Windows XP

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(June 2011)
Windows XP
Part of the Microsoft Windows family
Microsoft Windows XP Logo.svg
Windows XP SP3.png
Screenshot of Windows XP
Developer
Microsoft Corporation
Website Windows XP: Homepage
Releases
Release date RTM: August 24, 2001
Retail: October 25, 2001[info]
Current version 5.1 (Build 2600: Service Pack 3) (April 21, 2008; 3 years ago)
[info]
Source model Closed source, Shared source[1]
License Proprietary commercial software
Kernel type Hybrid
Update method Windows Update
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
Platform support IA-32, x86-64 and Itanium
Preceded by Windows Me and Windows 2000
Succeeded by Windows Vista
Support status
Extended support status Extended Support until April 8, 2014 for Windows XP
with Service Pack 3 and Windows XP x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 (Paid support is
still available)

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal

computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First
released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001,[2] it is the most popular
version of Windows, based on installed user base.[3] The name "XP" is short for
"eXPerience."[4]

Windows XP, the successor to Windows 2000 and Windows Me, was the first consumer-
oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT
kernel. Windows XP was released for retail sale on October 25, 2001, and over 400
million copies were in use in January 2006.[5] Direct OEM and retail sales of
Windows XP ceased on June 30, 2008. Microsoft continued to sell Windows XP through
their System Builders (smaller OEMs who sell assembled computers) program until
January 31, 2009.[6][7]

The most common editions of the operating system were Windows XP Home Edition,
which was targeted at home users, and Windows XP Professional, which offered
additional features such as support for Windows Server domains and two physical
processors, and was targeted at power users, business and enterprise clients.
Windows XP Media Center Edition has additional multimedia features enhancing the
ability to record and watch TV shows, view DVD movies, and listen to music. Windows
XP Tablet PC Edition was designed to run stylus applications built using the Tablet
PC platform.

Windows XP was eventually released for two additional architectures, Windows XP 64-
bit Edition for IA-64 (Itanium) processors and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
for x86-64. There is also Windows XP Embedded, a component version of the Windows
XP Professional, and editions for specific markets such as Windows XP Starter
Edition. By mid-2009, a manufacturer revealed the first Windows XP powered cellular
telephone.[8]

The NT-based versions of Windows, which are programmed in C, C++, and assembly,[9]
are known for their improved stability and efficiency over the 9x versions of
Microsoft Windows.[10][11] Windows XP presented a significantly redesigned
graphical user interface, a change Microsoft promoted as more user-friendly than
previous versions of Windows. A new software management facility called Side-by-
Side Assembly was introduced to ameliorate the "DLL hell" that plagues 9x versions
of Windows.[12][13] It is also the first version of Windows to use product
activation to combat illegal copying. Windows XP was criticized by some users for
security vulnerabilities, tight integration of applications such as Internet
Explorer 6 and Windows Media Player, and for aspects of its default user interface.
[citation needed] Service Pack 2, Service Pack 3, and Internet Explorer 8 addressed
some of these concerns.

During development, the project was codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British
Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.
[14]

According to web analytics data generated by W3Schools, from September 2003 to July
2011, Windows XP was the most widely used operating system for accessing the
internet. As of August 2011, Windows XP market share is 38% after having peaked at
76.1% in January 2007.[3]
Contents
[hide]

1 User interface
2 New and updated features
3 Editions
3.1 Editions for specific markets
3.2 Languages
3.3 ATMs and Vendors
4 Service packs
4.1 Service Pack 1
4.2 Service Pack 2
4.3 Service Pack 3
5 System requirements
5.1 Physical memory limits
5.2 Processor limits
6 Support lifecycle
7 License and media types
7.1 Retail
7.2 Volume License
7.3 Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links

User interface
Windows XP themes Windows XP Luna.png Windows XP Classic.png
Default Blue (Luna)

Windows Classic
Windows XP Royale.png
RoyaleXP2.PNG
XP Media Center

The new start menu design

in the "Energy blue" theme.

