Windows XP
Professional Features
The features in the table below illustrate why the
Windows XP Professional operating system is the best choice for businesses of all sizes.
Windows XP Professional integrates the strengths of Windows 2000 Professional, such as
standards-based security, manageability, and reliability, with the best business features
of Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, such as Plug and Play, simplified user
interface, and innovative support services. This combination creates the best desktop
operating system for business. Whether your business deploys Windows XP Professional on a
single computer or throughout a worldwide network, this new operating system increases
your computing power while lowering cost of ownership for desktop computers.
On This Page
The New Standard for Efficient and Dependable Computing
Built on the new Windows engine |
Windows XP Professional is built on the proven code base of
Windows NT and Windows 2000, which features a 32-bit computing architecture and a fully
protected memory model. |
Windows XP Professional
will provide a dependable computing experience for all business users. |
Enhanced device driver verifier |
Building on the device driver verifier found in Windows 2000,
the Windows XP Professional will provide even greater stress tests for device drivers. |
Device drivers that pass
these tests will be the most robust drivers available, which will ensure maximum system
stability. |
Dramatically reduced reboot scenarios |
Eliminates most scenarios that force end users to reboot in
Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95/98/Me. Also, many software installations will not require
reboots. |
Users will experience
higher levels of system uptime. |
Improved code protection |
Critical kernel data structures are read-only, so that
drivers and applications cannot corrupt them. All device driver code is read-only and
page protected. |
Rogue applications
cannot adversely affect core operating system areas. |
Side-by-side DLL support |
Provides a mechanism for multiple versions of individual Windows
components to be installed and run "side by side." |
This helps to address
the "DLL hell" problem by allowing an application written and tested with one
version of a system component to continue to use that version even if an application
that uses a newer version of the same component is installed. |
Windows File Protection |
Protects core system files from being overwritten by application
installations. If a file is overwritten, Windows File Protection will restore the correct
version. |
By safeguarding system
files, Windows XP Professional mitigates many of the most common system failures
encountered in earlier versions of Windows. |
Windows Installer |
A system service that helps users install, configure, track,
upgrade, and remove software programs correctly. |
Will help minimize user
downtime and increase system stability. |
Enhanced software restriction policies |
Provide administrators a policy-driven mechanism to identify
software running in their environment and control its ability to execute. This facility
can be used in virus and Trojan horse prevention and software lockdown. |
Can contribute to
improved system integrity, manageability, and, ultimately, lower cost of ownership of the
PC. |
Preemptive multitasking architecture |
Designed to allow multiple applications to run simultaneously,
while ensuring great system response and stability. |
Run your most demanding
applications while still experiencing impressive system response time. |
Scalable memory and processor support |
Supports up to 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and up to two symmetric
multiprocessors. |
Users who need the
highest level of performance will be able to work with the latest hardware. |
Encrypting File System (EFS) with multi-user support |
Encrypts each file with a randomly generated key. The encryption
and decryption processes are transparent to the user. In Windows XP Professional, EFS can
provide multiple users access to an encrypted document. |
The highest level of
protection from hackers and data theft. |
IP Security (IPSec) |
Helps protect data transmitted across a network. IPSec is an
important part of providing security for virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow
organizations to transmit data securely over the Internet. |
IT administrators will
be able to build secure VPNs quickly and easily. |
Kerberos support |
Provides industry-standard and high-strength authentication with
fast, single logon to Windows 2000—based enterprise resources. Kerberos is an
Internet standard, which makes it especially effective for networks that include different
operating systems such as UNIX. |
Windows XP Professional
will offer single logon for end users for resources and supported applications hosted on
both Windows 2000 and our next-generation server platform, Windows Server 2003. |
Smart card support |
Smart card capabilities are integrated into the operating
system, including support for smart card logon to terminal server sessions hosted on
Windows Server 2003—based (the next-generation server platform) terminal servers. |
Smart cards enhance
software-only solutions such as client authentication, interactive logon, code signing,
and secure e-mail. |
Internet Explorer Add-on Manager |
Easily manage and enforce a list of Internet Explorer add-ons
that are either permitted or disabled to enhance security. |
Helps reduce the
potential for crashes. |
Windows Firewall |
Turned on by default, the built-in Windows Firewall helps
increase computer security from startup to shutdown. |
Reduces the risk of
network and Internet-based attacks. |
Windows Security Center |
