Win2K Pro SP2 to Win XP Pro, should I do it?

[Zenmervolt]

I did a search and couldn't find this, I'd have done a full text search but I'm not a subscriber, so I'm sorry if this is a repost.

Here's the deal, I have a (perfectly legal and legitimate) free copy of XP Pro because of the student license agreement my college has with Microsoft. Thing is, I have a perfectly good install of Win 2K Pro SP2 on my ThinkPad and it's rock stable already. Normally I wouldn't really even think about upgrading, but I have nothing to do until my first final on Thursday and I'm looking for a good project to occupy my time. I know that there are very few kernel differences between 2K and XP and that there really aren't any compelling reasons to upgrade, but are there any compelling reasons NOT to upgrade? To give you a better picture of my setup, it's a ThinkPad A21p Model 2629-HWU (listed in the XP HCL) and every driver is the newest available as of the time of this posting. I've long since ditched EZCD, so that won't be an issue. The only things flagged by XP's system check are ConfigSafe AutoCheck (which has yet to prove useful anyway) and the IBM Power Management driver, which I have to download specifically for XP.

ZV

 

[TomBilliodeaux]

XP, IMO, has its advantage over W2k mainly in the following:
1. Boot up is 2x faster
2. Install is very much improved for most hardware (XP was a single step install for my system, no driver needed to install).
3. Networking was easier for me. Sharing is simple.
4. System Restore. (Great for tying out stuff that you later say sorry you did).


If you already have the above, no need to use XP

Didadvantages :
1. I have found my Internet connection not as stable. I have to reboot usually 1/day because of unresolved Inet DSL connection problem.
(dual boot with W2k and revert to W2k if I need to spend long time on inet).
2. Firewall (Zonealarm) does not work with xp. v2.6.357. Blocks IE6.0 from accessing net. Once logged on, can start up ZA and works sometimes.
3. Some software does not work on xp that did work in W2k.

If you already have the above, no need to use XP.