Difference between XP and 2007

If you skipped over Windows Vista like so many others have, you may be in for a shock when you upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Microsofts newest operating system is a major shift in usability, convenience, and overall computing from previous versions of Windows. Although not all are earth-shattering changes, listed below are the Top 10 differences between Windows XP and Windows 7. Many of these changes may seem like a big deal because youve gotten so used to how things work in XP. If you are considering upgrading from XP to Windows 7, be prepared for these changes.

1. No e-mail Client
Outlook Express (OE) has been a trusted friend since Windows 95, so much so that many people have never used another e-mail client. OE was removed from Windows Vista but was replaced with Windows Mail. Strangely, Windows does not ship with any e-mail client at all. Users must either purchase an e-mail client such as Outlook, use a free service such as Windows Live Mail, or download an open source e-mail client such as Thunderbird.

2. 32-bit vs. 64-bit

Although Windows XP did have a 64-bit version (Windows XP x64), many people are unaware that it even existed. When upgrading from XP to Windows 7, you will have to decide whether you want the 32-bit version (x86) or the 64-bit version (x64). Which you choose largely depends on your computers hardware and the availability of drivers and other software to make everything work in your PC.

3. Aero Desktop
The Aero Desktop is really nothing more than a collection of window and desktop behaviors that make Windows 7 the prettiest version of the operating system to date. Features such as Aero Snap let you quickly organize open windows and transparency makes it easy to see whats underneath other windows. With Windows XP think opaque, with Windows 7, think translucent.

4. Documents and Settings

The Documents and Settings folder, the location for all protected personal files and folders, has been replaced with a simple Users folders. Not a big deal, but many tech support personnel have spent hundreds of hours answering the simple question of where the Documents and Settings folder went in Windows 7.

5. Start Menu
The Start menu in Windows 7 has been completely reworked and has been met with several criticisms. No longer does the Start menu use fly-outs and scroll-outs to show you what shortcuts to programs and folders you have on your computer. Now you must use a more conservative folder system that forces you to use a scroll bar to access shortcuts that cant be displayed because youve reached the maximum number that can be shown at one time. Luckily, if you really like the Windows XP Start menu, there is a way to make the Windows 7 Start menu behave like XP.

6. Ribbon
Introduced in Office 2007, it is clear that Microsoft will continue to push the Ribbon interface over the more familiar drop-down menu and toolbar approach to using programs. If you want to get a taste of the Ribbon, start up Microsoft Paint or WordPad on a computer running Windows 7 and you can see for yourself whether the Ribbon is going to be useful or just another technology forced upon you.

7. Libraries
Windows 7 Libraries are nothing more than collections of files that are similar. Similar content that is located in multiple areas of your computer are brought together into the Library system to make finding files easier.Of course, you can choose to use or not use Libraries depending on whether you find them useful. However, if you store a lot of media on your computer such as music or video and you want access to them without having to physically move them the same location or folder, Libraries may be for you.

8. DirectX 11
If you are a gamer, you know that you must keep up with advances in both hardware and software technology to get the most from your games. Windows XP will not support DirectX versions beyond 9.0c so if your games require a higher version such as 10 or 11, you have no choice but to move a more recent version of Windows.As more and more people make the switch to Windows 7, the game developers and publishers are likely to take full advantage of more recent DirectX versions. Stick with XP too long, and you may be shut out of the newest games.

9. Home Group
Whether you have a simple or complicated home network, you know that any help you can get to make administration easier is always welcomed. Home Group is a major shift in home networking simplicity that makes older paradigms seem archaic. Not much has changed in setting up a home network since Windows NT 4, an operating system from before Windows 95 that you may never have heard of. Marrying simplicity, easy setup, and stable connections, Home Group takes the guesswork and troubleshooting out of home networking on any scale.

10. Touch Support

Although touch interfaces have been around for a better part of a decade, touch has not yet replaced the familiar keyboard/mouse combination of navigating personal computers. Still, Windows 7 is the first operating system from the software giant to natively support touch as a computer interface. If you think that you would like to be on the frontier of this emerging interface paradigm, Windows 7 is your only real choice if you want to run a Microsoft operating system.

