Windows XP
Today, I present the top five articles from the SuperSite for Windows in 2011. These were the most-read articles on the site over the course of the year and, interestingly, some of them date back a few years. As with the first batch, covering articles #6 through #10, I've provided addition commentary for each article.
more Microsoft this week released a beta version of what appears to be a very useful tool: An offline version of its Windows Defender anti-malware solution. This tool can help final and remove malicious software, much like the version built into Windows. But because it can be installed to CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, it can be run in offline mode, when the Windows OS isn't running.
more Now that smart phones have decent cameras, many people won't need to carry an additional gadget with them all the time. But we're also going to want to make sure those memories we record get properly archived, at home on Windows PCs, and in the cloud via connected services.
more Microsoft this week is celebrating Windows XP's tenth anniversary, though I have to think the company's efforts to get businesses off of this aging OS and onto the more secure and reliable Windows 7 somewhat colors the event. On that note, the theme here is that a lot has changed since XP first hit the market, and having attended the post-9/11 XP launch in New York City 10 years ago, I can certainly attest to that theory.
more Codenamed Whistler, Windows XP was in development for less than two years and finally consolidated the previously separate Windows 9x and NT/2000 product lines. It also added the first major new UI skin to the system since Windows 95, providing a completely different look and feel than previous Windows versions while retaining the same usage model.
more Windows XP Media Center Edition was Microsoft's first major foray into living room entertainment, and while it wasn't completely successful, it did lay the groundwork for many future products, including Zune, Windows Phone, and Windows 8.
more Windows XP Tablet PC Edition was one of two major additions to the XP lineup that came in the years after the main product line debuted in 2001. There were two versions of XP for tablets, Tablet PC Edition and Tablet PC Edition 2005. After that, Tablet PC functionality was simply added directly into more mainstream Windows versions in Windows Vista and 7.
more The Windows 8 Start screen is just the latest in a long line of Windows user interfaces, some evolutionary, some revolutionary. But understood in retrospect, this new UI makes plenty of sense, and it certainly has precedent in Windows UIs past.
more Microsoft this week quietly released a second major version of its free security solution for individuals and very small businesses, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) 2.0. This version of the product looks and works much like its predecessor, but unlike the original version, which appeared in September 2009, the new version offers deeper integration with other Windows-based security technologies
more Rather than write a traditional review of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), I thought this might be an opportune time to reevaluate XP's standing in the Windows world. After all, virtually every techno...
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