- Windows XP was released in 2001 and used on many of the world's computers.computer image by Orlando Florin Rosu from Fotolia.com
Windows XP's popularity continues even 6 years after its release and even after the launch of an updated Windows version, Vista. Windows XP was available in two flavors: "Home" and "Professional." The Professional version focused on business use with added features for local area networks. Many types of Windows XP Professional were later created to satisfy different user and manufacturing requirements. - The original release of Windows XP in 2001 was designed for use on computers of the time, which were predominately 32-bit machines. The processors used in 2001 did not offer the speed and power of 64-bit architecture. However, when technology evolved, Microsoft developed a 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional to take advantage of the new processors. The 64-bit version was referred to as "x64" and offered a dramatic boost to memory usage and processing speed. Scientists, media artists and those running particularly demanding applications could now benefit from large amounts of memory. The expansion of the Windows XP line into the 64-bit industry was limited to the Professional version.
- As Windows XP Professional was installed on computers from many different manufacturers, installation methods varied. Mass production lines from large manufacturers required a different version of Windows XP Professional to expedite its loading and activation. The standard version of Windows XP Professional required users to enter an activation "key" during the first boot-up process of the operating system. This was an extra step for those that purchased the operating system in conjunction with a new computer system. Microsoft thus offered a version for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that obviated this chore. OEM versions of Windows XP Professional proceeded through the same setup procedure but did not include the product activation sequence.
- The "Windows XP Tablet PC" edition was built on the Windows XP Professional operating system. All the added networking features of Windows XP Professional were retained in the Tablet PC version. This type of Windows XP Professional was so named to reflect the intended devices that would run the operating system. Tablet PCs are hand-held computers with a touch screen used for data entry. Some additional features, including handwriting recognition, were incorporated to expand on the interface of the operating system.
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