XP is 2000 plus the fancy theme? You're wrong

[jaclaz]

Very good.

I would presume that when you use 1.5 Gb instead of 600 Mb of disk space, there must be *something* added to an OS.

1500/600=2.5

I am glad to know that - contrary to my previous beliefs - EVERY single Mb of the 900 Mb more are worth it, and that every added feature, including Autoplay is actually an improvement.

And of course all the work by Nuhi and fdv is perfectly pointless .

Of course I a do not approve of many things (not in the article by itself, but in viewing it as "Windows XP is better than 2K" advertising for it) but notwithstanding the "opinions", the article looks like very accurately written and exhaustive .

jaclaz

Edited June 16, 2012 by jaclaz

[xpclient]

Btw XP's TweakUI, if you run it as admin and with compatibility mode set to Server 2003 or XP on Vista/7, it runs just fine to tweak many of the settings that are the same.Of course, for things that have changed like the thumbnail size tweak in Explorer or the search platform, it won't work. Still it allows you tweak quite a lot. For 64-bit Windows 7/Vista, use this TweakUI: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/TweakUI-64-Bit-Edition.shtml

[Joseph_sw]

I think you may add this to download-able feature (free)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_CD-ROM_Control_Panel

Starting with win8, this stuff finaly got being official.

But, even the free DaemonTools for win9x were superior.

[xpclient]

By the way, isn't Agent Ransack better and more intuitive than all those Windows default search tools?

Agent Ransack is fantastic. The paid version, FileLocator Pro is too awesome. It has real-time search combined with power of using iFilters to look inside file formats without any indexing required. I use FileLocator on Windows 7/Vista because the file search GUI turned into an abomination.

[Ponch]

Main missing feature in 2k was Windows Activation. Remember when people were demanding that for their next upgrade ?

[jaclaz]

Main missing feature in 2k was Windows Activation. Remember when people were demanding that for their next upgrade ?

Well, but - to be fair - in exchange for that Mouse Ballistics was applied , and all the gamers were (and still are) very happy about this :

To sum up:

1. Windows 2000 was a bettered NT 4.0, actually better.
   
2. Windows XP was a very slightly bettered Windows 2000 with a toyish interface and with a number of senseles features added.
   
3. Vista was a bettered XP, only worse.
   
4. 7 was a bettered Vista , actually slightly better with an increasingly toyish interface
   
5. 8 is a quantum leap , it is directly a toy
   

jaclaz

[MaximRecoil]

The first thing I do after installing XP is to disable the fluff, making it much more like 2K. Also, I'd be perfectly happy to use 2K these days if it was still well-supported.

[Monroe]

MaximRecoil ... I'd be interested in knowing what "fluff" or adjustments you might be talking about when you said earlier ... "The first thing I do after installing XP is to disable the fluff, making it much more like 2K" . I may have already done some of these things but maybe not. My intention, when switching to XP earlier this year, was to have a more "modern" working browser with fewer problems. I also happen to like W2k and would be interested in knowing what adjustments you make in this regard.

thanks ...

[MaximRecoil]

MaximRecoil ... I'd be interested in knowing what "fluff" or adjustments you might be talking about when you said earlier ... "The first thing I do after installing XP is to disable the fluff, making it much more like 2K" . I may have already done some of these things but maybe not. My intention, when switching to XP earlier this year, was to have a more "modern" working browser with fewer problems. I also happen to like W2k and would be interested in knowing what adjustments you make in this regard.

thanks ...

The first thing I do is disable the "themes" service, which completely prevents Luna from ever rearing its ugly head, even during startup/shutdown. This alone makes XP resemble 2K at a glance.

Additionally, I disable "Fast User Switching" and "Use the Welcome Screen", which gives you a real 2K-style logon box during startup. Doing this also gives you the "Windows Security" box (which has 5 useful options, including "Lock Computer") when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del (just as 2K does by default) rather than merely bringing up the Task Manager (like XP does by default).

Also, I disable "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)" in "Folder Options", while gives you a "Security" tab in folder and file properties dialog boxes, just as 2K has by default.

I disable all of the "Visual Effects" in "Performance Options", aside from "Show windows contents while dragging" (which was an available option in 2K and earlier versions of Windows as well).

I use TweakUI to get the 2K-style search back (exorcising that Microsoft Bob dog in the process).

I use "list" for my default folder view, which gets rid of those massive "tiles" that were introduced in XP, and are used as its default view.