Windows task grouping (Luna).png

The "task grouping" feature introduced in Windows XP.

Windows XP featured a new task-based GUI (Graphical user interface). The Start menu
and Taskbar were updated and many visual effects were added, including:

A translucent blue selection rectangle in Windows 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.[15] Some effects, such as alpha compositing (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
degraded, and Microsoft recommends the feature should be turned off manually.[16]
Windows XP added the ability for Windows to use "Visual Styles" to change the
appearance of 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 MiB 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. 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.[17]

In addition to the included Windows XP themes, there is one previously unreleased

theme with a dark blue taskbar and window bars similar to Windows Vista titled
"Royale Noir" available as unofficial download.[18] Microsoft officially released a
modified version of this theme as the "Zune" theme, to celebrate the launch of its
Zune portable media player in November 2006. The differences are only visual with a
new glassy look along with a black taskbar instead of dark blue and an orange start
button instead of green.[19] Additionally, the Media Center "Energy Blue" theme,
which was included in the Media Center editions, is also available to download for
use on all Windows XP editions.[20]

The default wallpaper, Bliss, is a BMP photograph of a landscape in the Napa Valley
outside Napa, California,[21] with rolling green hills and a blue sky with
stratocumulus and cirrus clouds.

The Windows 2000 "classic" interface can be used instead if preferred. Several
third party utilities exist that provide hundreds of different visual styles.
New and updated features
Main article: Features new to Windows XP

Windows XP introduced several new features to the Windows line, including:

 GDI+ graphics subsystem and improved image management and viewing in the shell
[22]
DirectX 8.1 upgradeable to DirectX 9.0c
Start Menu and Taskbar improvements
A number of new features in Windows Explorer including task panes, tiles and
filmstrip views, improved sorting and grouping, searching by document categories,
customizable infotips, built-in CD burning, AutoPlay, Simple File Sharing and
WebDAV mini-redirector.
Improved imaging features such as Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, improved
image handling and thumbnail caching in Explorer
A number of kernel enhancements and power management improvements [23][24]
Faster start-up, (due to improved Prefetch functions) logon, logoff,
hibernation and application launch sequences.[23]
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.
[25]
Numerous improvements to increase the system reliability such as improved
System Restore, Automated System Recovery, Windows Error Reporting and driver
reliability.
A new, arguably more user-friendly interface, including the framework for
developing themes for the desktop environment [26] and richer icons with alpha
transparency
Hardware support improvements such as USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Windows Image
Acquisition, Media Transfer Protocol, DualView for multi-monitors and audio
improvements.
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 [27]
The ClearType font rendering mechanism, which is designed to improve text
readability on liquid crystal display (LCD) and similar monitors, especially
laptops.[28][29]
Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop features, which allow users to connect to
a computer running Windows XP from across a network or the Internet and access
their applications, files, printers, and devices or request help.[30]
New networking features [31] including Windows Firewall, Internet Connection
Sharing integration with UPnP, NAT traversal APIs, Quality of Service features,
IPv6 and Teredo tunneling, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, extended fax
features, network bridging, peer to peer networking, support for most DSL modems,
IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) connections with auto configuration and roaming, TAPI 3.1,
Bluetooth and networking over FireWire.
New security features such as Software Restriction Policies, Credential
Manager, Encrypting File System improvements, improved certificate services, smart
card and PKI support. Windows XP SP2 introduced Data Execution Prevention, Windows
Security Center and Attachment Manager.
Side-by-side assemblies and registration-free COM
Improved media features in Windows Media format runtime, Windows Media Player,
Windows Movie Maker, TV/video capture and playback technologies, Windows Media
Encoder and introduction of Windows Media Center
General improvements to international support such as more locales, languages
and scripts, MUI support in Terminal Services, improved IMEs and National Language
Support, Text Services Framework
Handwriting recognition, speech recognition and digital ink support accessible
through the Tablet PC Input Panel (TIP) in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Numerous improvements to system administration tools such as Windows Installer,
Windows Script Host, Disk Defragmenter, Windows Task Manager, Group Policy, CHKDSK,
NTBackup, Microsoft Management Console, Shadow Copy, Registry Editor, Sysprep and
WMI [32]
Improved application compatibility and shims compared to Windows 2000
 Updated accessories and games.
Improvements to IntelliMirror features such as Offline Files, Roaming user
profiles and Folder redirection.

