Windows XP is five years old this week!

It’s hard to believe, but yes indeed, Windows XP has hit the big five as of this week. A replacement to the horribly flawed Windows ME and Windows ‘98, which transitioned to non-supported status as of July 11th of this year, XP lived up to most of its promises as a better OS from the wonderkind at Redmond. It worked, seldom crashed, and did its job well. Personally, I think it’s aged well, but threats from Apple’s OS X seems to have morphed itself into XP’s successor, Windows Vista.

Am I happy that XP is being replaced? Honestly, I don’t care. I use PCs because I have to. I use Macs at home because I like to. With Vista on the way, it seems like just another excuse to ween some more money out of us for something that we probably don’t need, but will buy into because Uncle Bill says it’s cool (just like Uncle Jobs does when he releases another point release for OS X).

What scares me are the precedents set by Windows XP in the realm of DRM, or Digital Rights Management - otherwise known as how to stop you from doing what you want with what you buy. Vista is working itself down a road that quite frankly scares me (and the EFF), and I’m not too willing to be the first on my block to load it up and lose my fair use rights.

Overall, I think it’s been a pretty good five years for Windows XP and I’ll be sad when its time is done. So blow out those birthday candles quick, XP… Because like OSs of the past, some get better with age while others don’t. ;)

[tags]Windows, XP, ME, 98, OS, Vista, Microsoft, MS[/tags]