Features new to Windows XP
Encyclopedia
Windows XP
introduced many features not found in previous versions of Windows.
, the C++ based software-only GDI+ subsystem was introduced to replace certain GDI
functions. GDI+ adds anti-aliased 2D graphics, textures, floating point coordinates, gradient shading, more complex path management, bicubic filtering, intrinsic support for modern graphics-file formats like JPEG
and PNG, and support for composition of affine transformation
s in the 2D view pipeline. GDI+ uses ARGB values to represent color. Use of these features is apparent in Windows XP's user interface (transparent desktop icon labels, drop shadow
s for icon labels on the desktop, shadows under menus, translucent blue selection rectangle in Windows Explorer
, sliding task panes and taskbar buttons), and several of its applications such as Microsoft Paint
, Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
, Photo Printing Wizard, My Pictures Slideshow screensaver, and their presence in the basic graphics layer greatly simplifies implementations of vector-graphics systems such as Flash or SVG
. The GDI+ dynamic library can be shipped with an application and used under older versions of Windows. The total number of GDI handles per session is also raised in Windows XP from 16384 to 65536 (configurable through the registry).
Windows XP shipped with DirectX
8.1 which brings major new features to DirectX Graphics besides DirectX Audio (both DirectSound
and DirectMusic
), DirectPlay
, DirectInput
and DirectShow
. Direct3D introduced programmability in the form of vertex and pixel shader
s, enabling developers to write code without worrying about superfluous hardware state, and fog
, bump mapping
and texture mapping
. DirectX 9 was released in 2003, which also sees major revisions to Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectMusic and DirectShow. Direct3D 9 added a new version of the High Level Shader Language
, support for floating-point texture formats, Multiple Render Targets
, and texture lookups in the vertex shader. Windows XP can be upgraded to DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), which later was included in Windows XP SP2.
Windows XP SP3 added the Windows Imaging Component
introduced in Windows Vista.
subpixel rendering
, which makes onscreen fonts smoother and more readable on liquid crystal display
(LCD) screens. Although ClearType has an effect on CRT
monitors, its primary use is for LCD/TFT-based (laptop, notebook and modern 'flatscreen') displays. ClearType in Windows XP currently supports the RGB and BGR sub pixel structures. There are other parameters such as contrast that can be set via a ClearType Tuner powertoy that Microsoft makes available as a free download from its Typography website.
was expanded to two columns; the left column focuses on the user's installed applications, while the right column provides access to the user's documents, and system links which were previously located on the desktop. Links to the My Documents, My Pictures and other special folders
are brought to the fore. The My Computer
and My Network Places
(Network Neighborhood in Windows 95 and 98) icons were also moved off the Desktop and into the Start menu, making it easier to access these icons while a number of applications are open and so that the desktop remains clean. Moreover, these links can be configured to expand as a cascading menu. Frequently used programs are automatically displayed in the left column, newly installed programs are highlighted, and the user may opt to "pin" programs to the start menu so that they are always accessible without having to navigate through the Programs folders. The default internet browser and default email program are pinned to the Start menu. The Start menu is fully customizable, links can be added or removed; the number of frequently used programs to display can be set. The All Programs menu expands like the classic Start menu to utilize the entire screen but can be set to scroll programs. The user name and user account picture are also shown on the Start menu.
not only prevents it from being accidentally resized or moved but elements such as Quick launch and other DeskBands are also locked. The Taskbar grouping feature combines multiple buttons of the same application into a single button, which when clicked, pops up a menu listing all the grouped windows and their number. Advanced taskbar grouping options can be configured from the registry
. The user can choose to always show, always hide or hide some or all notification area icons if inactive for some time. A button allows the user to reveal all the icons. The Taskbar, if set to a thicker height also displays the day and date in the notification area.
Every folder also has “File and Folder Tasks”, offering options to create new folders, share a folder on the local network, publish files or folders to a web site using the Web Publishing Wizard, and other common tasks like copying, renaming, moving, and deleting files or folders. File types that have identified themselves as being printable also have an option listed to print the file.
Underneath “File and Folder Tasks” is “Other Places”, which always lists the parent folder of the folder being viewed and includes additional links to other common locations such as “My Computer”, “Control Panel”, and “My Documents” or previously navigated locations. These change depending on what folder the user was in.
Underneath “Other Places” is a “Details” area which gives additional information when a file or folder is selected – typically the file type, file size and date modified, but depending on the file type, author, image dimensions, attributes, or other details. If the file type has a Thumbnail image handler installed, its preview also appears in the "Details" task pane. For music files, it might show the artist, album title, and the length of the song. The same information is also shown horizontally on the status bar.
The navigation pane has been enhanced in Windows XP to support "simple folder view" which when turned on hides the dotted lines that connect folders and subfolders and makes folders browsable with single click while still keeping double clicking on in the right pane. Single clicking in simple folder view auto expands the folder and clicking another folder automatically expands that folder and collapses the previous one.
properties which are shown as columns in the "Details" view of Explorer, in the new Tiles view in Explorer, on the Summary tab in a file's properties, in a file's tooltip
and on the Explorer status bar when a single file is selected. Users also gain the ability to sort by any property which is turned on in "Details" view. Developers can write column handler shell extensions to further define their own properties by which files can be sorted. The column by which items are sorted is highlighted. Sorting files and folders can be in Ascending order or Descending order in all views, not just Details view. To reverse the order, the user simply can perform the sort by the same property again. The sort order has also been made more intuitive compared to the one in Windows 2000. For file names containing numbers Windows Explorer now tries to sort based on numerical value rather than just comparing each number digit by digit for every character position in the file name. For instance, files containing "1", "2".."10" will be intuitively sorted with "10" appearing after "9" instead of appearing between "1" and "2".
The right pane of Windows Explorer has a "Show in Groups" feature which allows Explorer to separate its contents by headings based on any field which is used to sort the items. Items can thus be grouped by any detail which is turned on. "Show in Groups" is available in Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons and Details views.
technology, bear a great deal of similarity to Microsoft Office
’s Office Assistant
s, even incorporating “tricks” and sound effects.
The search capability itself is fairly similar to Windows Me and Windows 2000, with some important additions: Search can also be instructed to search only files that are categorically “Documents” or “Pictures, music and video" (searching by perceived type); this feature is noteworthy largely because of how Windows determines what types of files can be classified under these categories. Another important addition is that the "Look in" field accepts environment variables. Also, users can configure whether or not Windows XP searches for system and/or hidden files and folders. Using Tweak UI, the search user interface can be reverted to the one used by Windows 2000.
-sized images in the folder and also displays images a subfolder may be containing (4 by default) overlaid on a large folder icon. A folder's thumbnail view can be customized from the Customize tab accessible from its Properties, where users can also change the folder's icon and specify a template type (pictures, music, videos, documents) for that folder and optionally all its subfolders. The size and quality of thumbnails in "Thumbnails" view can be adjusted using Tweak UI or the registry. Exif metadata stored in the image is also shown in the file's Properties -> Summary tab , in "Details" view and in any view on the status bar. Windows XP optionally caches the thumbnails in a "Thumbs.db" file in the same folder as the pictures so that thumbnails are generated faster the next time. Thumbnails can be forced to regenerate by right-clicking the image in Thumbnail or Filmstrip views and selecting "Refresh thumbnail".
and devices and, based on content such as pictures, music or video files, launches an appropriate application to play or display the content. AutoPlay (not to be confused with AutoRun
) was created in order to simplify the use of peripheral
devices – MP3 players, memory card
s, USB storage devices and others – by automatically starting the software needed to access and view the content on these devices. AutoPlay can be enhanced by AutoPlay-compatible software and hardware. It can be configured by the user to associate favourite applications with AutoPlay events and actions. These actions are called AutoPlay Handlers and there are sets of Handlers associated with various types of content. New AutoPlay handlers can get added to the system when additional software is installed. The user can edit, delete or create AutoPlay handlers using TweakUI
. AutoPlay settings can be configured per-device in Windows XP.
When a user inserts an optical disc into a drive or attaches a USB camera, Windows detects the arrival and starts a process of examining the device or searching the medium. It is looking for properties of the device or content on the medium so that AutoPlay can present a set of meaningful options to the user. When the user makes a particular choice, they also have the option to make that selection automatic the next time Windows sees that content or device. The content types available vary with the type of drive selected.
, BMP, PNG, GIF (including animated GIFs), ICO
, WMF
, EMF
and TIFF
format files. It supersedes part of the functions of Imaging for Windows
in previous versions of Windows.
The Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is integrated with Windows Explorer for functions like slideshow, email, printing etc. and quickly starts up when an image is double clicked in Windows Explorer. It supports full file management from within the viewer itself, that is, right clicking the image shows the same context menu
as the one shown when an image is right clicked in Windows Explorer
. Images can be set as the desktop wallpaper
from the context menu. It supports successive viewing of all images in current folder and looping through images, that is, after viewing the last image in a directory, it again shows the first image and vice versa. By default, images smaller than the user's display resolution are shown at their actual size. If an image is larger than the display resolution, it is scaled to fit the screen (Best Fit). Images can be zoomed in or out depending on the viewing area. When this is done, scroll bars allow for viewing of all areas of the image. It has Standard toolbar buttons for Delete, Print, Copy to and Open with. The Copy to button converts an image to a different format supported in GDI+, that is, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF or PNG. The Print button starts the Photo Printing Wizard which allows printing images with picture titles using various page layouts such as full page prints, wallet prints, contact/index sheets or certain fixed dimensions with the images cropped or rotated to fit the page. The wizard shows a preview of what the printed page will look like with the currently specified options. Windows Picture and Fax Viewer can also rotate images clockwise or anti-clockwise, start a slideshow of all or selected images in the folder, or e-mail them by selecting the "Send To Mail Recipient" option. Further options allow the image to be mailed full size, or in pixel dimensions of: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768. Using Tweak UI, the time between images during a slideshow can be adjusted.
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer recognizes embedded ICC V2 color profiles
in JPG and TIFF files. GIF files are shown with full animation, even when zoomed. TIFF files can be annotated using the Annotation Toolbar which appears at the bottom of the screen. Lines can be drawn on the TIFF image and text added to it. Areas of the image can be selected and concealed. The Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is also capable of viewing multi-page TIFF files.
However TIFF images with JPEG compression are not fully supported. The last button on the standard toolbar opens the image for editing; by default, in Microsoft Paint
; however any editing application can be registered for this button in the viewer. Windows Picture and Fax Viewer saves and remembers its window position and size and supports keyboard shortcuts for all of its operations.
Raw image format
s, which are the preferred formats in professional photography are not supported, however, Microsoft released a later update called RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP for viewing certain raw image files.
(TSF), is a COM
framework
and API introduced in Windows XP
that supports advanced text input and text processing. The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and word processing
features to applications. It supports features such as multilingual support, keyboard drivers, handwriting recognition
, speech recognition
, as well as spell checking
and other text and natural language processing
functions. It is also downloadable for older Windows operating systems.
The Language Bar is the core user interface
for Text Services Framework. The language bar enables text services to add UI elements to the toolbar and enables these elements when an application has focus. From the Language Bar, users can select the input language, and control keyboard input, handwriting recognition and speech recognition. The language bar also provides a direct means to switch between installed languages, even when a non-TSF-enabled application has focus.
(hyperthreading) support. Simultaneous multithreading is a processor's ability to process more than one data thread at a time.
–— 1.3 GB, of which the contiguous virtual address space that can be used by device drivers is 960 MB. The Windows XP Memory Manager is redesigned to consume less paged pool, allowing for more caching and greater availability of paged pool for any component that needs it.
The total size of memory-mapped file
s in Windows 2000 was limited because the memory manager allocated the Prototype Page Table entries (PPTEs) for all pages required to map the entire file, even if an application created mapped views to parts of the file. In Windows XP, the Prototype PTEs are allocated for active views only, allowing larger mapped files. A benefit of this, for example, is in case of making backups of large files on low memory systems. The paged pool limit of 470 MB has been lifted from the Memory Manager in Windows XP, with unmapped views dynamically reusable by the memory manager depending on pool usage.
Memory pages in working sets are trimmed more efficiently for multiprocessor systems depending on how recently they were accessed. Lock contention is reduced, as a number of unnecessary locks used in resource synchronizations (RAM allocation and mapping through Address Windowing Extensions
, system page table
entries, charging non-paged/paged pool quotas, charging commitment of pages) have been removed. The dispatcher lock contention has been reduced and the Page Frame Number (PFN) lock has been optimized for increased parallelism and granularity. Windows XP uses push locks on the event
synchronization object if there is no contention as they support shared and exclusive acquisition. Push locks are used to protect handle table entries in the Executive, and in the Object Manager
(to protect data structures and security descriptor
s) and Memory Manager (to protect AWE
-related locks). Windows XP uses the SYSENTER/SYSEXIT mechanisms which require fewer clock cycles to transition to and from user mode to kernel mode to speed up system call
s.
The kernel page write protection limit in Windows XP is enabled on systems up to 256 MB of RAM beyond which large pages are enabled for increased address translation performance.
