control panel and once it is, you’ll be able to adjust the screen’s resolution manually until you get the resolution that you want. Although this program is not the answer for those who can’t clearly see the text because of eye problems, ClearType makes reading a lot easier for general users.

Alt-Tab Replacement (534KB) – When you press ALT and taps on the TAB, you’ll be able to see the icons of programs that run in your computer. Once you install this program, that experience will definitely change. Properly called the Task Switch, instead of getting previews by the icons of the programs running, you’ll be able to see a small screenshot of the page. This is perfect for multiple documents that run in one program. Instead of guessing what’s under number one file, you’ll be able to see what’s in it.

Power Calculator (624KB) – The reason why I landed on this page. If you’re thinking that I downloaded just like the good old software, you’re wrong. Power Calculator actually has a grid. You can plot X and Y intersections and create formulas. But if you just downloaded the file only to figure out the difference between two whole numbers you can still do that. You enter the numbers manually and the screen will show the process and the result. However, the fonts maybe too small to read for some.

HTML Slide Show (416 KB) – This program lets you create a slide show for all your pictures. For example, if you have website that feature pictures, you can just create a simple HTML page with all the pictures that you like to share. It will be viewed as a slide show if successfully uploaded to your site.

If you like the slide show then you should love the webcam timer show. You can set your webcam to take pictures in a specific time interval. It’s recommended for computers with higher than normal speed. Compile pictures of yourself during the day as you work in your computer.

Related Internet Directory Categories:

• Desktop Customization
• System Utilities
• Freeware

The operating system debate goes back about as far as the platforms they come from. With some interesting new changes to Windows Vista, is Microsoft catching on to the trendy user interface that Mac has become famous for? Security issues have always been a big issue to Microsoft’s operating systems but many people believe that with improved security and an enhanced user interface, Microsoft may be catching up to the popular Mac OS X.

Security problems have haunted Microsoft for a long time. Windows XP faced much criticism for its ability to be easily hacked. With the new release of Vista, Microsoft has made user security a higher priority. Vista features additional User Account Controls which will prevent software from making any changes to your PC. If a piece of software attempts to make a change, Vista will warn you that these changes could be hazardous to your PC . To be fully protected, after your initial set up of Vista, you will need additional products to make your operating system more secure. Windows Defender, Vista’s main protection, must be updated every week to get new updates. Vista can be better protected than previous versions of Microsoft’s operating systems but it will come at a greater expense and your own time. Mac’s operating system options make it more secure due to all communication ports being closed. If safety is your main concern, Apple PC’s with Mac OS X is your best bet.

Mac has always struggled in the performance arena due to subpar processors. PC’s have always strongly favored the Intel processors which are known for their top performance. With a PC and Windows Vista, you also have the availability of Intel Core and Core 2 Duo CPU’s long before Apple will ever get a hold of them. PC’s have always been the first to get access to the latest technology including high definition DVD drives like HD DVD and Blu-ray. High speed wireless Internet was also available to PC users long before Mac users. Mac OS X is known for its multimedia capabilities with video, music and pictures but the majority of PC users benefit more by the general technology advantage that Vista has available with its PC platform. For the average user, Vista will definitely be sufficient for their music and movies but PC’s and Vista have much better gaming abilities and access to the best video and sound cards.

The biggest different between Microsoft operating systems and Mac operating system have always been their usability and interface controls. Vista has definitely improved its look with a trendy new make-over that has its similarities to Mac OS X but some of the new features prove to slow down simple processes that had no issues in previous operating systems. Overall, it is a much more stable operating system than XP ever was, but the programs still have their issues with freeze ups and crashes. Mac’s OS X has the advantage with a very contemporary look but with this trendy look comes some disadvantages. Their desire to make everything look cool has an impact on its usability like the resize buttons and other minor inconveniences.

Mac OS X has lost its edge on Microsoft’s old, out of date appearance. With a new interface make over and improved security options, Microsoft Vista is the best operating system available. Of course, different users have different needs and thus requiring different operating systems but for the majority of computer users, Microsoft Vista is the king which shows with more software, game and help support options available.

Featured in Windows Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate versions, Windows Aero introduces a spectacular new visual interface. Transparent windows, smooth animation and crisp graphics are easy on the eyes and easy to navigate and search.

With Windows Vista Instant Search, you are never more than a few keystrokes away from whatever you’re looking for. Instant Search enables you to type a file name, property or even text contained within a file, and it returns pinpoint results. It’s fast and easy.

Windows Vista includes new Parental Control features that help you monitor, screen and manage your children’s computer use - keeping them safe, while giving you peace of mind.

Your entertainment options are growing - and so is your library of music, photos, movies and video clips. Windows Media Center helps you organize all your digital entertainment in one place and quickly find what you’re looking for using thumbnail pictures.

Roll your mouse over an item on the task bar and you get an instant preview - whether it’s a photo, a document or even a video. No more clicking and closing items to find out what you have open.

It seems that only a short time has flown by and you’re still getting used to your Windows XP and now here’s a very much talked about, eagerly awaited, brand new operating system from Microsoft called Windows Vista. With almost five years between the release of Windows XP and the scheduled release of Windows Vista on January 2007, this has been the longest period of update/upgrade in the history of Microsoft’s operating systems. In view of this time delay, what changes should you expect from Windows Vista?

First, Microsoft introduces Windows Aero, the graphical user interface that is at the heart of Windows Vista. It employs a translucency effect on your windows thereby enabling you to see what’s underneath. It comes in handy if you’re the type who works with a lot of windows open. If you prefer the feel of the older versions, Windows Vista allows you to choose from several set-ups and displays reminiscent of Windows XP, 2000 and 98. If you’re not too keen on this or your PC becomes too bogged down by all the processes needed to enable the technique, you can simply turn this feature off either temporarily or permanently.

The second priority of Windows Vista is the much-improved security performance as compared with its predecessor, Windows XP. Many of the security vulnerabilities that users have experienced in Windows XP like viruses and such are now a thing of the past, or at least your system will be better guarded and protected in the future.

There are also new additions and improvements in the desktop functions. Windows Explorer has been totally revamped to incorporate better organizing, searching and navigating abilities. “Gadgets” are those small applications that you need at any given time like weather, calendar, calculator and even sports scores and can be placed anywhere on the desktop.

Upgraded versions of Internet Explorer, Media Player, Windows Mail (formerly Outlook Express) are also included in the system. New programs like Windows DVD Maker and Windows Media Center are designed to optimize the new graphics capability of Windows Vista. Windows Mobility Center is built-in to take advantage of mobile computing. There are also new fonts and games and even Parental Control to allow parents to regulate their kids’ usage of the computer.

Most of these changes are beneficial to end-users especially if you appreciate graphics and animation. But all these eye candy come at a price, of course. The core technologies that make these improvements work are designed with their eye on the future and programmers surely have a better understanding of and appreciation for them. Some performance enhancers include “SuperFetch” which tracks most used programs and auto-loads them and “ReadyBoost” and “ReadyDrive” which optimize flash drive memory to act as a buffer for caching. Networking has also been improved especially redesigned to accommodate built-in WiFi support. You should also look forward to Vista’s compatibility with BluRay and HD DVD devices.

Over-all, newer computers are most likely able to handle the system requirements for Windows Vista which are quite heavy on the graphics and memory. However, if you need to buy a new PC make sure that your processor has a minimum 800 Mhz and memory of 512Mb RAM to be able to run a basic Windows Vista capable PC. Anything higher than that already guarantees a working Windows Vista system.