Easily manage security resources with this single, unified view
of key settings, tools, and access to resources. |
Easily change settings
and identify security issues. |
Attachment Manager |
Isolates potentially unsafe attachments during the opening
process. |
Helps provide protection
from viruses spread through Outlook Express, Windows Messenger, and Internet Explorer. |
Data Execution Prevention |
Helps prevent certain types of malicious code from attacking and
overwhelming a computer’s memory. |
Reduces the risk of
buffer overruns. |
Windows Firewall Exception List |
Helps administrators better manage applications and static port
exceptions by allowing only ports needed by an application to be open. |
Increases application
compatibility with Windows Firewall. |
Windows Firewall Application and Port Restrictions |
Easily configure applications and ports to receive network
traffic only with a source address from any location, the local subnet only, or from
specific IP addresses. |
Helps reduce the
potential for network-based attacks. |
Fresh visual design |
While maintaining the core of Windows 2000, Windows XP
Professional has a fresh visual design. Common tasks have been consolidated and
simplified, and new visual cues have been added to help users navigate their computers
more easily. Administrators or end users can choose this updated user interface or the
classic Windows 2000 interface with the click of a button. |
Allows the most common
tasks to be exposed easily, helping users get the most of out of Windows XP Professional. |
Adaptive user environment |
Adapts to the way an individual user works. With a redesigned
Start menu, the most frequently used applications are shown first. When you open multiple
files in the same application, (such as multiple e-mail messages in the Microsoft Outlook
messaging and collaboration client) the open windows will be consolidated under a single
task bar button. To remove some of the clutter from the notification area, items that are
not being used will be hidden. All of these features can be set using Group Policy. |
A cleaner work
environment allows the user to be more efficient. Users can find the crucial data and
applications they need quickly and easily. All of these settings can be controlled using
Group Policy, so IT administrators can decide what features are most appropriate for their
environments. |
Work with rich media |
Windows Media Player for Windows XP is the first player to combine all of your
common digital media activities into a single, easy-to-use player. The player makes it
easy for you to:
| • |
View rich media information, for example,
virtual company meetings or "just-in-time" learning |
| • |
Receive the best-possible audio and video
quality, because the player adapts to network conditions |
| • |
Tune in to nearly 3,000 Internet radio stations
|
| • |
Create custom CDs up to 700 percent faster than
other solutions |
| • |
View DVD movies |
| • |
Enjoy music, video, and broadband more safely
and securely |
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|
Context-sensitive task menus |
When a file is selected in Windows Explorer, a dynamic menu
appears. This menu lists tasks that are appropriate for the type of file selected. |
Common tasks that were
hard to find in previous versions of Windows are exposed for easy access. |
Integrated CD burning |
Support for burning CDs on CD-R and CD-RW drives is integrated
into Windows Explorer. |
Archiving data onto CD
is now as easy as saving to a floppy disk, and does not require an expensive third-party
solution. |
Easily publish information to the Web |
Files and folders can be easily published to any Web service
that uses the WebDAV protocol. |
Users will be able to
publish important information to Web servers on the company's intranet. |
Dualview |
A single computer desktop can be displayed on two monitors
driven off of a single display adapter. With a laptop computer, a user could run the
internal LCD display as well as an external monitor. A variety of high-end display
adapters will support this functionality for desktops. |
Users will be able to
maximize their productivity by working on multiple screens, while removing the need for
multiple CPUs. |
Troubleshooters |
Helps users and administrators configure, optimize, and
troubleshoot numerous Windows XP Professional functions. |
Enables users to be more
self-sufficient, resulting in greater productivity, fewer help desk calls, and better
customer service. |
Puts the Advanced Productivity Tools of the Digital Age at Your Fingertips
Remote Desktop |
Allows users to create a virtual session onto their desktop
computers using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). |
Allows users to access
all of their data and applications housed on their desktop computers from another computer
running Windows 95 or later that is connected to their machine via a network. |
Credential Manager |
A secured store for password information. It allows users to
input user names and passwords once, and then have the system automatically supply that
information for subsequent visits. |
Users who are not
connected to a domain, or who need to access resources in multiple domains without trust
relationships, will be able to easily access network resources. |
Offline Files and Folders |
A user can specify which network-based files and folders she
needs when she disconnects from the network. Offline folders can now be encrypted to
provide the highest level of security. |
Users can work with
documents while disconnected from the network in the same manner they do when they're
connected. |
ClearType |
A new text display technology that triples the horizontal
resolution available for rendering text through software. |