Windows XP introduces the CreateMemoryResourceNotification function which can notify user mode processes of high or low memory availability so applications can allocate more memory or free up memory as necessary. .
size limit. The registry size is now limited only available disk space. The System hive still has a maximum size, but it has been raised from 12 MB to 200 MB, eliminating the issue previous Windows versions faced of being unable to boot because of a large or fragmented System hive. The Configuration Manager has been updated to minimize the registry's memory footprint and lock contention, reduce fragmentation and thus page faults when accessing the registry, and improved algorithms to speed up registry query processing. An in-memory security cache eliminates redundant security descriptor
s.
. I/O is throttled to fetch only one memory page at a time increasing overall scalability.
3.1, which expands the Master File Table (MFT) entries with a redundant MFT record number, useful for recovering damaged MFT files. The NTFS conversion utility, Convert.exe, supports a new /CvtArea switch so that the NTFS metadata files can be written to a contiguous placeholder file, resulting in a less fragmented file system after conversion.
Windows XP introduces the ability to mount NTFS read-only volumes. There are new APIs to preserve original short file names, to retrieve a list of mount points (drive letters and mounted folder paths) for the specified volume, and to enable applications to create very large files quickly by setting the valid data length on files without force-writing data with zeroes up to the VDL (SetFileValidData function). For instance, this function can be used to quickly create a fixed size virtual machine hard disk. The default access control list
s for newly created files are read-only for the Users group and write permissions are given only to the Administrators group, the System account and the owner.
is a significant part of this; it monitors what files are loaded during boot, optimizes the locations of these files on disk so that less time is spent waiting for the hard drive's heads to move and issues large asynchronous I/O requests that can be overlapped with device detection and initialization that occurs during boot. The prefetcher works by tracing frequently accessed paged data which is then used by the Task Scheduler
to create a prefetch-instructions file at %WinDir%\Prefetch. Once the system boots or an application is started, any data and code specified in the trace that is not already in memory is prefetched from the disk. The previous prefetching results determine which scenario benefited more and what should be prefetched at the next boot or launch. The prefetcher also uses the same algorithms to reduce application startup times. To reduce disk seeking even further, the Disk Defragmenter is called in at idle time to optimize the layout of these specific files and metadata in a contiguous area. Boot and resume operations can be traced and analyzed using Bootvis.exe.
s are not set up. Use of cached credentials avoids delays when logging on to a domain
. Group Policy
is applied in the background, and startup or logon scripts execute asynchronously by default.
Windows XP reconciles local and roaming
user profile
s using a copy of the contents of the registry. The user is no longer made to wait as in Windows 2000 until the profile is unloaded. Windows XP saves locked registry hives with open keys after 60 seconds so that can roaming profile changes can be saved back to the server. The problem left is that the computer cannot recover the memory the profile uses until it can be unloaded. To make sure the user profiles are completely reconciled correctly during logoff, Microsoft has released the User Profile Hive Cleanup service
for Windows XP, which they later included in Windows Vista.
s. There are new Group Policies to prevent propagation of roaming user profile changes to the server, give administrators control over users' profile folders and preventing the use of roaming user profiles on specific computers. To accommodate the scenario where an older profile would overwrite a newer server profile due to Windows XP's Fast Logon feature, Windows XP ensures in such a situation that the user registry hive is copied from the server to the local profile.
Deletion of profiles marked for deletion at the next logoff does not fail for locked profiles. For workgroup computers, Windows XP no longer deletes the profiles of users belonging to the Guests group.
. Shared folders from DFS
namespaces can be made available offline. Also, roaming user profiles can be synchronized with the server even if Offline Files has marked the server as unavailable. Windows XP Service Pack 2 (and KB811660) introduce additional functionality for Offline Files. By editing the Registry, users can suppress error messages for file types that Offline Files cannot cache and which are excluded from synchronization. Offline Files for a user that are not on his primary computer (determined by matching the current user's SID
with the specified SID in the registry) can be set to purge at logoff. Administratively assigned offline files can also be prevented from being cached for non-primary users.
to the network are automatically made available offline using Offline Files, although this can optionally be disabled through Group Policy.
For older Windows NT 4.0 and earlier systems with legacy directory structure, Windows XP allows redirecting the My Documents
folder to their home directory.
compared to Windows Me
,. System Restore uses a copy-on-write
file system filter driver for taking snapshots. In Windows XP, System Restore is configurable per volume and the data stores are also stored per volume. On NTFS volumes, the Restore Points are stored using NTFS compression and protected using ACLs. A Disk Cleanup
handler allows deleting all but the most recent Restore Point. Besides the Registry hives and system files, COM+ and WMI
databases and the IIS
metabase can also be restored. System Restore supports Group Policy. System Restore in Windows XP also works without issues with EFS
-encrypted files.
backs up the system state (Windows Registry
, COM+ class registration database, Active Directory
and the SYSVOL directory share), and the volumes associated with operating system components required to start Windows after restore as well as their configuration (basic or dynamic). The Restore portion of ASR is accessed by pressing F2 from Windows XP Text mode Setup. Automated System Recovery can even restore programs and device drivers if they are added to the ASR Setup information disk. ASR does not restore data files.
, where more than one version of the same dynamically linked library
(DLL) was installed on the computer. As software relies on DLLs, using the wrong version could result in non-functional applications, or worse. Windows XP solved this problem for native code by introducing side-by-side assemblies. The technology keeps multiple digitally signed versions of a shared DLL in the WinSxS folder and runs them on demand to the appropriate application keeping applications isolated from each other and not using common dependencies.
Applications that need to install COM objects can store all the required COM registry information in its own directory, instead of in the global directory, where, strictly speaking, only a single application will ever use it. DLL hell can be avoided, the only limitation being it must not be used for EXE COM servers or system-wide components such as MDAC, MSXML
, DirectX
or Internet Explorer
.
object registration called Registration-free COM (or RegFree COM). It allows Component Object Model (COM) components to store activation metadata
and CLSID (
. Instead, the metadata and CLSIDs of the classes implemented in the component are declared in an assembly manifest (described using XML
), stored either as a resource in the executable or as a separate file installed with the component. This allows multiple versions of the same component to be installed in different directories, described by their own manifests, as well as XCOPY deployment
.
During application loading, the Windows loader searches for the manifest. If it is present, the loader adds information from it to the activation context When the COM class factory tries to instantiate a class, the activation context is first checked to see if an implementation for the CLSID can be found. Only if the lookup fails is the registry
scanned.
) using the internet to the developer of an application that crashes
or stops responding on a user's desktop. No data is sent without the user's consent. When a dump (or other error signature information) reaches the Microsoft server, it is analyzed and a solution is sent back to the user if one is available. Windows Error Reporting runs as a Windows service
and can optionally be entirely disabled. Software and hardware manufacturers may access their error reports using Microsoft's Winqual
program. Software and hardware manufacturers can also close the loop with their customers by linking error signatures to Windows Error Reporting Responses. This allows distributing solutions as well as collecting extra information from customers (such as reproducing the steps they took before the crash
) and providing them with support links.
platform on the Windows NT kernel. Microsoft addressed this by going to great lengths to improve compatibility with application specific tweaks and shims and providing tools such as the Application Compatibility Toolkit to allow users to apply and automate these tweaks and shims on their own applications. The Compatibility Layer can be scripted
using batch file
s. Windows XP Setup also includes a compatibility checker that warns users before setup begins of incompatible applications and device drivers or applications that may need to be reinstalled.
s, ability to lockdown the player in a corporate environment and DVD playback support (when appropriate codecs are installed separately). Windows XP SP2 includes Windows Media Player 9 Series with Windows Media Format Runtime 9.0, and is upgradeable up to version 11 of the player and the format runtime. Windows Media Player also incorporates newer hardware support for portable devices by means of the Media Transfer Protocol
and the User Mode Driver Framework
-based Windows Portable Devices API.
1.1 which added non-compressed DV AVI recording of digital video sources. Windows Movie Maker 2 was a free download released in 2002, later incorporated in Windows XP SP2. Windows Movie Maker 2 introduced numerous new transitions, effects, titles and credits, a task pane, resizable preview window with dimensions, improved capture and export options, an AutoMovie feature, saving the final video back to tape and custom WMV export profiles. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes Windows Movie Maker 2.5 which includes DVD burning.
for receiving and capturing analog and digital TV broadcasts complete with signal demodulation, tuning, software de-multiplexing, electronic program guide store, IP data broadcasting etc. In addition, Windows XP Media Center Edition
introduced Windows Media Center
, an application for PVR-like recording and playback features for TV content.
Windows XP includes improved FireWire (IEEE 1394) support (DVCPRO25 - 525-60
and 625-50
) for digital video cameras and audio video devices. It introduces MSTape, a WDM
driver for D-VHS
and MPEG camcorder devices. Windows XP SP2 adds support for DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO100.
8 introduces the Video Mixing Renderer-7 (VMR-7) filter which uses DirectDraw 7 for video rendering, replacing the Overlay Mixer. VMR-7 can mix multiple streams and graphics with alpha blending, allowing applications to draw text (such as closed captions) and graphics (such as channel logos or UI buttons) over the video without flickering, and support compositing to implement custom effects and transitions. VMR-7 also supports source color keying, overlay surface management, frame-stepping and improved multiple-monitor support. VMR-7 features a "windowless mode" for applications to easily host video playback within any window and a "renderless playback mode" for applications to access the composited image before it is rendered. DirectX 9 introduced the VMR-9 which uses Direct3D
9 instead of DirectDraw, allowing developers to transform video images using the Direct3D pixel shaders. Windows XP SP2 introduced a YUV mixing mode in the VMR-7 and VMR-9 renderers which performs mixing in the YUV
color space to save memory bandwidth.
DirectShow
8 includes AVStream, a multimedia class driver
for video-only and audio-video kernel streaming.
, imaging (still image capture device class
) and Media Transfer Protocol
with Windows Media Player 10.
For mass storage devices, Windows XP introduces hardware descriptors to distinguish between various storage types so that the operating system can set an appropriate default write caching policy. For example, for USB devices, it disables write caching by default so that surprise removal of these devices do not cause data loss. Device Manager
provides a configuration setting whether to optimize devices for quick removal or for performance.
as well as Windows Image Acquisition
-based scanners. Windows Image Acquisition in Windows XP adds support for Automatic document feeder
scanners, scroll-fed scanners without preview capabilities and multi-page TIFF generation. For WIA video, a Snapshot filter driver is introduced which allows still frames to be captured from the video stream. Windows XP SP1 and later support the downloadable WIA Library v2.0 which provides access to WIA functionality through programming languages and scripting environments that support OLE Automation.
The Scanner and Camera Wizard based on Windows Image Acquisition
and other common dialogs for WIA devices have been improved in Windows XP to show the media information and metadata, rotate images as necessary, categorize them into subfolders, capture images and video in case of a still or video camera, crop and scan images to a single or multi-page TIFF in case of a scanner. The Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) implementation has been updated to support all mandatory and optional commands in the PTP standard, and object tree support which allows secondary files associated with a parent file to be grouped and transferred concurrently. Windows Media Player 10 also adds the Media Transfer Protocol
for transferring media content from portable devices. Thus, for digital cameras, Windows XP supports acquiring photos using any of either WIA
, PTP
, USB Mass Storage Class or MTP
protocols depending on what the camera manufacturer supports.
which allows users to directly burn files to a compact disc through Windows Explorer
. Previously, end users had to install CD burning software. In Windows XP, CD and DVD-RAM
(FAT32 only for DVD-RAM) burning has been directly integrated into the Windows interface. Data discs are created using the Joliet and ISO 9660 file systems and audio CDs using the Redbook standard. To prevent buffer underrun errors, Windows XP premasters a complete image of files to be burnt and then streams it to the disc burner. Users can burn files to a CD in the same way they write files to a floppy disk or to the hard drive via standard copy-paste or drag and drop methods. The burning functionality is also exposed as an API called the Image Mastering API
. Windows XP's CD burning support does not do disk-to-disk copying or disk image
s, although the API can be used programmatically to do these tasks. Creation of audio CDs is integrated into Windows Media Player
. Audio CDs are burnt using track-at-once
mode. CD-RW
discs can be quick erased.
API support can be added to Windows XP for burning DVDs and Blu-ray Discs (Mastered-style burning and UDF) on write-once and rewritable DVD and Blu-ray media by installing the Windows Feature Pack for Storage which upgrades IMAPI to version 2. Note that this does not add DVD or Blu-ray burning features to Windows Explorer but third party applications can use the APIs to support DVD and Blu-ray burning.
As mentioned in the above section, Windows XP includes improved support for FireWire camera
s and audio video devices. S/PDIF audio and MPEG-2 video streams are supported across FireWire from audio video receivers or set-top boxes, DVD or D-VHS, speakers, or TV transmissions. Windows XP supports the AV/C (IEC 61883
protocol for isochronous real-time data transfer for audio-video applications. Windows XP also allows non-FireWire devices to be exposed as virtual FireWire devices. Direct memory access over the 1394 bus from the host to the target allows kernel debugging over FireWire.
Finally, there is support for TCP/IP networking and Internet Connection Sharing
over the IEEE 1394 bus.