Users in British schools observed the improved ease of use and advanced
capabilities � comparing the former to RISC OS and Mac OS, and the latter to Unix.
[33]
Editions
Main article: Windows XP editions
Diagram representing the main editions of Windows XP. It is based on the category
of the edition (grey) and codebase (black arrow).

The two major editions are Windows XP Home Edition, designed for home users, and
Windows XP Professional, designed for business and power-users. XP Professional
contains advanced features that the average home user would not use. However, these
features are not necessarily missing from XP Home. They are simply disabled, but
are there and can become functional. These releases were made available at retail
outlets that sell computer software, and were preinstalled on computers sold by
major computer manufacturers. As of mid-2008, both editions continue to be sold. A
third edition, called Windows XP Media Center Edition was introduced in 2002 and
was updated every year until 2006 to incorporate new digital media, broadcast
television and Media Center Extender capabilities. Unlike the Home and Professional
edition, it was never made available for retail purchase, and was typically either
sold through OEM channels, or was preinstalled on computers that were typically
marketed as "media center PCs".

Two different 64-bit editions were made available, one designed specifically for
Itanium-based workstations, which was introduced in 2001 around the same time as
the Home and Professional editions, but was discontinued a few years later when
vendors of Itanium hardware stopped selling workstation-class machines due to low
sales. The other, called Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, supports the x86-64
extension. x86-64 was implemented first by AMD as "AMD64", found in AMD's Opteron
and Athlon 64 chips, and later implemented by Intel as "Intel 64" (formerly known
as IA-32e and EM64T), found in Intel's Pentium 4 and later chips.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition was produced for a class of specially designed

notebook/laptop computers called tablet PCs. It is compatible with a pen-sensitive
screen, supporting handwritten notes and portrait-oriented screens.
Internet Explorer 6 running in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Microsoft also released Windows XP Embedded, an edition for specific consumer

electronics, set-top boxes, kiosks/ATMs, medical devices, arcade video games,
point-of-sale terminals, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) components. In
July 2006, Microsoft released Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a thin client
version of Windows XP Embedded which targets older machines (as early as the
original Pentium). It is only available to Software Assurance customers. It is
intended for corporate customers who would like to upgrade to Windows XP to take
advantage of its security and management capabilities, but can't afford to purchase
new hardware.
Editions for specific markets

Windows XP Starter Edition is a lower-cost edition of Windows XP available in

Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia,
Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela. It is similar to Windows XP Home,
but is limited to low-end hardware, can only run three programs at a time, and has
some other features either removed or disabled by default. Each country's edition
is also customized for that country, including desktop backgrounds of popular
locations, localized help features for those who may not speak English, and other
default settings designed for easier use than typical Windows XP installations. The
Malaysian version, for example, contains a desktop background of the Kuala Lumpur
skyline.[34]

In March 2004, the European Commission fined Microsoft �497 million (US$603
million) and ordered the company to provide a version of Windows without Windows
Media Player. The Commission concluded that Microsoft "broke European Union
competition law by leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating
systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media
players". After unsuccessful appeals in 2004 and 2005, Microsoft reached an
agreement with the Commission where it would release a court-compliant version,
Windows XP Edition N. This version does not include the company's Windows Media
Player but instead encourages users to pick and download their own media player.
Microsoft wanted to call this version Reduced Media Edition, but EU regulators
objected and suggested the Edition N name, with the N signifying "not with Media
Player" for both Home and Professional editions of Windows XP. Because it is sold
at the same price as the version with Windows Media Player included, Dell, Hewlett-
Packard, Lenovo and Fujitsu Siemens have chosen not to stock the product. However,
Dell did offer the operating system for a short time. Consumer interest has been
low, with roughly 1,500 units shipped to OEMs, and no reported sales to consumers.
[35][36][37][38]