Microsoft ClearType
display technology offers a clearer display of text on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
screen. |
Offline viewing |
Makes entire Web pages with graphics available for viewing
offline. |
Customers can view
critical Web pages while disconnected from the Internet. |
Synchronization Manager |
Lets users compare and update their offline files and folders
with those on the network. |
After working with files
and folders offline, the changes will be automatically replicated back to the network,
ensuring the latest version is always available. |
Improved power management |
By intelligently monitoring CPU state, Windows XP Professional
can reduce the amount of power it is using. The operating system will provide more
accurate data on the amount of power left; this will prevent the system from shutting down
prematurely. Also, by allowing for the system to wake up as the battery nears a drained
state, the computer can be put into hibernation, and save work in progress. Power
management can now be set for each computer, or each user on a computer. |
Users will be able to
work longer on battery power and more accurately forecast how long their batteries will
last. |
Hibernate |
After a set period of time, or on demand, Windows XP
Professional will save memory to disk, and shut the power down. When power is restored,
all the applications are reopened exactly as they were left. |
Users can maximize
battery life, and still be able to quickly resume working where they left off, reducing
downtime. |
Hot docking |
Lets you dock or undock your notebook computer without changing
hardware configuration or rebooting. |
Laptop users can move
easily between docked and undocked configurations without rebooting the system. |
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) |
Provides the latest in power management and Plug and Play
support. |
Provides key features
for mobile professionals including Plug and Play, hot docking, and full power management
support. |
Wireless networking support |
Provides secured access, as well as performance improvements,
for wireless networks. |
Makes it much easier for
users who need to move between wireless networks, while supporting high levels of
encryption to enhance security. |
Network Location Awareness |
Provides an underlying service that allows the operating system
and applications to determine when a machine has changed network locations. |
Applications and network
services can be written to react intelligently when a network location change is detected.
For example, an application could connect an end user to a closer server if that user
moved from one building to another. |
Easier remote access configuration wizards |
Guide users through the steps for setting up remote access to a
network or virtual private network (VPN). |
Make it easier to
connect to a corporate network or the Internet. |
Improved Help and Support Services |
The Help and Support Center combines features users are familiar
with from previous versions of Windows (such as Search, Index, and Favorites) with content
from the World Wide Web to give users more chances to get the help they need when they
need it. If the content in the Help and Support Center doesn't answer their question, it
can be used to contact a friend, a support community, or a professional to get assistance.
Tools such as My Computer Information and System Restore are also available to diagnose
and fix common problems. |
Users can quickly and
easily find the answers they need, reducing help desk calls and increasing user
satisfaction. |
Remote Assistance |
Remote Assistance enables a user to share control of his or her
computer with someone on a network or the Internet. An administrator or friend can view
the user's screen, and control the pointer and keyboard to help solve a technical problem.
IT departments can build custom solutions, on top of published APIs using HTML, to tailor
Remote Assistance to their needs, and the feature can be centrally enabled or disabled. |
Will reduce the amount
of time system administrators spend at users' desks. Many administrative and
troubleshooting tasks can now be done from the administrators' own desks. |
System Restore |
The System Restore feature enables users and administrators to
restore a computer to a previous state without losing data. System Restore automatically
creates easily identifiable restore points, which allow you to restore the system to a
previous time. |
If users experience
system failure or another significant problem, they can use System Restore from Safe Mode
or Normal Mode to go back to a previous system state, restoring optimal system
functionality. System Restore will not revert user data or document files, so restoring
will not cause users to lose their work, mail, or even browsing history and favorites. |
Recovery Console |
Provides a command-line console for administrators to start and
stop services, format drives, read and write data on a local drive, and perform many other
administrative tasks. |
In the event of errors
that prevent Windows XP Professional from starting, administrators can boot the system to
a command console and potentially repair the operating system. |
Device Driver Rollback |
When certain classes of new device drivers are installed,
Windows XP Professional will maintain a copy of the previously installed driver, which can
be reinstalled if problems occur. |
If a new device driver
is causing Windows XP Professional to malfunction, an administrator can easily reinstall
the previous driver. |
Windows Messenger |
The easy way to communicate with your customers, partners,
friends, and family in real time. Will keep you updated with your contacts' online status.