), and is similar to "Remote Assistance", but allows remote users to access local resources such as printers. Any Terminal Services client, a special "Remote Desktop Connection" client, or a web-based client using an ActiveX
control may be used to connect to the Remote Desktop. (Remote Desktop clients for earlier versions of Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98 and 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000 have been made available by Microsoft.
This permits earlier versions of Windows to connect to a Windows XP system running Remote Desktop, but not vice-versa.)
There are several resources that users can redirect from the remote server machine to the local client, depending upon the capabilities of the client software used. For instance, "File System Redirection" allows users to use their local files on a remote desktop within the terminal session, while "Printer Redirection" allows users to use their local printer within the terminal session as they would with a locally or network shared printer. "Port Redirection" allows applications running within the terminal session to access local serial and parallel ports directly, and "Audio" allows users to run an audio program on the remote desktop and have the sound redirected to their local computer. The clipboard
can also be shared between the remote computer and the local computer. The RDP client in Windows XP can be upgraded to 7.0. The Remote Desktop Web Connection component of Internet Information Services
5.1 also allows remote desktop functionality over the web through an ActiveX control for Internet Explorer
.
s to personally visit the affected computer, Remote Assistance allows them to diagnose and possibly even repair problems with a computer without ever personally visiting it. Remote Assistance allows sending invitations to the support person by email, Windows Messenger
or saving the invitation as a file. The computer can be controlled by both, the support person connecting remotely as well as the one sending the invitation. Chat, audio-video conversations and file transfer are available.
allows another user to log in and use the system without having to log out the previous user and quit his or her applications. Previously (on both Windows Me and Windows 2000) only one user at a time could be logged in (except through Terminal Services
), which was a serious drawback to multi-user activity. Fast User Switching, like Terminal Services, requires more system resources than having only a single user logged in at a time and although more than one user can be logged in, only one user can be actively using their account at a time. This feature is not available when the Welcome Screen is turned off, such as when joined to a Windows Server Domain
or with Novell Client installed. Even when the Welcome screen is enabled, users can switch to the Classic logon by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the Welcome screen.
(MSI) 2.0. Windows Installer 2.0 brought major improvements such as installation and management of side-by-side and CLR
assemblies, sandboxing MSI custom actions, improved event logging and hiding sensitive information in log files, per-user program isolation, digital signatures, improved patching (more robust patch conflict resolution and reduced unnecessary unversioned file copying and source prompts), Terminal Server support and integration with System Restore and Software Restriction Policies. Windows XP Service Pack 2 includes Windows Installer 3.0 which also adds numerous improvements to patching such as patch uninstallation support through Add or Remove Programs, binary delta patches, patch sequencing to install patches in the correct order, installing multiple patches for different products in one transaction, eliminating source media requests for delta compression patches, patch elevation for limited user accounts, MSI source location list and inventory management APIs, and fixing numerous bugs. Windows XP SP3 includes MSI 3.1v2. Windows XP can be updated to Windows Installer 4.5.
was updated to alleviate several restrictions. It no longer relies on the Windows NT Cache Manager, which prevented the defragmenter from moving pieces of a file that cross a 256KB boundary within the file. All parts of a stream including the cluster boundary for non-compressed files, reparse points, bitmaps, and attribute_lists, NTFS
metadata files, EFS
-encrypted files and the NTFS Master File Table can be defragmented. The defragmenter supports NTFS volumes with cluster sizes larger than 4 kilobytes. A command-line tool, defrag.exe, has been included, providing access to the defragmenter from cmd.exe
and Task Scheduler
. Users who are members of the Power Users group can schedule defragmentation.
. Users can be disconnected or logged off from this tab. A Shutdown menu has been introduced that allows access to Standby, Hibernate, Turn off, Restart, Log Off and Switch User. Holding down
:
and once approved, they install automatically. Root CA certificates now also auto-update via Microsoft Update. Windows XP also supports delta CRLs (CRLs whose status has changed since the last full base compiled CRL) and base64-encoded CRLs for revocation checking and will use them by default. Windows XP can enroll version 2 certificate templates which have many configurable attributes.
Smart cards can be used to login to terminal server sessions (when connecting to a Windows Server 2003 or higher Terminal Server), with CAPICOM
or with system tools such as net.exe and runas.exe. There are also numerous improvements to certificate status checking, chain building and revocation checking, path validation and discovery. Windows XP Service Pack 3 adds SHA-2
hashing algorithms (SHA256, SHA384 and SHA512) to the CryptoAPI for validating X.509 certificates.
The DPAPI
Master Key can be protected using a domain-wide public key. A stronger FIPS 140-1 compliant algorithm such as 3DES can be used. Windows XP Service Pack 1 adds support for and the default use of AES-256 symmetric encryption algorithm
for all EFS-encrypted files. With KB912761 for Windows XP SP2 or on Windows XP SP3, users can configure whether EFS generates a self-signed certificate when a Certificate Authority is unvailable. Windows XP also warns the user if the EFS encrypted files are being copied to a file system such as FAT
or unsupported location which does not support EFS, and thus the file is going to get decrypted.
Windows XP can also encrypt files on a remote server with NTFS if the server is trusted for delegation in Active Directory
and the user's certificate and private key are loaded in the local profile on the server. If a roaming user profile
is used, it will be copied locally. On a WebDAV
server mapped by a drive letter, Windows XP can encrypt the file locally and transport it as a raw encrypted file to the WebDAV server using the HTTP PUT command. Similarly, EFS encrypted files can be downloaded raw from the WebDAV and decrypted locally. The command line utilities cipher, copy and xcopy have been updated in Windows XP. EFS can also be completely disabled in Windows XP through Group Policy (for a domain) or through the registry (for a non-domain computer).
(if it is a member of a domain). An attacker who can authenticate to Windows XP as LocalSystem still does not have access to a decryption key stored on the PC's hard drive. If the password is reset, the DPAPI master key is deleted and Windows XP blocks all access to the EFS encrypted files to prevent offline and rogue attacks and protect the encrypted files. If the user changes the password back to the original password, EFS encrypted files can be recovered.
to a secure roaming keyring
store protected by the Data Protection API. Saved credentials can be managed from the Stored User Names and Passwords item in the User accounts control panel. If a Ceritifcate Authority is present, then users can a select an X.509
certificate when prompted for credentials. When that same resource is accessed again, the saved credentials will be used. Remote access/VPN connections also create temporary credentials in the keyring to make the experience seamless. Credential Manager also exposes an API for Single Sign On.
. This feature, present as NX (EVP) in AMD's AMD64 processors and as XD (EDB) in Intel's processors, can flag certain parts of memory as containing data instead of executable code, which prevents overflow errors from resulting in arbitrary code execution. It is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. This helps prevent certain exploits that store code via a buffer overflow
, for example. DEP runs in two modes: hardware-enforced DEP for CPU
s that can mark memory pages as nonexecutable, and software-enforced DEP with a limited prevention for CPUs that do not have hardware support. Software-enforced DEP does not protect from execution of code in data pages, but instead from another type of attack (SEH overwrite). Hardware-enforced DEP enables the NX bit
on compatible CPUs, through the automatic use of PAE
kernel in 32-bit Windows and the native support on 64-bit kernels. Software DEP, while unrelated to the NX bit, is what Microsoft calls their enforcement of "Safe Structured Exception Handling". Software DEP/SafeSEH simply checks when an exception is thrown to make sure that the exception is registered in a function table for the application, and requires the program to be built with it.
If DEP is enabled for all applications, users gain additional resistance against zero-day exploits. But not all applications are DEP-compliant and some will generate DEP exceptions. Therefore, DEP is not enforced for all applications by default in 32-bit versions of Windows and is only turned on for critical system components. However, Windows XP Service Pack 3 introduces additional NX APIs that allow software developers to enable NX hardware protection for their code, independent of system-wide compatibility enforcement settings. Developers can mark their applications as NX-compliant when built, which allows protection to be enforced when that application is installed and runs. This enables a higher percentage of NX-protected code in the software ecosystem on 32-bit platforms, where the default system compatibility policy for NX is configured to protect only operating system components.
in Windows XP Service Pack 2 with support for filtering IPv6 traffic as well. By default, Windows Firewall performs stateful packet filtering of in-bound solicited or unsolicited traffic on all types of network interfaces (LAN/WLAN, PPPoE, VPN, or dial-up connections). Like Internet Connection Sharing, the firewall has a location-aware policy, meaning it can be disabled in a corporate domain but enabled for a private home network. It has an option to disallow all exceptions which may be useful when connecting to a public network. The firewall can also be used as the edge firewall for ICS clients. When the firewall blocks a program, it displays a notification. Excepted traffic can be specified by TCP/UDP port, application filename and by scope (part of the network from which the excepted traffic originates). It supports port mapping and ICMP
. Security log
capabilities are included, which can record IP address
es and other data relating to connections originating from the home or office network or the Internet. It can record both dropped packets and successful connections. This can be used, for instance, to track every time a computer on the network connects to a website. Windows Firewall also supports configuration through Group Policy
. Applications can use the Windows Firewall APIs to automatically add exceptions.
settings and services. Windows Security Center also continually monitors these security settings, and informs the user via a pop-up notification balloon if there is a problem. The Windows Security Center consists of three major components: A control panel
, a Windows Service
, and an application programming interface
that is provided by Windows Management Instrumentation
. The control panel divides the monitored security settings into categories, the headings of which are displayed with color-coded backgrounds. The current state of these settings is determined by the Windows service which starts automatically when the computer starts, and takes responsibility for continually monitoring the system for changes. The settings are made available to the system through a WMI
provider. Anti-malware and firewall software vendors can register with the Security Center through the WMI provider. Windows Update
settings and status are also monitored and reported.
service
supports automatic wireless network configuration with re-authentication when necessary thus providing seamless roaming capability and setting the preferred order of connections. In the absence of a wireless access point, Windows XP can set up an ad hoc wireless network
. There is native support for WPA and WPA2
authentication in infrastructure networks with the latest service packs and/or updates applied. Windows XP includes a Wireless Network Setup Wizard which supports the Windows Connect Now: USB Flash Drive (WCN-UFD) method to ease setting up the wireless network for inexperienced users. (KB918997) for Windows XP SP2 and Windows XP SP3 add a Wireless LAN API for developers to create wireless client programs and manage profiles and connections. There is IEEE 802.1X
support for wireless and wired connections. In case, a PKI
is not available to issue certificates for a VPN connection, there is support for preshared key for IKE
authentication.
Windows XP can connect to hotspots created using Wireless Provisioning Services.
support. The Windows XP Bluetooth stack supports external or integrated Bluetooth dongles attached through USB. Windows XP SP2 and SP3 support Bluetooth 1.1 (but not 1.0), Bluetooth 2.0 and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The Bluetooth stack supports the following Bluetooth profiles natively: PAN, SPP, DUN, HID, HCRP. The Windows XP stack can be replaced by a third party stack which may support more profiles or newer versions of Bluetooth.
is integrated with UPnP, allowing remote discovery and control of the ICS host. It has a Quality of Service Packet Scheduler component. When an ICS client is on a relatively fast network and the ICS host is connected to the internet through a slow link, Windows may incorrectly calculcate the optimal TCP receive window size based on the speed of the link between the client and the ICS host, potentially affecting traffic from the sender adversely. The ICS QoS component sets the TCP receive window size to the same as it would be if the receiver were directly connected to the slow link.
Internet Connection Sharing also includes a local DNS resolver in Windows XP to provide name resolution for all network clients on the home network, including non-Windows-based network devices. ICS is also location-aware, that is, when connected to a domain, the computer can have a Group Policy to restrict the use of ICS but when at home, ICS can be enabled.
scheduling scheme, which creates a separate queue for each application and services these queues in a round-robin fashion.
and Teredo tunneling
through the Advanced Networking Pack later incorporated into Windows XP SP2. After the network interface's link-local address is assigned, stateless autoconfiguration for local and global addresses can be performed by Windows XP. Static IPv6 addresses can be assigned if there is no IPv6 router on the local link. Transition mechanisms such as manually configured tunnels and 6to4 can be set up. IPv6 addresses are preferred when a DNS query sends back both IPv4 and IPv6 resource records. IPv6 has to be installed and activated from the command line using the netsh interface ipv6 context. Windows Firewall
beginning with Windows XP SP2 also supports IPv6 stateful filtering. Applications and tools such as the Telnet
client, FTP client, ping, nslookup, tracert, DNS resolver, file and print sharing, Internet Explorer
, IIS
have been updated to support IPv6. Privacy extensions are enabled and used by default. 6to4 is automatically activated for public IPv4 addresses without a global IPv6 address. Other types of tunnels can be set up include: 6over4, Teredo, ISATAP, PortProxy. Teredo also helps traverse cone and restricted NATs
. Teredo host-specific relay is enabled when a global IPv6 address has been assigned, otherwise Teredo client functionality is enabled.
that facilitates prioritized, throttled, and asynchronous transfer of files between machines using idle network bandwidth. BITS will only transfer data whenever there is bandwidth which is not being used by other applications, for example, when applications use 80% of the available bandwidth, BITS will use only the remaining 20%. BITS constantly monitors network traffic for any increase or decrease in network traffic and throttles
its own transfers to ensure that other foreground applications (such as a web browser
) get the bandwidth they need. BITS also supports resuming transfers in case of disruptions. BITS version 1.0 supports only downloads. From version 1.5, BITS supports both downloads and uploads. Uploads require the IIS web server
, with BITS server extension, on the receiving side. BITS 2.0, part of Windows XP SP2, added support for performing concurrent foreground downloads, using Server Message Block paths for remote names, downloading portions of a file, changing the prefix or complete name of a remote name, and limiting client bandwidth usage. BITS is upgradeable to version 2.5 in Windows XP. BITS 2.5, part of Windows XP SP3, adds support for IPv6 and certificate-based client authentication for secure HTTP transports and custom HTTP headers.
