Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience.[Microsoft Announces Windows XP and Office XP. Microsoft PressPass. Microsoft (February 5, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-05-13.] Codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort during its development. Windows XP is the successor to both Windows 2000 and Windows Me, and is the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel and architecture.
Windows XP Tips
Windows XP is known for its improved stability and efficiency over the 9x versions of Microsoft Windows. It presents a significantly redesigned graphical user interface, a change Microsoft promoted as more user-friendly than previous versions of Windows. New software management capabilities were introduced to avoid the "DLL hell" that plagued older consumer oriented 9x versions of Windows. It is also the first version of Windows to use product activation to combat software piracy, a restriction that did not sit well with some users and privacy advocates. Windows XP has also been criticized by some users for security vulnerabilities, tight integration of applications such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, and for aspects of its default user interface.
New and updated features
Windows XP introduced several new features to the Windows line, including:
Faster start-up and hibernation sequences
The ability to discard a newer device driver in favor of the previous one (known as driver rollback), should a driver upgrade not produce desirable results
A new, arguably more user-friendly interface, including the framework for developing themes for the desktop environment
Fast user switching, which allows a user to save the current state and open applications of their desktop and allow another user to log on without losing that information
The ClearType font rendering mechanism, which is designed to improve text readability on Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and similar monitors
Remote Desktop functionality, which allows users to connect to a computer running Windows XP from across a network or the Internet and access their applications, files, printers, and devices
Support for most DSL modems and wireless network connections, as well as networking over FireWire
User interface
Windows XP features a new task-based graphical user interface. The Start menu and search capability were redesigned and many visual effects were added, including:
A translucent blue selection rectangle in Explorer
Drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop
Task-based sidebars in Explorer windows ("common tasks")
The ability to group the taskbar buttons of the windows of one application into one button
The ability to lock the taskbar and other toolbars to prevent accidental changes
The highlighting of recently added programs on the Start menu
Shadows under menus (Windows 2000 had shadows under mouse pointers, but not menus)
Windows XP analyzes the performance impact of visual effects and uses this to determine whether to enable them, so as to prevent the new functionality from consuming excessive additional processing overhead. Users can further customize these settings.["Change Windows visual effects", Microsoft, Unknown. ] Some effects, such as alpha blending (transparency and fading), are handled entirely by many newer video cards. However, if the video card is not capable of hardware alpha blending, performance can be substantially hurt and Microsoft recommends the feature should be turned off manually.["Computer Slows When You Click Multiple Icons in Windows XP", Microsoft, January 15, 2006. ] Windows XP adds the ability for Windows to use "Visual Styles" to change the user interface. However, visual styles must be cryptographically signed by Microsoft to run. Luna is the name of the new visual style that ships with Windows XP, and is enabled by default for machines with more than 64 MB of RAM. Luna refers only to one particular visual style, not to all of the new user interface features of Windows XP as a whole. In order to use unsigned visual styles, many users turn to software such as TGTSoft's StyleXP or Stardock's WindowBlinds. Some users "patch" the uxtheme.dll file that restricts the ability to use visual styles, created by the general public or the user, on Windows XP.
Security issues
Windows XP has been criticized for its susceptibility to malware, viruses, trojan horses, and worms. Security issues are compounded by the fact that users of the Home edition, by default, receive an administrator account that provides unrestricted access to the underpinnings of the system. If the administrator's account is broken into, there is no limit to the control that can be asserted over the compromised PC.
Windows, with its large market share, has historically been a tempting target for virus creators. Security holes are often invisible until they are exploited, making preemptive action difficult. Microsoft has stated that the release of patches to fix security holes is often what causes the spread of exploits against those very same holes, as crackers figured out what problems the patches fixed, and then launch attacks against unpatched systems.
There are many sites for freelancers. These are the most popular on the Internet:
To find it is more than sites for freelancers, you can take advantage of search. Frequently search for such phrases as, freelancer, online job, job for programmer (designer, copywriter, etc.), projects for freelancer or something similar