Conclusion
Some people have become so comfortable working with Windows XP that they have avoided upgrading to Microsofts newest operating system. The Windows Vista fiasco didnt help matters, forcing some diehard fans of XP to downgrade to make their PCs functional again. If you are considering upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, be prepared for some new things, some missing things, and a few things in between. Still, the stability and usability of Windows 7 has been more or less established so you can rest assured that you are taking a step in the right direction by leaving XP behind , As we all know windows XP was one of the successful operating system released by the Microsoft Company. The components and the features of the windows XP were more convenient to the user. The Windows XP had all the features of the previous operating systems released and along with that some extra features were introduced in the windows XP. The ultimate file accessing speed was increased in Windows XP when compared to the previous versions of the windows. The previous versions of the windows did not

give compatibility to many of the software but the Windows XP was brought out with the extra features. There is a concept of BSOD which stands for Blue Screen Of Death in the previous windows operating system. When Bill Gates was demonstrating the windows 98 he encountered with the blue screen error. The windows XP was brought out with the rectification of BSOD error. If still the blue screen error occurs in the Operating system then it can be said that the operating system is not genuine and it is pirated version.

Features of windows 7

Windows 7 is one of the successful operating system that is released after the windows XP and is being used now. As everyone know the windows vista did not sell well in the market and it had lots of advancements to that of the windows XP but along with that it had lots of drawbacks also. The rectified version was the Windows 7. Windows 7 has lots of graphical components implemented and it can also be said as the most attractive operating system of the Microsoft. Even thought the windows 7 is not a open source operating system people always prefer the windows 7 because of the reliability factor. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) components are good in the Windows 7. The start up and the shut down features are extremely fast. The operating system copies very fast to the Random access memory (RAM) during the start up. The window 7 is proved to be great in the latest motherboard and the processors. There are also various themes that are available along with the operating system and various themes can also be created and implemented by the user. The drivers for all the hardware comes along with the operating system. There is no necessity for the external driver components for the operating system.

Difference between Windows XP and Windows 7

There are lots of difference between the windows XP and the Windows 7. Here are some of the differences listed below 1. The shutdown and the start up is very fast in Windows 7 when compared to the Windows XP 2.There are not much graphical components present in the windows XP but Windows 7 provides good Graphical User Interface (GUI). 3. In windows 7 there is no necessity for the drivers to be installed but in Windows XP it is necessary to install drivers. 4. The Kernel of windows 7 is very good when compared to the Windows XP. 5. User defined themes can be implemented in Windows 7 but in Windows XP themes cannot be created by the user. 6. The windows defender in Windows 7 provides maximum security to the operating system but in Windows XP this feature is not available.

Differences between Windows XP and Windows 7

1. One of the major difference between both the operating system is User Access Control. Where Windows XP doesn't have any UAC on other side Windows 7 enables the UAC feature which was introduced in Windows Vista. 2. Windows 7 supports DirectX 11 where Windows XP support Directx 9. 3. One major difference is regarding the graphics , where Windows XP lacks them on other hand Windows 7 is known for its visual appearance. 4. Their is a difference in speed of both the operating system where Windows 7 boots quicker than Windows XP

5. Networking features like Direct access and VPN reconnect which were not available in Windows XP but are introduced in Windows 7 also adds a point to this list of differences between Windows XP and Windows 7.