Windows XP components such as Automatic Updates, Windows Update
/Microsoft Update use BITS to download updates so only idle bandwidth is used to download updates and downloading can be resumed in case network connectivity is interrupted. BITS uses a queue to manage file transfers and downloads files on behalf of requesting applications asynchronously, i.e., once an application requests the BITS service for a transfer, it will be free to do any other job, or even terminate. The transfer will continue in the background as long as the network connection is there and the job owner is logged in. BITS supports transfers over both HTTP
and HTTPS. If a network application begins to consume more bandwidth, BITS decreases its transfer rate to preserve the user's interactive experience, except for Foreground priority downloads. BITS is exposed through Component Object Model
(COM), making it possible to use with virtually any programming language
.
, the Fax Service automatically switches from the Windows Address Book
to using Outlook's Address Book.
Windows XP introduces the Fax Service Extended COM
API for application developers to incorporate fax functionality.
Simple File Sharing disables granular local and network sharing permissions. It shares the item with the Everyone group on the network with read only or write access, without asking for a password but forcing Guest user permissions.
, a "WebDAV mini-redirector" has been added which is preferred over the old Web folders client, by default. This newer client works as a system service
at the network-redirector level (immediately above the file-system), allowing WebDAV
shares to be assigned to a drive letter
and used by any software, even through firewalls and NATs. Applications can open remote files on HTTP servers, edit the file, and save the changes back to the file (if the server allows). The redirector also allows WebDAV shares to be addressed via UNC paths (e.g.http://host/path/ is converted to \\host\path\) for compatibility with Windows filesystem APIs. The WebDAV mini-redirector is known to have some limitations in authentication support.
Windows XP
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, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
introduced many features not found in previous versions of Windows.
Graphics
With the introduction of Windows XPWindows XP
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, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, the C++ based software-only GDI+ subsystem was introduced to replace certain GDI
Graphics Device Interface
The Graphics Device Interface is a Microsoft Windows application programming interface and core operating system component responsible for representing graphical objects and transmitting them to output devices such as monitors and printers....
functions. GDI+ adds anti-aliased 2D graphics, textures, floating point coordinates, gradient shading, more complex path management, bicubic filtering, intrinsic support for modern graphics-file formats like JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
and PNG, and support for composition of affine transformation
Affine transformation
In geometry, an affine transformation or affine map or an affinity is a transformation which preserves straight lines. It is the most general class of transformations with this property...
s in the 2D view pipeline. GDI+ uses ARGB values to represent color. Use of these features is apparent in Windows XP's user interface (transparent desktop icon labels, drop shadow
Drop shadow
In computer graphics, a drop shadow is a visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it. The drop shadow is often used for elements of a graphical user interface such as windows or menus, and...
s for icon labels on the desktop, shadows under menus, translucent blue selection rectangle in Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
, sliding task panes and taskbar buttons), and several of its applications such as Microsoft Paint
Microsoft Paint
Paint is a simple graphics painting program that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. It is often referred to as MS Paint or Microsoft Paint...
, Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Windows Photo Viewer is an image viewer developed by Microsoft that is included with Windows 7. It was also included with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 under the name of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It was temporarily replaced with Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista, but has been...
, Photo Printing Wizard, My Pictures Slideshow screensaver, and their presence in the basic graphics layer greatly simplifies implementations of vector-graphics systems such as Flash or SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics
Scalable Vector Graphics is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic . The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.SVG images and their...
. The GDI+ dynamic library can be shipped with an application and used under older versions of Windows. The total number of GDI handles per session is also raised in Windows XP from 16384 to 65536 (configurable through the registry).
Windows XP shipped with DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
8.1 which brings major new features to DirectX Graphics besides DirectX Audio (both DirectSound
DirectSound
DirectSound is a software component of the Microsoft DirectX library for the Windows operating system. DirectSound provides a low-latency interface to the sound card driver and can handle the mixing and recording of multiple audio streams....
and DirectMusic
DirectMusic
DirectMusic is a deprecated component of the Microsoft DirectX API that allows music and sound effects to be composed and played and provides flexible interactive control over the way they are played. Architecturally, DirectMusic is a high-level set of objects, built on top of DirectSound, that...
), DirectPlay
DirectPlay
DirectPlay is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. DirectPlay is a network communication library intended for computer game development, although its general nature certainly allows it to be used for other purposes....
, DirectInput
DirectInput
In computing, DirectInput is a Microsoft API for collecting input from a computer user, via input devices such as the mouse, keyboard, joystick or other game controllers. It also provides a system for action mapping, which allows the user to assign specific actions within a game to the buttons and...
and DirectShow
DirectShow
DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...
. Direct3D introduced programmability in the form of vertex and pixel shader
Shader
In the field of computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that is used primarily to calculate rendering effects on graphics hardware with a high degree of flexibility...
s, enabling developers to write code without worrying about superfluous hardware state, and fog
Distance fog
Distance fog is a technique used in 3D computer graphics to enhance the perception of distance by simulating fog.Because many of the shapes in graphical environments are relatively simple, and complex shadows are difficult to render, many graphics engines employ a "fog" gradient so objects further...
, bump mapping
Bump mapping
Bump mapping is a technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by perturbing the surface normals of the object and using the perturbed normal during lighting calculations. The result is an apparently bumpy surface rather than a...
and texture mapping
Texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
. DirectX 9 was released in 2003, which also sees major revisions to Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectMusic and DirectShow. Direct3D 9 added a new version of the High Level Shader Language
High Level Shader Language
The High Level Shader Language or High Level Shading Language is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for use with the Microsoft Direct3D API. It is analogous to the GLSL shading language used with the OpenGL standard...
, support for floating-point texture formats, Multiple Render Targets
Multiple Render Targets
In the field of 3D computer graphics, Multiple Render Targets, or MRT, is a feature of modern graphics processing units that allows the programmable rendering pipeline to render images to multiple render target textures at once. These textures can then be used as inputs to other shaders or as...
, and texture lookups in the vertex shader. Windows XP can be upgraded to DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), which later was included in Windows XP SP2.
Windows XP SP3 added the Windows Imaging Component
Windows Imaging Component
The Windows Imaging Component is a Component Object Model based imaging codec framework introduced in Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 3 for working with and processing digital images and image metadata...
introduced in Windows Vista.
ClearType
Windows XP includes ClearTypeClearType
ClearType is a trademark for Microsoft's implementation of subpixel rendering technology. ClearType attempts to improve the appearance of text on certain types of computer display screens by sacrificing color fidelity for additional intensity variation. This trade-off is asserted to work well on...
subpixel rendering
Subpixel rendering
Subpixel rendering is a way to increase the apparent resolution of a computer's liquid crystal display or Organic Light Emitting Diode display by rendering pixels to take into account the screen type's physical properties...
, which makes onscreen fonts smoother and more readable on liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
(LCD) screens. Although ClearType has an effect on CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
monitors, its primary use is for LCD/TFT-based (laptop, notebook and modern 'flatscreen') displays. ClearType in Windows XP currently supports the RGB and BGR sub pixel structures. There are other parameters such as contrast that can be set via a ClearType Tuner powertoy that Microsoft makes available as a free download from its Typography website.
Start menu
With Windows XP, the taskbar and the Start button have been updated to support Fitt's law. To help the user access a wider range of common destinations more easily from a single location, the Start menuStart menu
The Start Menu and Start Button are user interface elements used in the later versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems and in some X window managers...
was expanded to two columns; the left column focuses on the user's installed applications, while the right column provides access to the user's documents, and system links which were previously located on the desktop. Links to the My Documents, My Pictures and other special folders
Special Folders
On Microsoft Windows, a special folder is a folder which is presented to the user through an interface as an abstract concept, instead of an absolute folder path...
are brought to the fore. The My Computer
My Computer
My Computer may refer to:* A component of Windows Explorer, a Microsoft file system browser* My Computer , from Manchester, England...
and My Network Places
My Network Places
In the Microsoft Windows operating systems, My Network Places is the network browser feature in Windows Explorer from Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows Me onwards...
(Network Neighborhood in Windows 95 and 98) icons were also moved off the Desktop and into the Start menu, making it easier to access these icons while a number of applications are open and so that the desktop remains clean. Moreover, these links can be configured to expand as a cascading menu. Frequently used programs are automatically displayed in the left column, newly installed programs are highlighted, and the user may opt to "pin" programs to the start menu so that they are always accessible without having to navigate through the Programs folders. The default internet browser and default email program are pinned to the Start menu. The Start menu is fully customizable, links can be added or removed; the number of frequently used programs to display can be set. The All Programs menu expands like the classic Start menu to utilize the entire screen but can be set to scroll programs. The user name and user account picture are also shown on the Start menu.
Taskbar
Locking the taskbarTaskbar
In computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
not only prevents it from being accidentally resized or moved but elements such as Quick launch and other DeskBands are also locked. The Taskbar grouping feature combines multiple buttons of the same application into a single button, which when clicked, pops up a menu listing all the grouped windows and their number. Advanced taskbar grouping options can be configured from the registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
. The user can choose to always show, always hide or hide some or all notification area icons if inactive for some time. A button allows the user to reveal all the icons. The Taskbar, if set to a thicker height also displays the day and date in the notification area.
Windows Explorer
There are significant changes made to Windows Explorer in Windows XP, both visually and functionally. Microsoft focused especially on making Windows Explorer more discoverable and task-based, as well as adding a number of features to reflect the growing use of a computer as a “digital hub”.Task pane
The task pane is displayed on the left side of the window instead of the traditional folder tree view when the navigation pane is turned off. It presents the user with a list of common actions and destinations that are relevant to the current directory or file(s) selected. For instance, when in a directory containing mostly pictures, a set of “Picture tasks” is shown, offering the options to display these pictures as a slide show, to print them, or to go online to order prints. Conversely, a folder containing music files would offer options to play those files in a media player, or to go online to purchase music.Every folder also has “File and Folder Tasks”, offering options to create new folders, share a folder on the local network, publish files or folders to a web site using the Web Publishing Wizard, and other common tasks like copying, renaming, moving, and deleting files or folders. File types that have identified themselves as being printable also have an option listed to print the file.
Underneath “File and Folder Tasks” is “Other Places”, which always lists the parent folder of the folder being viewed and includes additional links to other common locations such as “My Computer”, “Control Panel”, and “My Documents” or previously navigated locations. These change depending on what folder the user was in.
Underneath “Other Places” is a “Details” area which gives additional information when a file or folder is selected – typically the file type, file size and date modified, but depending on the file type, author, image dimensions, attributes, or other details. If the file type has a Thumbnail image handler installed, its preview also appears in the "Details" task pane. For music files, it might show the artist, album title, and the length of the song. The same information is also shown horizontally on the status bar.
Navigation pane
The “Folders” button on the Windows Explorer toolbar toggles between the traditional navigation pane containing the tree view of folders, and the task pane. Users can also close the navigation pane by clicking the Close button in its right corner as well as turn off the task pane from Folder Options.The navigation pane has been enhanced in Windows XP to support "simple folder view" which when turned on hides the dotted lines that connect folders and subfolders and makes folders browsable with single click while still keeping double clicking on in the right pane. Single clicking in simple folder view auto expands the folder and clicking another folder automatically expands that folder and collapses the previous one.
Grouping and sorting
Windows XP introduced a large number of metadataMetadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
properties which are shown as columns in the "Details" view of Explorer, in the new Tiles view in Explorer, on the Summary tab in a file's properties, in a file's tooltip
Tooltip
The tooltip or infotip is a common graphical user interface element. It is used in conjunction with a cursor, usually a mouse pointer. The user hovers the cursor over an item, without clicking it, and a tooltip may appear—a small "hover box" with information about the item being hovered...
and on the Explorer status bar when a single file is selected. Users also gain the ability to sort by any property which is turned on in "Details" view. Developers can write column handler shell extensions to further define their own properties by which files can be sorted. The column by which items are sorted is highlighted. Sorting files and folders can be in Ascending order or Descending order in all views, not just Details view. To reverse the order, the user simply can perform the sort by the same property again. The sort order has also been made more intuitive compared to the one in Windows 2000. For file names containing numbers Windows Explorer now tries to sort based on numerical value rather than just comparing each number digit by digit for every character position in the file name. For instance, files containing "1", "2".."10" will be intuitively sorted with "10" appearing after "9" instead of appearing between "1" and "2".