In December 2005, the Korean Fair Trade Commission ordered Microsoft to make
available editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 that do not contain
Windows Media Player or Windows Messenger.[39] Like the European Commission
decision, this decision was based on the grounds that Microsoft had abused its
dominant position in the market to push other products onto consumers. Unlike that
decision, however, Microsoft was also forced to withdraw the non-compliant versions
of Windows from the South Korean market. This decision resulted in Microsoft's
releasing "K" and "KN" variants of the Home and Professional editions in August
2006.

That same year, Microsoft also released two additional editions of Windows XP Home
Edition directed towards subscription-based and pay-as-you-go pricing models. These
editions, released as part of Microsoft's FlexGo initiative, are used in
conjunction with a hardware component to enforce time limitations on the usage of
Windows. Its target market is emerging economies such as Brazil and Vietnam.[40]
Languages

Windows XP was available in many languages.[41] In addition, MUI packs and Language
Interface Packs translating the user interface were also available for certain
languages.[42][43]
ATMs and Vendors

Automated teller machine (ATM) vendors Wincor Nixdorf, NCR Corporation and Diebold
Incorporated have all adopted Microsoft Windows XP as their migration path from
OS/2. Wincor Nixdorf, who has been pushing for standardization for many years,
began shipping ATMs with Windows when they first arrived on the scene.

Diebold initially shipped XP Home Edition exclusively, but, following extensive

pressure from customer banks to support a common operating system, switched to
support XP Professional to match their primary competitor, NCR Corporation and
Wincor Nixdorf.

Redbox DVD Vending machines run a modified version of XP designed for the
fullscreen User Interface of the Vending Touchscreen and the DVD vending itself.
[citation needed]
Service packs

Microsoft occasionally releases service packs for its Windows operating systems to
fix problems and add features. Each service pack is a superset of all previous
service packs and patches so that only the latest service pack needs to be
installed, and also includes new revisions.[44] However if you still have the
earliest version of Windows XP on Retail CD (without any service packs included),
you will need to install SP1a or SP2, before SP3 can be installed. Older service
packs need not be manually removed before application of the most recent one.
Windows Update "normally" takes care of automatically removing unnecessary files.

The service pack details below only apply to the 32-bit editions. Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition was based on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and
claimed to be "SP1" in system properties from the initial release. It is updated by
the same service packs and hotfixes as the x64 edition of Windows Server 2003.
Service Pack 1
Set Program Access and Defaults was added in Service Pack 1.

Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002. It contains
post-RTM security fixes and hot-fixes, compatibility updates, optional .NET
Framework support, enabling technologies for new devices such as Tablet PCs, and a
new Windows Messenger 4.7 version. The most notable new features were USB 2.0
support and a Set Program Access and Defaults utility that aimed at hiding various
middleware products. Users can control the default application for activities such
as web browsing and instant messaging, as well as hide access to some of
Microsoft's bundled programs. This utility was first brought into the older Windows
2000 operating system with its Service Pack 3. This Service Pack supported SATA and
hard drives that were larger than 137GB (48-bit LBA support) by default. The
Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, which was not in the RTM version, appeared in this
Service Pack.[45] Support for IPv6 was also introduced in this Service Pack.

On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1a (SP1a). This release

removed Microsoft's Java virtual machine as a result of a lawsuit with Sun
Microsystems.[46]
Service Pack 2
Windows Security Center was added in Service Pack 2.

Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released on August 25, 2004,[47] with an emphasis on
security. Unlike the previous service pack, SP2 added new functionality to Windows
XP, such as WPA encryption compatibility and improved Wi-Fi support (with a wizard
utility), a pop-up ad blocker for Internet Explorer 6, and Bluetooth support. The
new welcome screen during the kernel boot removes the subtitles "Professional",
"Home Edition" and "Embedded" since Microsoft introduced new Windows XP editions
prior to the release of SP2. The green loading bar in Home Edition and the yellow
one in Embedded were replaced with the blue bar, seen in Professional and other
versions of Windows XP, making the boot-screen of operating systems resemble each
other. Colors in other areas, such as Control Panel and the Help and Support tool,
remained as before.

Service Pack 2 also added new security enhancements (codenamed "Springboard"),[48]

which included a major revision to the included firewall that was renamed to
Windows Firewall and became enabled by default, Data Execution Prevention, which
can be weakly emulated,[clarification needed] gains hardware support in the NX bit
that can stop some forms of buffer overflow attacks. Also raw socket support is
removed (which supposedly limits the damage done by zombie machines). Additionally,
security-related improvements were made to e-mail and web browsing. Windows XP
Service Pack 2 includes the Windows Security Center, which provides a general
overview of security on the system, including the state of antivirus software,
Windows Update, and the new Windows Firewall. Third-party anti-virus and firewall
applications can interface with the new Security Center.[49]
Service Pack 2b
In August 2006, Microsoft released updated installation media for Windows XP SP2
and Windows Server 2003 SP1 to contain a patch[50] that requires ActiveX controls
to require manual activation in accordance with a patent held by Eolas.[51] Since
then, the technology was licensed by Microsoft, and Service Pack 3 and later
versions do not include this update.
Service Pack 2c

On August 10, 2007, Microsoft announced a minor update to Service Pack 2, called
Service Pack 2c (SP2c).[52] The update fixes the issue of the diminishing number of
available product keys for Windows XP. This update was only available to system
builders from their distributors in Windows XP Professional and Windows XP
Professional N operating systems. SP2c was released in September 2007.[53]
Service Pack 3

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008,
and to the public via both the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update on May
6, 2008.[54][55][56][57]

It began being automatically pushed out to Automatic Update users on July 10, 2008.
[58] A feature set overview which details new features available separately as
standalone updates to Windows XP, as well as backported features from Windows Vista
has been posted by Microsoft.[59] A total of 1,174 fixes have been included in SP3.
[60] Service Pack 3 can be installed on systems with Internet Explorer versions 6,
7 or 8.[61] Internet Explorer 7 and 8 are not included as part of SP3.[62]
New features in Service Pack 3

NX APIs for application developers to enable Data Execution Prevention for

their code, independent of system-wide compatibility enforcement settings [63]
Turns black hole router detection on by default[64]
Support for SHA-2 signatures in X.509 certificates [64]
Network Access Protection client
Group Policy support for IEEE 802.1X authentication for wired network adapters.
[65]
Credentials Security Service Provider[66]
Descriptive Security options in Group Policy/Local Security Policy user
interface
An updated version of the Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider Module
(RSAENH) that is FIPS 140-2 certified (SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 algorithms)[64]
Installing without requiring a product key during setup for retail and OEM
versions

Previously released updates

Service Pack 3 also incorporated several previously released key updates for
Windows XP, which were not included up to SP2 including:

Windows Imaging Component[67]

IPSec Simple Policy Update for simplified creation and maintenance of IPSec
filters[68]
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.5
MSXML 6.0 SP2 and XMLLite
Microsoft Management Console 3.0
Credential Roaming service (Digital Identity Management Service) update
Remote Desktop Protocol 6.1
Peer Name Resolution Protocol 2.1
Network Diagnostics update
WPA2 Update (KB893357)
Windows Script 5.7
Windows Installer 3.1 v2
 Wireless LAN API (KB918997)
Improvements made to Windows Management Instrumentation in Windows Vista to
reduce the possibility of corruption of the WMI repository.[69]

Slipstreamed retail and OEM versions of Windows XP with SP3 can be installed and
run with full functionality for 30 days without a product key, after which time the
user will be prompted to enter a valid key and activate the installation. Volume
license key (VLK) versions still require entering a product key before beginning
installation.[70]