I ignore the fluffy/bloated Windows Media Player that is included with XP (though I update it to the latest version just for the codecs), and use either Windows Media Player 6.4 (which is also included in XP, but its presence is in no way advertised) or Media Player Classic, which is modeled after WMP 6.4, but is far more functional / up-to-date.

However, I do keep the XP start menu rather than switching to the classic start menu; I just like it better than the 2K and earlier style start menus.

Edited December 29, 2012 by MaximRecoil

[Monroe]

MaximRecoil ... hey thanks for the information. I was not aware that WMP 6.4 was actually still available in XP or that it would still work ... currently have WMP 9 ... I will check all that out ... I liked WMP 6.4 in Windows 98SE ... also have Media Player Classic and KM Player currently installed.

I also like the XP start menu over the Classic start menu. I'm sure I have "Fast User Switching" disabled but will have to check all that out as well as your other suggestions. Thanks again ... I'd just like to ask what browser(s) you prefer or like with Windows XP? I'm back on a "best browser for XP" hunt again ... from another forum thread.

... just read your post over at another thread about using IE 8 but liking IE 6. I agree ... spent some of the morning searching around for ways to "update" IE 6 for 2012 but it is hopeless I guess. I have IE 8 as a backup but mainly use several K-Meleon versions.

Also have one further question ... what is "Luna" or what does it stand for ... "completely prevents Luna from ever rearing its ugly head" ?

...

Edited December 29, 2012 by duffy98

[tomasz86]

The first thing I do is disable the "themes" service, which completely prevents Luna from ever rearing its ugly head, even during startup/shutdown. This alone makes XP resemble 2K at a glance.

This isn't 100% true. You need to switch to Classic theme and THEN disable the service. Some font settings are different in Win2k (and Classic theme uses those too) and if you only switch the service off then Windows will still use the settings from Luna.

I'd also add to the list:

• Use Classic view in Control Panel.
  
• Disable Security Center service.
  
• Disable mouse cursor shadow.
  
• Disable unused tray icon hiding.
  
• Disable taskbar icon grouping
  

There are probably several more settings which I don't remember at the moment.

[Monroe]

tomasz86 ... good to have your input also. I have never heard any mention of "Luna" in relation to XP till today, checking it out on Google, it seems to be a themes pack that you download, I have never downloaded it so I guessing I don't have it anywhere on my computer. I will also have to check that out for sure.

...

[MaximRecoil]

Duffy98, you can find WMP 6.4 in the Program Files\Windows Media Player directory. Its filename is "mplayer2.exe". If you install FFDShow it will work with many common video formats. However, if you like WMP 6.4, you should definitely look into Media Player Classic (freeware), which looks nearly identical to WMP 6.4 (it even has a similar icon), but will open pretty much anything (including .MP4, .MKV., .FLV, and so on) and has far more "tweaking" type features.

I haven't found a browser I really like. I use IE8 and Firefox, but I miss the days of IE6 when it was new, had ~90% or whatever market share, and pretty much all sites were compatible with it. It was basic and fast. Yes, it had security issues, but that could have been fixed under the hood while keeping it the same from the user's perspective. IE8 is getting harder and harder to use these days though, and I was never particularly fond of it even when it was new.

tomasz86 ... good to have your input also. I have never heard any mention of "Luna" in relation to XP till today, checking it out on Google, it seems to be a themes pack that you download, I have never downloaded it so I guessing I don't have it anywhere on my computer. I will also have to check that out for sure.

Luna is XP's default theme package, so you have it. The blue task bar, green curvy Start button; that's all Luna (and it can be switched to different color schemes).

This isn't 100% true. You need to switch to Classic theme and THEN disable the service. Some font settings are different in Win2k (and Classic theme uses those too) and if you only switch the service off then Windows will still use the settings from Luna.

That's correct. I always switch to "Windows Classic style", first thing after canceling out the "Tour Windows XP" thing. I forgot to mention it.

I'd also add to the list:

[*] Use Classic view in Control Panel.

I do this as well.

[*] Disable Security Center service.

I normally do the "Change the way Security Center alerts me" thing (uncheck all of them), which means you never see a Security Center alert again. Disabling the service would be even better, assuming there are no unwanted side effects.

[*] Disable mouse cursor shadow.

This is included as part of disabling the Visual Effects.

[*] Disable unused tray icon hiding.

I do this as well.

[*] Disable taskbar icon grouping

This is another XP thing that I actually like, so I keep it.

Edited December 29, 2012 by MaximRecoil