The right pane of Windows Explorer has a "Show in Groups" feature which allows Explorer to separate its contents by headings based on any field which is used to sort the items. Items can thus be grouped by any detail which is turned on. "Show in Groups" is available in Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons and Details views.
Search
Microsoft introduced animated “Search Companions” in an attempt to make searching more engaging and friendly; the default character is a puppy named Rover, with three other characters (Merlin the magician, Earl the surfer, and Courtney) also available. These search companions powered by Microsoft AgentMicrosoft Agent
Microsoft Agent is a technology developed by Microsoft which employs animated characters, text-to-speech engines, and speech recognition software to enhance interaction with computer users. Thus it is an example of an embodied agent. It comes preinstalled as part of Microsoft Windows 2000 through...
technology, bear a great deal of similarity to Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
’s Office Assistant
Office Assistant
The Office Assistant was a Microsoft Office feature to assist users by way of an interactive animated character, which interfaced with the Office help content. It used technology initially from Microsoft Bob and later Microsoft Agent, offering advice based on Bayesian algorithms...
s, even incorporating “tricks” and sound effects.
The search capability itself is fairly similar to Windows Me and Windows 2000, with some important additions: Search can also be instructed to search only files that are categorically “Documents” or “Pictures, music and video" (searching by perceived type); this feature is noteworthy largely because of how Windows determines what types of files can be classified under these categories. Another important addition is that the "Look in" field accepts environment variables. Also, users can configure whether or not Windows XP searches for system and/or hidden files and folders. Using Tweak UI, the search user interface can be reverted to the one used by Windows 2000.
Image handling in Explorer
Windows XP improves image preview by offering a Filmstrip view which shows images in a single horizontal row and a large preview of the currently selected image above it. “Back” and “Previous” buttons facilitate navigation through the pictures, and a pair of “Rotate” buttons offer 90-degree clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation of images. Filmstrip view like any other view can be turned on per folder. Aside from the Filmstrip view mode, there is a 'Thumbnails' view, which displays thumbnailThumbnail
Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words...
-sized images in the folder and also displays images a subfolder may be containing (4 by default) overlaid on a large folder icon. A folder's thumbnail view can be customized from the Customize tab accessible from its Properties, where users can also change the folder's icon and specify a template type (pictures, music, videos, documents) for that folder and optionally all its subfolders. The size and quality of thumbnails in "Thumbnails" view can be adjusted using Tweak UI or the registry. Exif metadata stored in the image is also shown in the file's Properties -> Summary tab , in "Details" view and in any view on the status bar. Windows XP optionally caches the thumbnails in a "Thumbs.db" file in the same folder as the pictures so that thumbnails are generated faster the next time. Thumbnails can be forced to regenerate by right-clicking the image in Thumbnail or Filmstrip views and selecting "Refresh thumbnail".
AutoPlay
AutoPlay examines newly discovered removable mediaElectronic media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...
and devices and, based on content such as pictures, music or video files, launches an appropriate application to play or display the content. AutoPlay (not to be confused with AutoRun
Autorun
AutoRun and the companion feature AutoPlay are components of the Microsoft Windows operating system that dictate what actions the system takes when a drive is mounted....
) was created in order to simplify the use of peripheral
Peripheral
A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....
devices – MP3 players, memory card
Memory card
A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles...
s, USB storage devices and others – by automatically starting the software needed to access and view the content on these devices. AutoPlay can be enhanced by AutoPlay-compatible software and hardware. It can be configured by the user to associate favourite applications with AutoPlay events and actions. These actions are called AutoPlay Handlers and there are sets of Handlers associated with various types of content. New AutoPlay handlers can get added to the system when additional software is installed. The user can edit, delete or create AutoPlay handlers using TweakUI
TweakUI
Tweak UI is a free user interface customization application first released by Microsoft in 1996 to aid end users in customizing the Microsoft Windows operating system. By itself, it does not do anything that would not otherwise be possible...
. AutoPlay settings can be configured per-device in Windows XP.
When a user inserts an optical disc into a drive or attaches a USB camera, Windows detects the arrival and starts a process of examining the device or searching the medium. It is looking for properties of the device or content on the medium so that AutoPlay can present a set of meaningful options to the user. When the user makes a particular choice, they also have the option to make that selection automatic the next time Windows sees that content or device. The content types available vary with the type of drive selected.
Other shell and UI improvements
- Folder options to restore previously open folder windows at logon (restoring Explorer sessions)
- Customizable infotips on a per-file-class (file type) basis without writing shell extensions
- Windows Explorer is content-dependent, that is, it attempts to detect the dominant type of files in a folder and then selects the most appropriate view for the user automatically unless the user manually sets the view.
- A "Tiles" view was added, which displays the file’s icon in a larger size (48 × 48), and places the file name, descriptive type, and additional information by which the items are sorted (typically the file size for data files, and the publisher name for applications) to the right.
- The toolbars can be locked to prevent them from being accidentally moved. This same capability was also added to Internet Explorer’s toolbars.
- The "Line up icons" feature in the context menu has been replaced by an "Align to grid" feature which when turned on always lines up icons.
- For unknown/undefined file types which inexperienced users may get confused when double clicked, Windows XP can contact a web service which shows additional information about that file type and what program created or can open that file type.
- If an image named "Folder.jpg" is placed inside a folder, that image will be used as the thumbnail for that folder and as Album Art for media files in Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
. - EFSEncrypting File SystemThe Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption...
-encrypted files can be shown in an alternate color (green by default) beginning with Windows XP. - File and folder size information is shown in tooltips upon mouse hover. For folders, size and partial folder contents are shown.
- When opening more than 15 files in a single operation, i.e. by selecting multiple files and pressing enter, Windows XP warns the user that Windows Explorer may become unresponsive, but still allows the user to do so.
- Windows Explorer supports a very basic form of mass renaming items.
- Marquee-style progress bars.
- A hyperlink control in system supplied common controls.
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Windows XP includes Windows Picture and Fax Viewer which is based on GDI+ and is capable of viewing image formats supported by GDI+, namely, JPEGJPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
, BMP, PNG, GIF (including animated GIFs), ICO
ICO (icon image file format)
The ICO file format is an image file format for computer icons in Microsoft Windows. ICO files contain one or more small images at multiple sizes and color depths, such that they may be scaled appropriately...
, WMF
Windows Metafile
Windows Metafile is a graphics file format on Microsoft Windows systems, originally designed in the 1990s. Windows Metafiles are intended to be portable between applications and may contain both vector graphics and bitmap components....
, EMF
Windows Metafile
Windows Metafile is a graphics file format on Microsoft Windows systems, originally designed in the 1990s. Windows Metafiles are intended to be portable between applications and may contain both vector graphics and bitmap components....
and TIFF
Tagged Image File Format
TIFF is a file format for storing images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and both amateur and professional photographers in general. As of 2009, it is under the control of Adobe Systems...
format files. It supersedes part of the functions of Imaging for Windows
Imaging for Windows
Imaging for Windows from Global 360 is document imaging software. Earlier versions of Imaging for Windows were included in Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000. Global360 Imaging for Windows is the upgrade to this Imaging software, which was discontinued as of Windows XP...
in previous versions of Windows.
The Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is integrated with Windows Explorer for functions like slideshow, email, printing etc. and quickly starts up when an image is double clicked in Windows Explorer. It supports full file management from within the viewer itself, that is, right clicking the image shows the same context menu
Context menu
A context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation...
as the one shown when an image is right clicked in Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
. Images can be set as the desktop wallpaper
Computer wallpaper
Wallpaper is an image used as a background of a graphical user interface on a computer screen or mobile communications device. On a computer it is usually for the desktop, while for a mobile phone it is usually the background for the 'home' or 'idle' screen...
from the context menu. It supports successive viewing of all images in current folder and looping through images, that is, after viewing the last image in a directory, it again shows the first image and vice versa. By default, images smaller than the user's display resolution are shown at their actual size. If an image is larger than the display resolution, it is scaled to fit the screen (Best Fit). Images can be zoomed in or out depending on the viewing area. When this is done, scroll bars allow for viewing of all areas of the image. It has Standard toolbar buttons for Delete, Print, Copy to and Open with. The Copy to button converts an image to a different format supported in GDI+, that is, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF or PNG. The Print button starts the Photo Printing Wizard which allows printing images with picture titles using various page layouts such as full page prints, wallet prints, contact/index sheets or certain fixed dimensions with the images cropped or rotated to fit the page. The wizard shows a preview of what the printed page will look like with the currently specified options. Windows Picture and Fax Viewer can also rotate images clockwise or anti-clockwise, start a slideshow of all or selected images in the folder, or e-mail them by selecting the "Send To Mail Recipient" option. Further options allow the image to be mailed full size, or in pixel dimensions of: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768. Using Tweak UI, the time between images during a slideshow can be adjusted.
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer recognizes embedded ICC V2 color profiles
ICC profile
In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium...
in JPG and TIFF files. GIF files are shown with full animation, even when zoomed. TIFF files can be annotated using the Annotation Toolbar which appears at the bottom of the screen. Lines can be drawn on the TIFF image and text added to it. Areas of the image can be selected and concealed. The Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is also capable of viewing multi-page TIFF files.
However TIFF images with JPEG compression are not fully supported. The last button on the standard toolbar opens the image for editing; by default, in Microsoft Paint
Microsoft Paint
Paint is a simple graphics painting program that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. It is often referred to as MS Paint or Microsoft Paint...
; however any editing application can be registered for this button in the viewer. Windows Picture and Fax Viewer saves and remembers its window position and size and supports keyboard shortcuts for all of its operations.
Raw image format
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
s, which are the preferred formats in professional photography are not supported, however, Microsoft released a later update called RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP for viewing certain raw image files.
Customization and usability improvements
- Windows XP includes a new set of visual themes or styles, known by its codename, LunaLuna (theme)Themes customize the appearance of the Windows operating system without changing its functionality ....
. Available in three color schemes, the interface is more task-based than the basic one included since Windows 95, with options available in Explorer windows to interact with each file. The user can however choose to fully revert to the pre-Windows XP "classic" user interface. Windows XP's Comctl32.dll (version 6) has support for visual styles. - Developers can enable applications to support Windows XP visual styles by simply creating an XML manifest file that specifies Comctl32.dll version 6 be used.
- Windows XP's Display Properties allows users to save their customizations as Themes. This feature was previously available for earlier Windows operating systems by installing Microsoft Plus!Microsoft Plus!Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications...
. - Icon support for 24-bit color depth with an 8-bit alpha channel. Microsoft contracted The IconfactoryThe IconfactoryThe Iconfactory is a small software and graphic design company that specializes in creating icons and software for creating and using icons. The company was founded in April 1996 by Corey Marion, Talos Tsui, and Gedeon Maheux. Lead Engineer Craig Hockenberry joined the company in 1997 and Artist...
which created over 100 colorful icons for Microsoft to be included in Windows XP. The 10-icon resource limit has also been increased. - Use of bulletsBullet (typography)In typography, a bullet is a typographical symbol or glyph used to introduce items in a list. For example:*Item 1*Item 2*Item 3...
instead of asterisks in passwordPasswordA password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
fields of a TextBox control, i.e., "●●●" instead of "***". - Several informational, critical and warning messages in Windows XP are shown as balloon notifications which automatically fade away after predefined interval and condition, instead of showing them as dialog boxes which require interaction from the user.
- New configurable sound events for Device Connect, Device Disconnect, Device Failed to Connect, Print Complete, New fax, Fax Error, System Notification, Windows Logon and Windows Logoff. Windows XP Service Pack 2 added sound events in Internet Explorer for Blocked pop-up window and the Information bar.
- A rich set of live orchestral recordings for the Windows XP tour theme music and system sounds was composed by composer Bill BrownBill Brown (composer)Bill Brown IV is an American composer.-Video games:*Jurassic Park: Trespasser *Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six *Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear *Michael Crichton's Timeline...
. - Window ghosting that allows the user to minimize, move or close the main window even if the application is not responding.
Text Services Framework
The Text Services FrameworkText Services Framework
The Text Services Framework , is a COM framework and API in Windows XP and later Windows operating systems that supports advanced text input and text processing. The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and word processing features to applications...
(TSF), is a COM
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
framework
Software framework
In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software...
and API introduced in Windows XP
Windows XP
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, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
that supports advanced text input and text processing. The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and word processing
Word processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
features to applications. It supports features such as multilingual support, keyboard drivers, handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or...
, speech recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
, as well as spell checking
Spell checker
In computing, a spell checker is an application program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly. Spell checkers may be stand-alone capable of operating on a block of text, or as part of a larger application, such as a word processor, email client, electronic dictionary,...
and other text and natural language processing
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
functions. It is also downloadable for older Windows operating systems.
The Language Bar is the core user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
for Text Services Framework. The language bar enables text services to add UI elements to the toolbar and enables these elements when an application has focus. From the Language Bar, users can select the input language, and control keyboard input, handwriting recognition and speech recognition. The language bar also provides a direct means to switch between installed languages, even when a non-TSF-enabled application has focus.
