9th October 2001
By now, you've either accepted or rejected the FUD surrounding Windows XP's Windows Product Activation. The truth: you can to change up to six pieces of hardware every 120 days before WPA will wake up; the counter will reset itself every four months, allowing you to make up to six MORE swaps. The code sent to Microsoft is ambiguous; "0x37" could be a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X or an IBM Deskstar 75GXP. I think your Mom cares more about what kind of hardware you have in your system. If there are deviations from this routine in the final code, we'll let you know immediately. So, assuming you're going to be upgrading, should you go for XP Home or Professional edition? That largely depends on what you want to do with that system. Home can't handle multiple processors, but it also can't host a Remote Desktop. However, it (and any other version of Windows) can control a computer that runs Windows XP Professional with the Remote Desktop feature enabled. This client will be available on the XPP disc. The Remote Desktop is quite possibly the niftiest new tool built into Windows XP. With it, you can share a clipboard, work on remote documents, use remote devices (like printers), run audio programs on one computer and hear them on the other, and more.