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Microsoft OEM Windows XP Home Edition Inc. Service Pack 2 b- 1 Pack | 
 enlarge | From: Microsoft OEM Licence
Category: Software
Buy New: £51.51
New (7) from £51.51
Rating:  3 reviews
Platform: No Operating System
Media: CD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 88.2 x 64.6 x 22.4
MPN: 1248627
Model: N09-01991
UPC: 882224064736
EAN: 0882224064736
ASIN: B000GWKNH2
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: OEM Windows XP Home Edition English SP2b (1 Pack) (Brand new stock!) - Sealed Holographic disc with Certificate of Authenticity.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Windows XP Home Edition August 1, 2006
Mr. J. R. Hare (Norwich, England)
13 out of 23 found this review helpful
So, it's here at last. Microsoft's much-hyped new version of Windows is available to new and existing PC owners and claims all kinds of improvements over its antecedents. Windows XP isn't the latest in the Windows 95/98/ME line. Nor is it a continuation of Windows NT and 2000. Although it's based on NT technology, as 2000 was, it's an amalgam of both types of Windows and has one common code base. It may be available in Home and Professional (business) versions, but it is basically one product. XP Pro is a super-set of XP Home. We've reviewed the latter here.
This has been Microsoft's strategy for several years and is intended to make it easier to maintain and to keep new releases of home and business products in line for the future. Making use of NT code, designed for the more rigorous business and networked environment, should benefit everybody, as the new version is claimed to be more robust than any previous incarnation.
Windows XP looks different from previous versions, with a much cleaner appearance to the desktop. Apart from the Start button, there's little extra to confuse the newcomer. Click on Start, though, and the two-column menu that pops up is re-ordered and points the way to other changes in the operating system.
The colour scheme suggests a bigger, brighter approach to PCs and this idea is strengthened by the bold icons and the way it's harder to get at the nuts and bolts. You're encouraged to stay on the yellow brick road of applications and their documents, rather than delving into backwoods on your own.
The operating system, which supports both FAT32 and NTFS filing systems, offers a lot of fun extras, too. A new Wizard for printing that arranges photos to make the best use of expensive photo paper and a video editing applet which, while not Adobe Premier, provides the basics for cutting and pasting digital video, are just two highlights.
Others include easier home networking and the ability to allow a service technician to temporarily take over your PC to provide technical support. This isn't quite as worrying as it might sound, as you can specify how long that person can have access.
Much has been made about product activation, the need to contact Microsoft over the Net or by phone to receive a code to activate your copy of Windows XP. While it may be an irritation, more so if you make frequent changes to your PC, it's hard to deny Microsoft the right to stop people buying one copy of Windows and passing it round to all their friends - it happens.
You'll need quite a substantial PC to run Windows XP. The minimum recommended is a 300MHz Pentium with 64MB memory and 1.5GB of hard drive space. Double all those figures to be comfortable.
From our experience, the pre-installed version is likely to be more popular than the upgrade pack. We installed Windows XP on a Sony Vaio notebook as an upgrade. The resultant report of software that had to be removed or reinstalled (including Microsoft's own Outlook 2000) ran to four pages of A4. So it's probably best to let the PC builders install it from scratch.
 Good product, but activate by phone April 11, 2008
Jonathan (Manchester, UK)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I bought this copy of Windows XP from Amazon to install on an new intel-based Mac running Leopard. Purchasing an OEM copy was the cheapest way I could find to set up a genuine copy of Windows. I was a bit concerned about whether the process would work for an individual user, but I was reassured by the previous reviews.
Installation was easy. The product key worked fine. I installed it using on the Mac using boot camp partition and use VM fusion to open it. Following installation Windows wanted activation and I left this for a few days while I sorted some other issues out.
When I came to activate Windows I tried to do it by the internet, but I got a message saying that my product key had expired with no hint how to proceed. So I phoned up Microsoft support and they said I had to register as an OEM partner. Looked into this option briefly and decided that it was for computer manufacturers.
After an internet search I found an article which said that Microsoft had suspended internet activation because of fraud. There is freephone number to ring in the activation window. The activation process gives you nine 6-digit numbers to key in. Once you have done this you get seven 6-digit numbers to enter to complete the activation process.
So this OEM version works, but be aware that you need to activate by phone.
Well, it's better than Vista March 8, 2008
Rogerzilla
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Buy it while you still can, or pay for major hardware upgrades in order to run Windows Vista (arguably the least successful Windows since the woeful Millennium Edition).
XP is generally very stable and will run OK with 128MB of RAM in an older computer, but it likes as much memory as possible. Microsoft have made it quite hard to avoid paying for their software these days, with the interestingly-named "Windows Genuine Advantage" nagware, so if you want full access to updates, 50 to go legit doesn't seem too bad.
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