Windows XP Service Pack 3 is a cumulative update of all previous service packs for
XP. The service pack installer checks
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows\CSDVersion registry key to see if has
a value greater than or equal to 0x100, and if it does it will allow the update to
proceed. Otherwise it will prompt to install either XP SP1 or SP2. Since SP1 is no
longer available for full download, it would need to be downloaded using Windows
Update. The other option is to manually change the registry key, in essence fooling
the installer into thinking SP1 is already installed.[71]

However, it is possible to slipstream SP3 into the Windows XP setup files at any
service pack level�including the original RTM version�without any errors or issues.
[72] Slipstreaming SP3 into Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is not supported.
[73]

Service Pack 3 contains updates to the operating system components of Windows XP

Media Center Edition (MCE) and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and security updates
for .NET Framework version 1.0, which is included in these Windows XP SKUs.
However, it does not include update rollups for the Windows Media Center
application in Windows XP MCE 2005.[74] SP3 also omits security updates for Windows
Media Player 10, although the player is included in Windows XP MCE 2005.[74] The
Address Bar DeskBand on the Taskbar is no longer included due to legal
restrictions.[75] It also removed the Energy Star logo from the ScreenSaver tab of
the Display properties, leaving a very noticeable blank space next to the link to
enter the Power Management control panel.
System requirements

System requirements for Windows XP Home Edition and Professional are as follows.
[76]
Minimum Recommended
Processor 233 MHz[1] At least 300 MHz
Memory 64 MB of RAM[2] At least 128 MB of RAM
Video adapter and monitor Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
Hard drive disk free space 1.5 GB or higher
(additional 1.8 GB for its Service Pack 2[77] and additional 900 MB for its Service
Pack 3[71])
Optical drive CD-ROM drive[78] (Only to install from CD-ROM media)
Input devices Keyboard, Microsoft Mouse or a compatible pointing device
Sound Sound card, Speakers or headphones

^1 Even though this is Microsoft's stated minimum processor speed for Windows
XP, it is possible to install and run the operating system on early IA-32
processors such as a P5 Pentium without MMX instructions. Windows XP is not
compatible with processors older than Pentium (such as 486) because it requires
CMPXCHG8B instructions.[citation needed]
^2 For many workloads that involve Web browsing, e-mail, and other activities,
64 MB of RAM will provide [the] user experience equivalent or superior to that of
Windows Me running on the same hardware."[79]

System requirements for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition are as follows.[80]

 Processor: x86-64 processor
Memory: At least 256 MB of RAM
Video adapter and monitor: Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
Hard drive disk free space: At least 1.5 GB
Optical drive: CD-ROM drive[78]
Input devices: Keyboard; Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
Sound: Sound card; Speakers or headphones
Drivers for sound card, GPU of video card, wired LAN card, etc. must be
designed for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

System requirements for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition are as follows.[81][82]

Processor: Intel Itanium 733-MHz (Recommended: Intel Itanium 800-MHz or better)

Memory: At least 1 GB of RAM
Video adapter and monitor: Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
Hard drive disk free space: At least 6 GB
Optical drive: CD-ROM drive[78]
Input devices: Keyboard; Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
Sound: Sound card; Speakers or headphones
Drivers for sound card, GPU of video card, wired LAN card, etc. must be
designed for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

Physical memory limits

Maximum limits on physical memory (RAM) that Windows XP can address vary depending
on both the Windows version and between 32-bit and 64-bit versions.[83][84] The
following table specifies the maximum physical memory limits supported:
Physical memory limits for Windows XP versions[83][84] Version Limit in 32-bit
Windows Limit in 64-bit Windows
Windows XP Professional 4 GB 128 GB
Windows XP Home Edition N/A
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows XP Starter Edition 512 MB
Processor limits

The maximum total quantity of logical processors[85] of a PC that Windows XP

supports is: 32[86][87] for 32-bit; 64[88][89] for 64-bit.

