Windows XP: A business decision

The launch of Windows XP Professional is here and the debate on whether or not to upgrade continues. Despite the controversy that surrounds the latest offering from Microsoft, there are a number of elements that stand in its favour.

The following aspects of Windows XP affect businesses, demonstrating how this product equips the knowledge worker with the tools to work smarter and faster, easing the pitfalls of the mobile office and limiting down time.

"It is significantly more reliable than Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0," says Ian Hatton, group product marketing manager at Microsoft. "Windows XP is 13 times more reliable than Windows 98 and three times more reliable than Windows NT Workstation 4.0."

Advanced security features such as Encrypted File System (EFS) and Kerberos support give users complete control over access to files and business data. The EFS support provides an additional security layer to protect sensitive business data. Kerberos support, a proven open standard for authentication, allows businesses to deploy an industry standard security solution company-wide.

"Businesses can use Windows Messenger to communicate and collaborate easily," explains Hatton. "This function provides a platform for online text, voice and video conferencing and the network set-up makes it easy to share resources across users. The Internet connection firewall protects users from unauthorised access to their PCs."

Windows XP offers benefits for the mobile office. Offline folders and files enable users to work with data when they are not connected to the network and to easily synchronise documents when users return to the office. Remote Desktop creates a virtual session by which users can access business data remotely from any PC running Windows 95 or later.

Windows XP also preserves battery life by enabling Hibernate mode after a set period of time. Wireless 802.1 x Networking Support provides secured access for wireless networks.

Windows XP connects PCs easily to a Windows-based domain network that allows users to roam across multiple PCs, log-on at once and get software updates automatically. Businesses can connect up to 10 PCs into existing networks to access shared resources and data.

The improved start-up sequence in Windows XP means that the computer is up and running three to four times faster than Windows 2000 and applications launch 25% to 33% faster than with earlier versions.

Additional functionalities include Multi-Language Support that allows users to create, read and edit documents in many different languages, New Task-Based Visual Design for easier navigation and Policy-Based Desktop Management that allows group policies and roaming user profiles.

For more information about Windows XP, go to http://windowsxp.msn.co.za