Difference between server 2000 and 2003

1) When installing terminal services for win2000 u r prompted to select application server functions or administrative functions sets can be installed sequentially on one server but it performs only one function at one time. But in 2003 still distinguishes between application and administrative services but installation and management are now consolidated. 2) In 2000 we cannot rename domain whereas in 2003 we can rename Domain. 3) In 2000 it supports of 8 processors and 64 GB RAM (In 2000 Advance Server) whereas in 2003 supports up to 64 processors and max of 512GB RAM. 4) 2000 Supports IIS 5.0 and 2003 Supports IIS6.0 5) 2000 doesnt support Dot net whereas 2003 Supports Microsoft .NET 2.0 6) 2000 has Server and Advance Server editions whereas 2003 has Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter and Web server Editions. 7) 2000 has basic concept of DFS (Distributed File systems) with defined roots whereas 2003 has Enhanced DFS support with multiple roots. 8) In 2000 we can create 1 million users and in 2003 we can create 1 billion users. 9) In 2000 we dont have end user policy management, whereas in 2003 we have a End user policy management which is done in GPMC (Group policy management console). 10) In 2000 we have cross domain trust relation ship and 2003 we have Cross forest trust relationship. 11) 2000 Supports 4-node clustering and 2003 supports 8-node clustering. 12) Code name of 2000 is Win NT 5.0 and Code name of 2003 is Win NT 5.1 13) 2003 has Improved Print management compared to 2000 server. 14) 2003 has telnet sessions available. 15) 2000 supports IPV4 whereas 2003 supports IPV4 and

Basic Disk Storage

Basic storage uses normal partition tables supported by MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. A disk initialized for basic storage is called a basic disk. A basic disk contains basic volumes, such as primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives. Additionally, basic volumes include multidisc volumes that are created by using Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, such as volume sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, and stripe sets with parity. Windows XP does not support these multidisc basic volumes. Any volume sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, or stripe sets with parity must be backed up and deleted or converted to dynamic disks before you install Windows XP Professional.

Dynamic Disk Storage

Dynamic storage is supported in Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. A disk initialized for dynamic storage is called a dynamic disk. A dynamic disk contains dynamic volumes, such as simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes. With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows. Note: Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers. You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers. However, you can use a Windows XP Professional-based computer to create a mirrored or RAID-5 volume on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, or the Standard, Enterprise and Data Center versions of Windows Server 2003. Storage types are separate from the file system type. A basic or dynamic disk can contain any combination of FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS partitions or volumes.A disk system can contain any combination of storage types. However, all volumes on the same disk must use the same storage type.

To convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk:

Use the Disk Management snap-in in Windows XP/2000/2003 to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. To do this, follow these steps: 1. Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. 2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 3. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. You can also right-click My Computer and choose Manage if you have My Computer displayed on your desktop. 4. In the left pane, click Disk Management. 5. In the lower-right pane, right-click the basic disk that you want to convert, and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk. You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane.

1. Select the check box that is next to the disk that you want to convert (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.

1. Click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk. Click Convert.

1. Click Yes when you are prompted to convert the disk, and then click OK. Warning: After you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. Additionally, after you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk and then convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, you must first back up the data or move it to another volume.

Dynamic Storage Terms A volume is a storage unit made from free space on one or more disks. It can be formatted with a file system and assigned a drive letter. Volumes on dynamic disks can have any of the following layouts: simple, spanned, mirrored, striped, or RAID-5.

A simple volume uses free space from a single disk. It can be a single region on a disk or consist of multiple, concatenated regions. A simple volume can be extended within the same disk or onto additional disks. If a simple volume is extended across multiple disks, it becomes a spanned volume.

A spanned volume is created from free disk space that is linked together from multiple disks. You can extend a spanned volume onto a maximum of 32 disks. A spanned volume cannot be mirrored and is not fault-tolerant. A striped volume is a volume whose data is interleaved across two or more physical disks. The data on this type of volume is allocated alternately and evenly to each of the physical disks. A striped volume cannot be mirrored or extended and is not fault-tolerant. Striping is also known as RAID-0. A mirrored volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is duplicated on two physical disks. All of the data on one volume is copied to another disk to provide data redundancy. If one of the disks fails, the data can still be accessed from the remaining disk. A mirrored volume cannot be extended. Mirroring is also known as RAID-1. A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is striped across an array of three or more disks. Parity (a calculated value that can be used to reconstruct data after a failure) is also striped across the disk array. If a physical disk fails, the portion of the RAID-5 volume that was on that failed disk can be re-created from the remaining data and the parity. A RAID-5 volume cannot be mirrored or extended. The system volume contains the hardware-specific files that are needed to load Windows (for example, Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com). The system volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the boot volume. The boot volume contains the Windows operating system files that are located in the %Systemroot% and %Systemroot%'System32 folders. The boot volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the system volume.