The maximum quantity of physical processors in a PC that Windows XP supports: is 2

for Professional;[90] 1 for the Home Edition.[91]
Support lifecycle

Support for Windows XP without a service pack ended on September 30, 2004[92] and
support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a ended on October 10, 2006.[93][94]
Windows XP Service Pack 2 was retired on July 13, 2010, almost six years after its
general availability.[95]

In accordance with Microsoft's posted timetable, the company stopped general

licensing of Windows XP to OEMs and terminated retail sales of the operating system
on June 30, 2008, 17 months after the release of Windows Vista.[96][97] However, an
exception was announced on April 3, 2008, for OEMs installing to ultra low-cost PCs
(ULCPCs) until one year after the availability of Windows 7 (October 22, 2010).[98]
[99][100]

On April 14, 2009, Windows XP and its family of operating systems were moved from
Mainstream Support to the Extended Support phase as it marks the progression of the
legacy operating system through the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy. During the
Extended Support Phase, Microsoft will continue to provide security updates every
month for Windows XP; however, free technical support, warranty claims, and design
changes are no longer being offered.

On April 8, 2014, all Windows XP support, including security updates and security-
related hotfixes, will be terminated.[95] Users are recommended to upgrade to
Windows 7.[101]
License and media types
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve
this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (August 2008)

There are three main types of Windows XP licenses: Retail, Volume (VLK), and
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). All three types of licenses are available
for Windows XP Professional (32-bit and 64-bit). Windows XP Home Edition is limited
to Retail and OEM licenses whereas Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP
Tablet PC Edition are exclusively available through VLK and OEM licenses.

Each type of license has a different installation CD. For customized or retail
media, there is a small difference on each type of disc that will allow that
installation disc to accept only one type of product key.

Only retail and volume licenses include support for end-user installation scenarios
from Microsoft. OEM software is preinstalled on systems and is supported by the
system manufacturer rather than Microsoft. The price of such software is lower.
There are two important restrictions on OEM licenses: Microsoft does not offer
technical support, and the license cannot be transferred to another computer. The
cost of OEM software products bundled with systems is not disclosed by Microsoft
nor by its partners, as each system manufacturer will define its own bundling
price.

Microsoft recommends that system manufacturers have their systems tested, for a
fee, as part of the Windows Quality Online Services (Winqual) which includes
extensive testing so that no component will cause instability in the Windows
operating system due to incompatibility with the Windows operating system or with
other system components or their respective drivers. Having a system tested and
approved will allow the manufacturer to bear the "Certified for Windows" logo
sticker on the exterior of the system, and there are additional benefits for having
a tested product. This includes the product's being listed on the Windows
Marketplace. Because of the fees and extensive requirements, Microsoft acknowledges
that smaller system manufacturers may not opt in to the program until they produce
computer systems at a modest rate and on recurring designs.
Retail

Retail licenses, those purchased from a retail store in full packaging, are of two
sub-types: "Upgrade" and "Full Purchase Product", often abbreviated by Microsoft as
FPP. FPP licenses are transferable from one computer to another, provided the
previous installation is removed from the old computer. Although upgrade licenses
are also transferable, a user must have a previous version of Windows even on the
new computer to which they are moving the installation. Retail licenses include
installation support for end-users, provided directly by Microsoft.
Volume License