Choose text, voice, or video and experience the best online voice and video quality.
Collaborate with contacts, transfer files, and share applications and whiteboard drawings.
Additional features help protect users' privacy online. |
Provides users with
great platform for online conferencing and collaboration. |
Internet Connection Firewall |
A firewall client that can protect small businesses from common
Internet attacks. |
Small business owners
will be able to securely connect their Windows XP Professional computers to the Internet. |
Network Setup Wizard |
Makes it easy for a small business owner to set up and manage a
network. The wizard walks through key steps, such as sharing files and printers, sharing
the Internet connection, and configuring the Internet Connection Firewall. |
Small businesses can get
a productive and secure network up and running without relying on network experts. |
Network Bridge |
Simplifies the setup and configuration of small networks that
use mixed network connections (such as Cat-5 Ethernet and wireless) by linking the
different types of networks together. |
Small businesses have
more flexibility when choosing network media and do not need to purchase extra equipment,
such as bridges and routers. |
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) |
Connects a small office network to the Internet, using a dial-up
or broadband connection. Windows XP Professional can provide network address translation,
addressing, and name resolution services for all computers on a small business network to
share a single connection. |
Small business owners
can connect their computer systems to the Internet with a single Internet connection,
resulting in potential savings in ISP and hardware costs. |
Peer-to-peer networking support |
Enables Windows XP Professional to interoperate with earlier
versions of Windows on a peer-to-peer level, allowing the sharing of all resources, such
as folders, printers, and peripherals. |
Small business owners
can easily integrate Windows XP Professional into existing peer-to-peer networks. |
Unified Wireless LAN Client |
Wireless LAN client works with a broad range of wireless
hotspots. |
Helps users connect
seamlessly to wireless hotspots without having to install or update third-party software. |
Bluetooth 2.0 Update |
Connect more easily with Bluetooth enabled devices. |
Enables users to benefit
easily from the latest Bluetooth enabled hardware devices such as keyboards, mice, cell
phones, and PDAs. |
Advanced Management, Deployment, and Support Tools to Make Your Job Easier
Application compatibility |
We've provided fixes to hundreds of applications that didn't run on Windows 2000
Professional to run on Windows XP Professional. As new application fixes are
published, we will make them available via the Windows Update service. In addition to
the application fixes, Windows XP Professional has a mechanism that allows the user
or IT administrator to specify if an application needs to run in either Windows NT 4.0 or
Windows 95/98 or Windows Me compatibility mode. In this mode, Windows XP Professional
system DLLs provide appropriate responses to the running application, allowing it to
execute appropriately without a noticeable loss of performance. |
Users will experience increased application
compatibility when compared with Windows 2000 Professional, and as more application fixes
are rolled out, they'll be automatically available. Application compatibility modes will
potentially allow thousands of applications to run that don't have applications fixes on
Windows XP Professional. |
User State Migration Tool |
Helps administrators to migrate a user's data and
application/operating system settings from an old computer to a new Windows XP
Professional desktop computer. |
IT administrators can
reduce the number of help desk calls after a migration, and end users will have less
downtime because they will retain their familiar operating environment. |
Automatic Updates |
Turned on by default, Windows XP Professional automatically
downloads critical and security updates as they become available when the user is
connected to the Internet. Done in the background, if the computer disconnects before the
download completes, the update automatically resumes upon reconnection. Once the update
completes downloading, it installs automatically. |
Users automatically
receive and install critical updates without impacting their ability to use network
connections. |
Windows Update improvements |
As application compatibility updates, new device drivers, and
other updates are released for Windows XP Professional, they become available on the
Windows Update Web site. (Users can also find critical and security updates here, if they
choose not to use automatic updating.) Administrators can disable user access to Windows
Update. The Windows Update Catalog is provided for administrators to download updates and
deploy them as appropriate in their organizations. |
The operating system
updates will always be available to ensure the most reliable and full-featured computing
experience. |
Support for latest hardware standards |
Windows XP Professional supports the latest hardware standards.