Performance improvements
The Windows XP kernel is completely different from the kernel of the Windows 9x/Me line of operating systems. Although an upgrade of the Windows 2000 kernel, there are major scalability, stability and performance improvements, albeit transparent to the end user.Processor support
Windows XP includes simultaneous multithreadingSimultaneous multithreading
Simultaneous multithreading, often abbreviated as SMT, is a technique for improving the overall efficiency of superscalar CPUs with hardware multithreading...
(hyperthreading) support. Simultaneous multithreading is a processor's ability to process more than one data thread at a time.
Memory management
Windows XP supports a larger system virtual address spaceVirtual address space
Virtual address space is a memory mapping mechanism available in modern operating systems such as OpenVMS, UNIX, Linux, and Windows NT...
–— 1.3 GB, of which the contiguous virtual address space that can be used by device drivers is 960 MB. The Windows XP Memory Manager is redesigned to consume less paged pool, allowing for more caching and greater availability of paged pool for any component that needs it.
The total size of memory-mapped file
Memory-mapped file
A memory-mapped file is a segment of virtual memory which has been assigned a direct byte-for-byte correlation with some portion of a file or file-like resource. This resource is typically a file that is physically present on-disk, but can also be a device, shared memory object, or other resource...
s in Windows 2000 was limited because the memory manager allocated the Prototype Page Table entries (PPTEs) for all pages required to map the entire file, even if an application created mapped views to parts of the file. In Windows XP, the Prototype PTEs are allocated for active views only, allowing larger mapped files. A benefit of this, for example, is in case of making backups of large files on low memory systems. The paged pool limit of 470 MB has been lifted from the Memory Manager in Windows XP, with unmapped views dynamically reusable by the memory manager depending on pool usage.
Memory pages in working sets are trimmed more efficiently for multiprocessor systems depending on how recently they were accessed. Lock contention is reduced, as a number of unnecessary locks used in resource synchronizations (RAM allocation and mapping through Address Windowing Extensions
Address Windowing Extensions
Address Windowing Extensions is a Microsoft Windows application programming interface that allows a 32-bit software application to access more physical memory than it has virtual address space. The process of mapping an application's virtual address space to physical memory under AWE is known as...
, system page table
Page table
A page table is the data structure used by a virtual memory system in a computer operating system to store the mapping between virtual addresses and physical addresses. Virtual addresses are those unique to the accessing process...
entries, charging non-paged/paged pool quotas, charging commitment of pages) have been removed. The dispatcher lock contention has been reduced and the Page Frame Number (PFN) lock has been optimized for increased parallelism and granularity. Windows XP uses push locks on the event
Event (synchronization primitive)
In computer science, an event is a type of synchronization mechanism that is used to indicate to waiting processes when a particular condition has become true....
synchronization object if there is no contention as they support shared and exclusive acquisition. Push locks are used to protect handle table entries in the Executive, and in the Object Manager
Object Manager (Windows)
Object Manager is a subsystem implemented as part of the Windows Executive which manages Windows resources. Each resource, which are surfaced as logical objects, resides in a namespace for categorization. Resources can be physical devices, files or folders on volumes, Registry entries or even...
(to protect data structures and security descriptor
Security descriptor
Security descriptors are data structures of security information for securable Windows objects, that is objects that can be identified by a unique name...
s) and Memory Manager (to protect AWE
Address Windowing Extensions
Address Windowing Extensions is a Microsoft Windows application programming interface that allows a 32-bit software application to access more physical memory than it has virtual address space. The process of mapping an application's virtual address space to physical memory under AWE is known as...
-related locks). Windows XP uses the SYSENTER/SYSEXIT mechanisms which require fewer clock cycles to transition to and from user mode to kernel mode to speed up system call
System call
In computing, a system call is how a program requests a service from an operating system's kernel. This may include hardware related services , creating and executing new processes, and communicating with integral kernel services...
s.
The kernel page write protection limit in Windows XP is enabled on systems up to 256 MB of RAM beyond which large pages are enabled for increased address translation performance.
Windows XP introduces the CreateMemoryResourceNotification function which can notify user mode processes of high or low memory availability so applications can allocate more memory or free up memory as necessary. .
Registry
In previous versions of Windows, the registry size was limited to 80% of the paged pool size. In Windows XP, the registry is reimplemented outside of the paged pool; the registry hives are memory mapped by the Cache Manager into the system cache, eliminating the registryWindows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
size limit. The registry size is now limited only available disk space. The System hive still has a maximum size, but it has been raised from 12 MB to 200 MB, eliminating the issue previous Windows versions faced of being unable to boot because of a large or fragmented System hive. The Configuration Manager has been updated to minimize the registry's memory footprint and lock contention, reduce fragmentation and thus page faults when accessing the registry, and improved algorithms to speed up registry query processing. An in-memory security cache eliminates redundant security descriptor
Security descriptor
Security descriptors are data structures of security information for securable Windows objects, that is objects that can be identified by a unique name...
s.
Debugging
Windows XP supports cross user session debugging, attaching the debugger to a non-crashing user-mode program, dumping the process memory space using the dump command, and then detaching the debugger without terminating it. Debugging can be done over a FireWire port and on a local system.Heap
Heap leak detection can be enabled when processes exit and a debugger extension can be used to investigate leaks. Also introduced is a new heap performance-monitoring counter. Windows XP introduces a new low fragmentation heap policy (disabled by default) which allocates memory in distinct sizes for blocks less than 16KB to reduce heap fragmentation. The Low Fragmentation Heap can be enabled by default for all heaps using the LFH Heap Enabler utility.I/O
There are new APIs for IRP cancellation and registering file system filter callbacks to intercept the OS fast I/O functions. In low memory conditions, "must succeed" calls are denied, causing a slowdown but preventing a bug checkBlue Screen of Death
To forse a BSOD Open regedit.exe,Then search: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\i8042prt\ParametersThen make a new DWORD called "CrashOnCtrlScroll" And set the value to 1....
. I/O is throttled to fetch only one memory page at a time increasing overall scalability.
File System
Windows XP includes NTFSNTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
3.1, which expands the Master File Table (MFT) entries with a redundant MFT record number, useful for recovering damaged MFT files. The NTFS conversion utility, Convert.exe, supports a new /CvtArea switch so that the NTFS metadata files can be written to a contiguous placeholder file, resulting in a less fragmented file system after conversion.
Windows XP introduces the ability to mount NTFS read-only volumes. There are new APIs to preserve original short file names, to retrieve a list of mount points (drive letters and mounted folder paths) for the specified volume, and to enable applications to create very large files quickly by setting the valid data length on files without force-writing data with zeroes up to the VDL (SetFileValidData function). For instance, this function can be used to quickly create a fixed size virtual machine hard disk. The default access control list
Access control list
An access control list , with respect to a computer file system, is a list of permissions attached to an object. An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects. Each entry in a typical ACL specifies a subject...
s for newly created files are read-only for the Users group and write permissions are given only to the Administrators group, the System account and the owner.
Faster boot and application launch
The ability to boot in 30 seconds was a design goal for Windows XP, and Microsoft's developers made efforts to streamline the system as much as possible; The Logical PrefetcherPrefetcher
The Prefetcher is a component of versions of Microsoft Windows starting with Windows XP. It is a component of the Memory Manager that speeds up the Windows boot process, and shortens the amount of time it takes to start up programs...
is a significant part of this; it monitors what files are loaded during boot, optimizes the locations of these files on disk so that less time is spent waiting for the hard drive's heads to move and issues large asynchronous I/O requests that can be overlapped with device detection and initialization that occurs during boot. The prefetcher works by tracing frequently accessed paged data which is then used by the Task Scheduler
Task Scheduler
Task Scheduler is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals. It was first introduced in the Windows 95 Plus! pack as System Agent but was renamed to Task Scheduler in Windows 98...
to create a prefetch-instructions file at %WinDir%\Prefetch. Once the system boots or an application is started, any data and code specified in the trace that is not already in memory is prefetched from the disk. The previous prefetching results determine which scenario benefited more and what should be prefetched at the next boot or launch. The prefetcher also uses the same algorithms to reduce application startup times. To reduce disk seeking even further, the Disk Defragmenter is called in at idle time to optimize the layout of these specific files and metadata in a contiguous area. Boot and resume operations can be traced and analyzed using Bootvis.exe.
Logon and logoff changes
Windows XP includes a Fast Logon Optimization feature that performs logon asynchronously without waiting for the network to be fully initialized if roaming user profileRoaming user profile
A roaming user profile is a concept in the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that allows a user with a computer joined to a Windows Server domain to log on to any computer on the same network and access their documents and have a consistent desktop experience, such as applications...
s are not set up. Use of cached credentials avoids delays when logging on to a domain
Windows Server domain
A Windows domain is a collection of security principals that share a central directory database. This central database contains the user accounts and security information for...
. Group Policy
Group Policy
Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems. Group Policy is a set of rules that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and...
is applied in the background, and startup or logon scripts execute asynchronously by default.
Windows XP reconciles local and roaming
Roaming user profile
A roaming user profile is a concept in the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that allows a user with a computer joined to a Windows Server domain to log on to any computer on the same network and access their documents and have a consistent desktop experience, such as applications...
user profile
User profile
A user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...
s using a copy of the contents of the registry. The user is no longer made to wait as in Windows 2000 until the profile is unloaded. Windows XP saves locked registry hives with open keys after 60 seconds so that can roaming profile changes can be saved back to the server. The problem left is that the computer cannot recover the memory the profile uses until it can be unloaded. To make sure the user profiles are completely reconciled correctly during logoff, Microsoft has released the User Profile Hive Cleanup service
Windows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
for Windows XP, which they later included in Windows Vista.
Roaming user profiles
Windows XP offers enhancements for usability, resilience against corruption and performance of roaming user profileRoaming user profile
A roaming user profile is a concept in the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that allows a user with a computer joined to a Windows Server domain to log on to any computer on the same network and access their documents and have a consistent desktop experience, such as applications...
s. There are new Group Policies to prevent propagation of roaming user profile changes to the server, give administrators control over users' profile folders and preventing the use of roaming user profiles on specific computers. To accommodate the scenario where an older profile would overwrite a newer server profile due to Windows XP's Fast Logon feature, Windows XP ensures in such a situation that the user registry hive is copied from the server to the local profile.
Deletion of profiles marked for deletion at the next logoff does not fail for locked profiles. For workgroup computers, Windows XP no longer deletes the profiles of users belonging to the Guests group.
Offline Files
Windows XP includes some changes to the behavior of Offline Files. The Offline Files Client-Side Cache can now be encrypted with Encrypting File SystemEncrypting File System
The Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption...
. Shared folders from DFS
Distributed File System (Microsoft)
Distributed File System is a set of client and server services that allow an organization using Microsoft Windows servers to organize many distributed SMB file shares into a distributed file system...
namespaces can be made available offline. Also, roaming user profiles can be synchronized with the server even if Offline Files has marked the server as unavailable. Windows XP Service Pack 2 (and KB811660) introduce additional functionality for Offline Files. By editing the Registry, users can suppress error messages for file types that Offline Files cannot cache and which are excluded from synchronization. Offline Files for a user that are not on his primary computer (determined by matching the current user's SID
Security Identifier
In the context of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems, a Security Identifier is a unique name which is assigned by a Windows Domain controller during the log on process that is used to identify a subject, such as a user or a group of users in a network of NT/2000...
with the specified SID in the registry) can be set to purge at logoff. Administratively assigned offline files can also be prevented from being cached for non-primary users.
Folder Redirection
Beginning with Windows XP, folders redirectedFolder redirection
In computing, and specifically in the context of Microsoft Windows operating systems, Microsoft refers to Folder Redirection when automatically re-routing I/O to/from standard folders to use storage elsewhere on a network...
to the network are automatically made available offline using Offline Files, although this can optionally be disabled through Group Policy.
For older Windows NT 4.0 and earlier systems with legacy directory structure, Windows XP allows redirecting the My Documents
My Documents
On Microsoft Windows computer operating systems , My Documents is the name of a special folder on the computer's hard drive that the system commonly uses to store a user's documents, music, pictures, downloads, and other files.- Overview :Microsoft first introduced the "My Documents" folder in...
folder to their home directory.
System Restore
In Windows XP, there are some improvements made to System RestoreSystem Restore
System Restore is a component of Microsoft's Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not Windows 2000, operating systems that allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of system malfunction or failure.The...
compared to Windows Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
,. System Restore uses a copy-on-write
Copy-on-write
Copy-on-write is an optimization strategy used in computer programming. The fundamental idea is that if multiple callers ask for resources which are initially indistinguishable, they can all be given pointers to the same resource...
file system filter driver for taking snapshots. In Windows XP, System Restore is configurable per volume and the data stores are also stored per volume. On NTFS volumes, the Restore Points are stored using NTFS compression and protected using ACLs. A Disk Cleanup
Disk Cleanup
Disk Cleanup is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files...
handler allows deleting all but the most recent Restore Point. Besides the Registry hives and system files, COM+ and WMI
Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
databases and the IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
metabase can also be restored. System Restore supports Group Policy. System Restore in Windows XP also works without issues with EFS
Encrypting File System
The Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption...
-encrypted files.