A Volume License is the license given to a software version sold to businesses

under a direct purchase agreement with Microsoft, and is sold as an upgrade license
only, meaning that a previous license must be available for each new volume
license. Volume license versions of Windows XP use a Volume License Key (VLK),
which is a product key that does not require Windows Product Activation. The term
"Volume License Key" refers to the ability to use one product key for multiple
systems, depending on the type of agreement. Since Windows XP Volume License
versions do not require product activation, this led to leaked copies of VLK media
and product keys from businesses leading to piracy of Windows XP quickly spreading
across the Internet upon early release. Beginning with Service Pack 1, Microsoft's
active attempts to search out and blacklist known pirated VLK product keys became
well known due to the inability to install the service pack on a system with one of
the blacklisted keys. Later, this led to the Windows Genuine Advantage program.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) licenses are preinstalled on, and sold with,
pre-assembled computers from system manufacturers. There are two types of OEM
product types � those used for "direct OEMs" (major name brands that buy through a
direct contract with Microsoft and produce and brand their own media from a
Microsoft "Gold Master Copy" by using an authorized Microsoft duplication partner),
and those used for "system builders" (local computer shops that buy generic,
unbranded kits through authorized Microsoft distributors). Direct OEM product keys
will often not activate with system builder installation media because direct OEMs
are now required by Microsoft to pre-activate their copies in the factory using
their own internal mechanism before delivery to the customer. It is recommended
that system builders also pre-activate their systems before delivery, but this is
not mandatory.

OEM installations can be customized using the Microsoft OEM Preinstallation Kit
with branding, logos, additional applications, optional services, alternate
applications for certain Windows components, Internet Explorer links, and various
other customizations. All OEM customers must include support and contact
information for the initial installation of Windows because it is the
responsibility for the OEM to support the Windows installation, and is not provided
by Microsoft to the end-user. Direct OEMs must create their own media, but have the
option of creating their own custom recovery solution, which may or may not be
similar to a generic installation. Direct OEMs may provide a recovery partition on
the hard drive as the custom recovery solution rather than providing disc-based
media with the computer.

Some end-users have found this to be a troublesome option, because in the event of
an out-of-warranty hard drive failure, they may not have access to any installation
media in order to reinstall Windows onto a new hard drive. System builders are not
allowed the option to create a custom recovery CD/DVD media. The only deliverable
media available for a system builder to give to the end-user is the unbranded OEM
system builder hologram media kit. Because of this, when end-users reformat their
hard drives and re-install from the installation media, they lose all the custom
branding and support information that the system builder would have included.

As a supplemental recovery method to a CD/DVD-based installation, a system builder

may employ a fully customized recovery solution on the hard drive. Whether
utilizing a recovery partition or not, a system builder must still include the
original generic OEM system builder hologram CD/DVD media kit. OEM licenses are not
transferable from one computer to another. Every computer sold/resold with an OEM
license must include all of the original installation media or recovery solution,
documentation, Certificate of Authenticity, and product key sticker with the sale.
Microsoft requires that all OEM system manufacturers include as part of the
configuration the Windows Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), which is the initial setup
wizard encountered the first time Windows boots up. It is also required that value-
added resellers (VAR's), retailers, and general resellers not tamper with the OEM's
customized OOBE mechanism unless under permission by the OEM, and it is a
recommended configuration for systems that are privately resold so that a customer
will have a like-new computer experience upon first boot-up.

OEM licenses are to be installed by professional system manufacturers only. Under

Microsoft's OEM License Agreement, they are not to be sold to end-users under any
circumstance, and are to be preinstalled on a computer using the OEM
Preinstallation Kit (OPK) before shipment to the customer, and must include at the
very least the manufacturer's support contact information. They are, therefore,
designed for installation only on a single computer and are not transferable, even
if the original computer is no longer in use. This is not usually an issue for
users who purchase new computer systems, because most pre-assembled systems ship
with a preinstalled operating system. There are few circumstances where Microsoft
will allow the transfer of an OEM license from one non-functioning system to
another, but the OEM System Builder License Agreement (SBLA), as well as the OEM
End User License Agreement (EULA) do not contain any allowance for this, so it is
entirely up to Microsoft's discretion, depending on the situation.[102]
Non-use by end user

In the event that an end user decides that they do not wish to use a preinstalled
version of Windows, Microsoft's End User License Agreement (EULA) provides that the
software may be returned to the OEM for a refund.[103] Despite refusal of some
manufacturers to honor the entitlement, it has been enforced by courts in some
countries.[104][105]
See also
Microsoft wordmark.svg Microsoft portal

Comparison of operating systems

History of operating systems
List of operating systems
Comparison of Windows Vista and Windows XP

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