It supports UDF 2.01, the latest standard for reading DVD discs. It also supports the
formatting of DVD-RAM drives with the FAT32 file system. Microsoft DirectX 9.0b API
support will be included, and Windows XP Professional fully supports standards for
Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and the high-speed bus known
as IEEE 1394. |
Will support the latest
hardware standards, and be optimized for the latest applications. Ensures users have the
most stable version of Microsoft's gaming and graphics technology. |
Setup with Dynamic Update |
The Setup routine ensures that the operating system files are up
to date. Before any files are installed, Windows XP Professional checks the Web for
critical system updates and downloads them for installation. |
Will ensure that you
install the most recent updates to the operating system for the best installation
experience. |
Unattended installation |
Provides the ability to specify a greater number of options than
previous versions of Windows, and allows for a greater degree of security by encrypting
passwords in the answer files. |
Allows administrators a
greater degree of flexibility in scripting unattended Setup routines, ensuring the most
flexible installation options available today. |
Internet Explorer 6 Administration Kit |
Internet Explorer 6 is more customizable using the Internet
Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK 6), so it's easier to deploy and maintain the browser.
Version 6 of the IEAK adds control over new features such as the Media bar, Auto Image
Resize, and the Personal bar. |
Administrators have a
greater degree of flexibility in deploying Internet Explorer 6. |
System Preparation tool (SysPrep) |
SysPrep helps administrators clone computer configurations,
systems, and applications. A single image, which includes the operating system and
business applications, can be restored to multiple different machine configurations. |
SysPrep will allow
administrators to reduce the number of operating system images they maintain, while
reducing the time it takes to deploy a typical desktop system. |
Setup Manager |
A graphical wizard that guides administrators in designing
installation scripts. |
It's now easier to
create answer files for unattended installations. |
Remote OS Installation |
Windows XP Professional can be installed across the network (including SysPrep
images). Note: This feature requires the Active Directory service. |
Saves time and reduces
deployment costs by allowing administrators to standardize desktop environments to match
organizational requirements. |
Multilingual support |
Allows users to easily create, read, and edit documents in many
languages with the English version of Windows XP Professional. The Multilingual User
Interface Pack, an add-on pack to the English version of Windows XP Professional, lets you
change the user interface language for each user. |
IT administrators will
no longer need to deploy multiple localized versions of the operating system. This will
speed deployments, reduce operating system images, and lower cost of ownership. |
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) |
Provides a standard infrastructure for monitoring and managing
system resources. |
Allows system
administrators to monitor and control the system using scripting and third-party
applications. |
Safe Mode startup options |
Allows Windows XP Professional to boot the system at the most
basic level, using default settings and minimum device drivers. |
Provides a means to boot
the system into the GUI so that IT professionals can repair the operating system. |
Group Policy |
Group Policy settings simplify the administration of users and
objects by letting administrators organize them into logical units, such as departments or
locations and then assign the same settings, including security, appearance, and
management options, to all employees in that group. There are hundreds of new policies
available for Windows XP Professional, in addition to those provided for Windows 2000
Professional. |
As users move from
location to location, they still have access to critical data, and they maintain their own
customized work environment. |
Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) |
Allows administrators to see the effect of Group Policy on a
targeted user or computer. With RSoP, administrators have a powerful and flexible
base-level tool to plan, monitor, and troubleshoot Group Policy. |
Administrators can more
easily implement and manage Group Policy using the new RSoP tool. |
Microsoft Management Console (MMC) |
Provides a centralized and consistent environment for management
tools. |
IT administrators will
be able to create customized application consoles. |
Windows Firewall Multiple Profile Support |
Enables users and administrators of domain-joined PCs to
configure Windows Firewall policies for two different networks. |
Ensures users maintain a
high security profile in each environment. |
Windows Firewall Group Policy Support |
Enables IT administrators to configure all Windows Firewall
settings from a central location. |
Easily maintain
consistent configurations throughout a group or network. |
Windows Firewall Global Configuration |
Ensures that whenever a Windows Firewall configuration change
occurs, it applies to all network connections. |
Manage configuration
changes easily and consistently across the network. |
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