Automated System Recovery
Automated System Recovery is a feature that provides the ability to save and restore Windows and installed applications, the system state, and critical boot and system files from a special backup instead of a plain reinstall. ASR consists of two components - backup and restore. The Backup portion located in NTBackupNTBackup
NTBackup is the built-in backup application introduced in Windows NT around 1997 and part of all subsequent versions up to and including Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It uses a proprietary backup format to back up files. Files can be backed up to tape, ZIP drives, floppy...
backs up the system state (Windows Registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
, COM+ class registration database, Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
and the SYSVOL directory share), and the volumes associated with operating system components required to start Windows after restore as well as their configuration (basic or dynamic). The Restore portion of ASR is accessed by pressing F2 from Windows XP Text mode Setup. Automated System Recovery can even restore programs and device drivers if they are added to the ASR Setup information disk. ASR does not restore data files.
Side-by-side (SxS) assemblies
A common issue in previous versions of Windows was that users frequently suffered from DLL hellDLL hell
In computing, DLL Hell is a term for the complications that arise when working with dynamic link libraries used with Microsoft Windows operating systems, particularly legacy 16-bit editions which all run in a single memory space....
, where more than one version of the same dynamically linked library
Library (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
(DLL) was installed on the computer. As software relies on DLLs, using the wrong version could result in non-functional applications, or worse. Windows XP solved this problem for native code by introducing side-by-side assemblies. The technology keeps multiple digitally signed versions of a shared DLL in the WinSxS folder and runs them on demand to the appropriate application keeping applications isolated from each other and not using common dependencies.
Applications that need to install COM objects can store all the required COM registry information in its own directory, instead of in the global directory, where, strictly speaking, only a single application will ever use it. DLL hell can be avoided, the only limitation being it must not be used for EXE COM servers or system-wide components such as MDAC, MSXML
MSXML
Microsoft XML Core Services is a set of services that allow applications written in JScript, VBScript, and Microsoft development tools to build Windows-native XML-based applications...
, DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
or Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
.
Application isolation
Windows XP also introduced a new mode of COMComponent Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
object registration called Registration-free COM (or RegFree COM). It allows Component Object Model (COM) components to store activation metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
and CLSID (
Class ID) for the component without using the registryWindows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
. Instead, the metadata and CLSIDs of the classes implemented in the component are declared in an assembly manifest (described using XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
), stored either as a resource in the executable or as a separate file installed with the component. This allows multiple versions of the same component to be installed in different directories, described by their own manifests, as well as XCOPY deployment
XCOPY deployment
XCOPY deployment, or xcopy installation, is a term used to describe a software application's installation into a Microsoft Windows system simply by copying files...
.
During application loading, the Windows loader searches for the manifest. If it is present, the loader adds information from it to the activation context When the COM class factory tries to instantiate a class, the activation context is first checked to see if an implementation for the CLSID can be found. Only if the lookup fails is the registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
scanned.
Windows Error Reporting
Windows Error Reporting collects and offers to send post-error debug information (a memory dumpCore dump
In computing, a core dump consists of the recorded state of the working memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has terminated abnormally...
) using the internet to the developer of an application that crashes
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
or stops responding on a user's desktop. No data is sent without the user's consent. When a dump (or other error signature information) reaches the Microsoft server, it is analyzed and a solution is sent back to the user if one is available. Windows Error Reporting runs as a Windows service
Windows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
and can optionally be entirely disabled. Software and hardware manufacturers may access their error reports using Microsoft's Winqual
Winqual
Windows Quality Online Services is a Microsoft service provided to qualify user applications and driver components for Microsoft Windows logo programs. Information about products that have been qualified through the appropriate logo program can be listed on the Windows Product Listing sites...
program. Software and hardware manufacturers can also close the loop with their customers by linking error signatures to Windows Error Reporting Responses. This allows distributing solutions as well as collecting extra information from customers (such as reproducing the steps they took before the crash
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
) and providing them with support links.
Device Driver Rollback
On old versions of Windows, when users upgrade a device driver, there is a chance the new driver is less stable, efficient or functional than the original. Reinstalling the old driver can be a major hassle and to avoid this quandary, Windows XP keeps a copy of an old driver when a new version is installed. If the new driver has problems, the user can return to the previous version. This feature does not work with printer drivers.Other driver enhancements
- Windows Driver Protection blocks known problematic drivers from installing or loading
- The Driver VerifierDriver VerifierDriver Verifier is a tool included in Microsoft Windows that replaces the default operating system subroutines with ones that are specifically developed to catch device driver bugs. Once enabled, it monitors and stresses drivers to detect illegal function calls or actions that may be causing...
introduced in Windows 2000 is a tool that replaces the default operating system subroutineSubroutineIn computer science, a subroutine is a portion of code within a larger program that performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
s with ones that are specifically developed to catch device driverDevice driverIn computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
bugSoftware bugA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s. Once enabled, it monitors and stresses drivers to detect illegal function callsSubroutineIn computer science, a subroutine is a portion of code within a larger program that performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
or actions that may be causing system corruption. In Windows XP, new verification options have been added for DMA, I/O, SCSI and deadlock detection to Driver Verifier. Driver Verifier Manager, a GUI is introduced for Driver VerifierDriver VerifierDriver Verifier is a tool included in Microsoft Windows that replaces the default operating system subroutines with ones that are specifically developed to catch device driver bugs. Once enabled, it monitors and stresses drivers to detect illegal function calls or actions that may be causing...
with an option to automatically verify all unsigned drivers. - Last Known Good Configuration in Windows 2000 restored the hardware configuration in the registry control set indicated by the LastKnownGood key instead of the default. In Windows XP, it is extended to support restoring the device drivers too of the last working configuration, should a newly installed device driver make Windows unbootable.
Application compatibility
As Windows XP merged the consumer and enterprise versions of Windows, it was necessary to support applications developed for the popular and consumer oriented Windows 9xWindows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
platform on the Windows NT kernel. Microsoft addressed this by going to great lengths to improve compatibility with application specific tweaks and shims and providing tools such as the Application Compatibility Toolkit to allow users to apply and automate these tweaks and shims on their own applications. The Compatibility Layer can be scripted
Scripting language
A scripting language, script language, or extension language is a programming language that allows control of one or more applications. "Scripts" are distinct from the core code of the application, as they are usually written in a different language and are often created or at least modified by the...
using batch file
Batch file
In DOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows, batch file is the name given to a type of script file, a text file containing a series of commands to be executed by the command interpreter....
s. Windows XP Setup also includes a compatibility checker that warns users before setup begins of incompatible applications and device drivers or applications that may need to be reinstalled.
Windows Media Player
Windows XP RTM includes Windows Media Player version 8 (officially called Windows Media Player for Windows XP) and Windows Media 8 codecs. Windows Media Player for Windows XP introduced ID3 support for MP3s, editing media information from within the Library, adding lyrics for MP3 or WMA tracks, file name customization when ripping, new visualizations, support for HDCDHigh Definition Compatible Digital
High Definition Compatible Digital, or HDCD is a patented encode-decode process, now owned by Microsoft, that improves the audio quality of standard Redbook audio CDs, while retaining backward compatibility with existing Compact disc players....
s, ability to lockdown the player in a corporate environment and DVD playback support (when appropriate codecs are installed separately). Windows XP SP2 includes Windows Media Player 9 Series with Windows Media Format Runtime 9.0, and is upgradeable up to version 11 of the player and the format runtime. Windows Media Player also incorporates newer hardware support for portable devices by means of the Media Transfer Protocol
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol is a devised set of custom extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol . Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol supports the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media...
and the User Mode Driver Framework
User Mode Driver Framework
Windows User Mode Driver Framework is a device-driver development platform first introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, and is also available for Windows XP...
-based Windows Portable Devices API.
Windows Movie Maker
The original RTM release of Windows XP included Windows Movie MakerWindows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software application, included in Microsoft Windows Me, XP, and Vista. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be...
1.1 which added non-compressed DV AVI recording of digital video sources. Windows Movie Maker 2 was a free download released in 2002, later incorporated in Windows XP SP2. Windows Movie Maker 2 introduced numerous new transitions, effects, titles and credits, a task pane, resizable preview window with dimensions, improved capture and export options, an AutoMovie feature, saving the final video back to tape and custom WMV export profiles. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes Windows Movie Maker 2.5 which includes DVD burning.
TV and video capture technologies
Windows XP includes advances in Broadcast Driver ArchitectureBroadcast Driver Architecture
The Broadcast Driver Architecture is a Microsoft standard for digital video capture on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It encompasses the ATSC and DVB standards and gives developers a standardized method of accessing TV tuner devices...
for receiving and capturing analog and digital TV broadcasts complete with signal demodulation, tuning, software de-multiplexing, electronic program guide store, IP data broadcasting etc. In addition, Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of the Windows XP operating system designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, was released in October 2004.-Versions:...
introduced Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos...
, an application for PVR-like recording and playback features for TV content.
Windows XP includes improved FireWire (IEEE 1394) support (DVCPRO25 - 525-60
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
and 625-50
576i
576i is a standard-definition video mode used in PAL and SECAM countries. In digital applications it is usually referred to as "576i", in analogue contexts it is often quoted as "625 lines"...
) for digital video cameras and audio video devices. It introduces MSTape, a WDM
Windows Driver Model
In computing, the Windows Driver Model — also known at one point as the Win32 Driver Model — is a framework for device drivers that was introduced with Windows 98 and Windows 2000 to replace VxD, which was used on older versions of Windows such as Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, as well...
driver for D-VHS
D-VHS
D-VHS is a digital recording format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita, and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for Data VHS, but with the expansion of the format from standard definition to high definition capability, JVC renamed it Digital VHS and uses that...
and MPEG camcorder devices. Windows XP SP2 adds support for DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO100.
Video playback
DirectShowDirectShow
DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...
8 introduces the Video Mixing Renderer-7 (VMR-7) filter which uses DirectDraw 7 for video rendering, replacing the Overlay Mixer. VMR-7 can mix multiple streams and graphics with alpha blending, allowing applications to draw text (such as closed captions) and graphics (such as channel logos or UI buttons) over the video without flickering, and support compositing to implement custom effects and transitions. VMR-7 also supports source color keying, overlay surface management, frame-stepping and improved multiple-monitor support. VMR-7 features a "windowless mode" for applications to easily host video playback within any window and a "renderless playback mode" for applications to access the composited image before it is rendered. DirectX 9 introduced the VMR-9 which uses Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
9 instead of DirectDraw, allowing developers to transform video images using the Direct3D pixel shaders. Windows XP SP2 introduced a YUV mixing mode in the VMR-7 and VMR-9 renderers which performs mixing in the YUV
YUV
YUV is a color space typically used as part of a color image pipeline. It encodes a color image or video taking human perception into account, allowing reduced bandwidth for chrominance components, thereby typically enabling transmission errors or compression artifacts to be more efficiently...
color space to save memory bandwidth.
DirectShow
DirectShow
DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...
8 includes AVStream, a multimedia class driver
Class driver
In computing, a class driver is a type of hardware device driver that can operate a large number of different devices of a broadly similar type....
for video-only and audio-video kernel streaming.
Other media features
- Windows Media Encoder 9 SeriesWindows Media EncoderWindows Media Encoder is a freely downloadable trial version media encoder developed by Microsoft which enables content developers to convert or capture both live and prerecorded audio, video, and computer screen images to Windows Media formats for live and on-demand delivery. It is the successor...
allows encoding Windows MediaWindows MediaWindows Media is a multimedia framework for media creation and distribution for Microsoft Windows. It consists of a software development kit with several application programming interfaces and a number of prebuilt technologies, and is the replacement of NetShow technologies.The Windows Media SDK...
9-based content. - Installing Windows Media ConnectWindows Media ConnectWindows Media Connect is a UPnP AV server from Microsoft for Windows XP and later Windows operating systems, to share and stream media on a Windows computer to WMC clients. The first two releases of WMC were made available as stand-alone software, and included a client as well...
or Windows Media Player 11 adds a UPnPUniversal Plug and PlayUniversal Plug and Play is a set of networking protocols for primarily residential networks without enterprise class devices that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence...
-based streaming media server. - Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition components such as Audio Converter, CD Label Maker, Dancer and Party Mode and screensavers and themes from Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP.
Device support improvements
Windows XP provides new and/or improved drivers and user interfaces for devices compared to Windows Me and 98.USB 2.0 support
Beginning with Windows XP Service Pack 1, generic USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller Interface drivers are included. Windows XP also adds support for USB device classes such as Bluetooth, USB video device classUSB video device class
The USB video device class is a USB device class that describes devices capable of streaming video like webcams, digital camcorders, transcoders, analog video converters, television tuners, and still-image cameras....
, imaging (still image capture device class
Picture Transfer Protocol
Picture Transfer Protocol is a widely supported protocol developed by the International Imaging Industry Association to allow the transfer of images from digital cameras to computers and other peripheral devices without the need of additional device drivers...
) and Media Transfer Protocol
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol is a devised set of custom extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol . Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol supports the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media...
with Windows Media Player 10.
For mass storage devices, Windows XP introduces hardware descriptors to distinguish between various storage types so that the operating system can set an appropriate default write caching policy. For example, for USB devices, it disables write caching by default so that surprise removal of these devices do not cause data loss. Device Manager
Device Manager
The Device Manager is a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with...
provides a configuration setting whether to optimize devices for quick removal or for performance.
