Windows XP
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Unofficial_fan_made_Windows_XP_logo_variant.svg/250px-Unofficial_fan_made_Windows_XP_logo_variant.svg.png) |
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/EquipoConXP.JPG/300px-EquipoConXP.JPG) Windows XP running on a computer
|
Developer
| Microsoft Corporation
|
---|
OS family
| Microsoft Windows
|
---|
Source model
| Closed source
, Shared source
[1]
|
---|
Released to
manufacturing
| August 24, 2001
; 22 years ago
(
2001-08-24
)
|
---|
General
availability
| October 25, 2001
; 22 years ago
(
2001-10-25
)
[2]
|
---|
Latest release
| 5.1 (Build 2600: Service Pack 3) / April 21, 2008
; 16 years ago
(
2008-04-21
)
[3]
|
---|
Update method
| Windows Update
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
|
---|
Platforms
| IA-32
,
x86-64
and Itanium
|
---|
Kernel
type
| Hybrid
|
---|
License
| Proprietary
commercial software
|
---|
Preceded by
| Windows 2000
(1999)
Windows ME
(2000)
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Windows Vista
(2007)
|
---|
|
All editions except
Windows XP Embedded
,
Windows XP 64-bit
,
Windows Embedded of Point of Service
,
Windows Embedded Standard 2009
and
Windows Embedded POSReady 2009
:
Mainstream support ended on April 14, 2009.
Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.
Windows XP 64-bit
:
Unsupported since June 30, 2005.
Windows XP Embedded
:
Mainstream support ended on January 11, 2011; Extended support ended on January 12, 2016.
Windows Embedded of Point of Service
:
Mainstream support ended on April 12, 2011; Extended support ended on April 12, 2016.
Windows Embedded Standard 2009
:
Mainstream support ended on January 14, 2014, Extended support ended on January 8, 2019.
Windows Embedded POSReady 2009
:
Mainstream support ended on April 8, 2014; Extended support ended on April 9, 2019.
|
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition on
VMware Workstation 17
Windows XP
is a version of the
Microsoft Windows
operating system
for
personal computers
. The letters "XP" stand for
e
XP
erience
. Microsoft released Windows XP on October 25, 2001. Windows XP replaced
Windows 2000
and
Windows ME
, which helped bring the
NT
and
9x
versions of Windows together. It was replaced by
Windows Vista
in 2006.
[4]
Windows XP was the second most used computer
operating system
in the
world
as late as April 2012.
[5]
Following the release of Windows XP, many computer makers including (but not limited to)
Dell
,
Hewlett Packard
,
Acer
,
IBM
,
Compaq
, and
Toshiba
changed their computers (mostly laptops) to Windows XP from Windows 2000. You can tell a laptop from that time was initially sold with Windows 2000 if the Windows (WIN) key on the keyboard has the previous
Windows
logo.
Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP on April 8, 2014 (except some security updates e.g. in 2019, to address
ransomware
threats, and to address major
malware
threats, such as BlueKeep) and Microsoft and authorities warn users against using Windows XP. However, Windows XP remained a popular operating system around the world for a long time. On July 31, 2019, Microsoft Internet Games Services on Windows XP and
Windows ME
stopped working, and on January 22, 2020 Microsoft Internet Games Services stopped working on
Windows 7
, for
Windows 8
and
Windows 8.1
? on April 5, 2021. By August 2019, Microsoft (and others) had ended support for games on Windows XP. As of June 2021, 0.6% of Windows PCs run Windows XP. Windows XP became the most popular operating system from 2001 to 2007, the operating system, individually and pre-installed, selling over 500 million copies.
Windows XP's RTM-SP3 build number is: 2600 or Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435 aka Service Pack 3.
Beta 2 CD
Home Edition
is an edition that was made for home users.
Professional
was made for business users, as well as power users. It had advanced management features like backup recovery, Group Policy and could support two
Central processing units
.
Media Center Edition
was for people who liked to use their computer as a television box. It has in basics the same features as Windows XP Professional but included Windows Media Center, a program which could manage TV shows and play music, and even Netflix.
Tablet PC Edition
was for users with pen-based laptops and early
tablet PCs
.
64-bit Edition
was for computers that ran on Intel's 64-bit
Itanium
platform. This should not be confused with
Windows XP x64 Edition
, as x64 and Itanium are completely different architectures. Unlike Windows XP x64 Edition, 64-bit Edition has fewer features than Windows XP Professional. Some of these features included
NTVDM
and
Windows on Windows
, which means that 16-bit
MS-DOS
applications will not be able to run. It also was missing
Windows Media Player
features, but Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003, released in March 2003, added back these media features. Unlike other editions of Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit edition was discontinued and unsupported on June 30, 2005.
Professional x64 Edition
was for users with
64-bit x86-based
computers. It has the same features as Windows XP Professional except for
NTVDM
, and introduced Windows on Windows 64, which lets 32-bit applications run on a 64-bit operating system and processor.
Starter Edition
was sold mostly in developing countries. The price was low because Microsoft wanted to fight the high
software piracy
rate in those countries. It could only be bought with a new computer.
The
system requirements
for Windows XP Home and Professional editions are:
[6]
|
Minimum
|
Recommended
|
Processor
|
233
MHz
|
300
MHz
or higher
|
Memory
|
64
MB
RAM
(may limit performance and some features)
|
128
MB
RAM
or higher
|
Video adapter and monitor
|
Super VGA (800 x 600)
|
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
|
Hard drive disk free space
|
1.5
GB
|
1.5
GB
or higher
|
Drives
|
CD-ROM
or
DVD-ROM
|
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
|
Devices
|
Keyboard
|
Keyboard and mouse
|
Others
|
Sound card
,
speakers
, and
headphones
|
Sound card, speakers, and headphones
|
- Joyce, Jerry; Moon, Marianne (2004).
Microsoft Windows XP Plain & Simple
. Microsoft Press.
ISBN
978-0-7356-2112-1
.