Windows Image Acquisition
Windows XP supports both TWAINTWAIN
TWAIN is a standard software protocol and applications programming interface that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices such as scanners and digital cameras....
as well as Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Image Acquisition is a Microsoft driver model and application programming interface for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras and Digital Video-equipment...
-based scanners. Windows Image Acquisition in Windows XP adds support for Automatic document feeder
Automatic Document Feeder
In multifunction or all-in-one printers, fax machines, photocopiers and scanners, an automatic document feeder or ADF is a feature which takes several pages and feeds the paper one page at a time into a scanner or copier, allowing the user to scan, and thereby copy, print, or fax, multiple-page...
scanners, scroll-fed scanners without preview capabilities and multi-page TIFF generation. For WIA video, a Snapshot filter driver is introduced which allows still frames to be captured from the video stream. Windows XP SP1 and later support the downloadable WIA Library v2.0 which provides access to WIA functionality through programming languages and scripting environments that support OLE Automation.
The Scanner and Camera Wizard based on Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Image Acquisition is a Microsoft driver model and application programming interface for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras and Digital Video-equipment...
and other common dialogs for WIA devices have been improved in Windows XP to show the media information and metadata, rotate images as necessary, categorize them into subfolders, capture images and video in case of a still or video camera, crop and scan images to a single or multi-page TIFF in case of a scanner. The Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) implementation has been updated to support all mandatory and optional commands in the PTP standard, and object tree support which allows secondary files associated with a parent file to be grouped and transferred concurrently. Windows Media Player 10 also adds the Media Transfer Protocol
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol is a devised set of custom extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol . Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol supports the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media...
for transferring media content from portable devices. Thus, for digital cameras, Windows XP supports acquiring photos using any of either WIA
Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Image Acquisition is a Microsoft driver model and application programming interface for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras and Digital Video-equipment...
, PTP
Picture Transfer Protocol
Picture Transfer Protocol is a widely supported protocol developed by the International Imaging Industry Association to allow the transfer of images from digital cameras to computers and other peripheral devices without the need of additional device drivers...
, USB Mass Storage Class or MTP
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol is a devised set of custom extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol . Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol supports the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media...
protocols depending on what the camera manufacturer supports.
CD burning
Windows XP includes technology from RoxioRoxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
which allows users to directly burn files to a compact disc through Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
. Previously, end users had to install CD burning software. In Windows XP, CD and DVD-RAM
DVD-RAM
DVD-RAM is a disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders and personal video recorders since 1998.-Design:DVD-RAM is one of three competing...
(FAT32 only for DVD-RAM) burning has been directly integrated into the Windows interface. Data discs are created using the Joliet and ISO 9660 file systems and audio CDs using the Redbook standard. To prevent buffer underrun errors, Windows XP premasters a complete image of files to be burnt and then streams it to the disc burner. Users can burn files to a CD in the same way they write files to a floppy disk or to the hard drive via standard copy-paste or drag and drop methods. The burning functionality is also exposed as an API called the Image Mastering API
Image Mastering API
The Image Mastering Application Programming Interface, or IMAPI, is a component of Microsoft Windows operating system used for CD and DVD authoring and recording....
. Windows XP's CD burning support does not do disk-to-disk copying or disk image
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
s, although the API can be used programmatically to do these tasks. Creation of audio CDs is integrated into Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
. Audio CDs are burnt using track-at-once
Optical disc recording modes
In optical disc authoring, there are multiple modes for recording, including Disc-At-Once, Track-At-Once, and Session-At-Once.-CD Disc-At-Once:...
mode. CD-RW
CD-RW
A CD-RW is a rewritable optical disc. It was introduced in 1997, and was known as "CD-Writable" during development. It was preceded by the CD-MO, which was never commercially released....
discs can be quick erased.
API support can be added to Windows XP for burning DVDs and Blu-ray Discs (Mastered-style burning and UDF) on write-once and rewritable DVD and Blu-ray media by installing the Windows Feature Pack for Storage which upgrades IMAPI to version 2. Note that this does not add DVD or Blu-ray burning features to Windows Explorer but third party applications can use the APIs to support DVD and Blu-ray burning.
Power management
- Support for the Simple Boot Flag (SBF) specification which tells the BIOS to bypass or minimize startup checks if the operating system is Plug and Play capable.
- Wake-on-Battery support so that the system has time to power off or hibernate
- CardBus Wake-on-LANWake-on-LANWake-on-LAN is an Ethernet computer networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on or woken up by a network message....
support - Wake on LAN can be configured to limit wake up packets to just magic packets from the Power management tab of the NIC property page in Device ManagerDevice ManagerThe Device Manager is a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with...
. - LCD dimming when on battery power
- Processor power and performance control including C-state (run in lower power state when idle) and throttling
- USB selective suspend feature
- Significantly noticeable fast boot and resume from hibernation compared to previous Windows versions owing to the boot loaderNTLDRNTLDR is the boot loader for all releases of Windows NT operating system up to and including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. NTLDR is typically run from the primary hard disk drive, but it can also run from portable storage devices such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or floppy disk...
caching file and directory metadata sequentially and in large chunks in a most recently used manner, overlapping device and network initialization, faster boot disk enumeration and class drivers being initialized asynchronously. Hibernation is faster as memory pages are compressed using an improved algorithm, compression is overlapped with disk writes, unused memory pages are freed and DMADirect memory accessDirect memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
transfers are used during I/O. - Faster resume from standby as the algorithm used by the Power Manager for notifying hardware and software of power state changes by dispatching power IRPsI/O request packetI/O request packets are kernel mode structures that are used by Windows Driver Model and Windows NT device drivers to communicate with each other and with the operating system. They are data structures that describe I/O requests, and can be equally well thought of as "I/O request descriptors" or...
has been rewritten to maximize parallelism, important system drivers (PCMCIA, keyboard, mouse) have been rewritten to eliminate blocking interactions, and worker thread stacks are locked in memory to prevent interruptions with power operations. - Built-in support for processor power management technologies such as Intel SpeedStepSpeedStepSpeedStep is a trademark for a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies built into some Intel microprocessors that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynamically changed by software...
and AMD PowerNow!PowerNow!PowerNow! is speed throttling and power saving technology of AMD's processors used in laptops. The CPU's clock speed and VCore are automatically decreased when the computer is under low load or idle, to save battery power, reduce heat and noise...
. - Powercfg.exe beginning with Windows XP SP2
Audio hardware support
- Support for audio devices based on the Intel High Definition AudioIntel High Definition AudioIntel High Definition Audio refers to the specification released by Intel in 2004 for delivering high-definition audio that is capable of playing back more channels at higher quality than previous integrated audio codecs like AC'97...
specification by means of a Universal Audio ArchitectureUniversal Audio ArchitectureUniversal Audio Architecture is an initiative unveiled in 2002 by Microsoft to standardize the hardware and class driver architecture for audio devices in modern Microsoft Windows operating systems...
(UAA) class driver. - Multichannel audio output and playback of additional audio formats. Volume can be set for each speaker in a multichannel configuration.
- KMixer audio sampling rate supports a maximum of 200 kHz beginning with Windows XP SP1 compared to earlier versions of Windows.
- Restriction on number of MME/WinMM device interfaces (waveIn, waveOut, midiIn, midiOut, mixer, and aux) is raised from 10 to 32.
- Hardware acceleration of DirectSound capture effects These include Acoustic Echo Cancellation for USB microphones, noise suppression and array microphone support.
- USB audio devices support GFX (Global Effects Filters).
- Sound BlasterSound BlasterThe Sound Blaster family of sound cards was the de facto standard for consumer audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, until the widespread transition to Microsoft Windows 95, which standardized the programming interface at application level , and the evolution in PC design led to onboard...
2.0 emulation support in NTVDM - Windows XP sets the volume levels on wave, CD Audio and MIDI sliders to 0 dB of attenuation. This prevents signal resolution degradation.
- Beginning with Windows XP SP2, the audio volume taper is stored in the registry for on-screen keyboard and remote control applications and can be customized by third parties.
FireWire (IEEE 1394) support
Windows XP includes FireWire 800 support (1394b) beginning with Service Pack 1.As mentioned in the above section, Windows XP includes improved support for FireWire camera
FireWire camera
FireWire cameras use the IEEE 1394 bus standard for the transmission of audio, video and control data. FireWire is Apple Computer's trademark for the IEEE 1394 standard....
s and audio video devices. S/PDIF audio and MPEG-2 video streams are supported across FireWire from audio video receivers or set-top boxes, DVD or D-VHS, speakers, or TV transmissions. Windows XP supports the AV/C (IEC 61883
IEC 61883
IEC 61883 is a 1998 digital interface that is used by IEEE 1394 devices for audio and video equipment. The standard for these devices is maintained by the International Electrotechnical Commission....
protocol for isochronous real-time data transfer for audio-video applications. Windows XP also allows non-FireWire devices to be exposed as virtual FireWire devices. Direct memory access over the 1394 bus from the host to the target allows kernel debugging over FireWire.
Finally, there is support for TCP/IP networking and Internet Connection Sharing
Internet Connection Sharing
Internet Connection Sharing is the use of a device with Internet access such as 3G cellular service, broadband via Ethernet, or other Internet gateway as an access point for other devices...
over the IEEE 1394 bus.
Other hardware and driver improvements
- Details tab in Device ManagerDevice ManagerThe Device Manager is a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with...
which displays various device identification strings such as device instance ID, hardware ID, service name, filters, firmware revision, power state mappings and capabilities etc. - Windows XP's user interface for Plug and Play changed with all messages being shown in the notification area as balloon tips.
- The read-only attribute of files and folders is automatically removed when copying files from optical media using Windows Explorer.
- Improved mouse pointer ballisticsBallisticsBallistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
. - DualView for multi-monitor setups. DualView allows two monitors to host the Windows desktop, while being driven off of a single display adapter.
- Support for reading UDFUniversal Disk FormatUniversal Disk Format is an implementation of the specification known as ISO/IEC 13346 and ECMA-167 and is an open vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660...
2.01 upgradeable to UDF 2.50 by installing Windows Feature Pack for Storage. - 48-bit LBA support for ATA/ATAPI disk drives beginning with Windows XP SP1. and generic drivers for UltraDMA Mode 5 and 6 support
- Executing user applications directly from ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
. - Support for the exFATExFATexFAT is a proprietary, patent-pending file system designed especially for USB flash drives. Developed by Microsoft, it is supported in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with update KB955704, Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows...
file system can be added by installing KB955704. - Support for Secure DigitalSecure DigitalSecure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
I/O host controllers and SD/MMC storage devices compliant with SDIO 1.0 beginning with Windows XP SP2 through a Microsoft-supplied bus driver. Later hotfixes and Windows XP SP3 include support for SDHC cards, including those larger than 4 GB but up to 32 GB.
Remote Desktop
Users can log into Windows XP Professional remotely through the Remote Desktop service. It is built on Terminal Services technology (RDPRemote Desktop Protocol
Remote Desktop Protocol is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft, which provides a user with a graphical interface to another computer. The protocol is an extension of the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol. Clients exist for most versions of Microsoft Windows , Linux, Unix, Mac OS...
), and is similar to "Remote Assistance", but allows remote users to access local resources such as printers. Any Terminal Services client, a special "Remote Desktop Connection" client, or a web-based client using an ActiveX
ActiveX
ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....
control may be used to connect to the Remote Desktop. (Remote Desktop clients for earlier versions of Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98 and 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000 have been made available by Microsoft.
This permits earlier versions of Windows to connect to a Windows XP system running Remote Desktop, but not vice-versa.)
There are several resources that users can redirect from the remote server machine to the local client, depending upon the capabilities of the client software used. For instance, "File System Redirection" allows users to use their local files on a remote desktop within the terminal session, while "Printer Redirection" allows users to use their local printer within the terminal session as they would with a locally or network shared printer. "Port Redirection" allows applications running within the terminal session to access local serial and parallel ports directly, and "Audio" allows users to run an audio program on the remote desktop and have the sound redirected to their local computer. The clipboard
Clipboard
A clipboard is a thin, rigid board with a clip at the top for holding paper in place. A clipboard is typically used to support paper with one hand while writing on it with the other, especially when other writing surfaces are not available.-Other uses:...
can also be shared between the remote computer and the local computer. The RDP client in Windows XP can be upgraded to 7.0. The Remote Desktop Web Connection component of Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
5.1 also allows remote desktop functionality over the web through an ActiveX control for Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
.
Remote Assistance
Remote Assistance allows a Windows XP user to temporarily take over a remote Windows XP computer over a network or the Internet to resolve issues. As it can be a hassle for system administratorSystem administrator
A system administrator, IT systems administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network...
s to personally visit the affected computer, Remote Assistance allows them to diagnose and possibly even repair problems with a computer without ever personally visiting it. Remote Assistance allows sending invitations to the support person by email, Windows Messenger
Windows Messenger
Windows Messenger is a client by Microsoft that is included in the Windows XP operating system. Designed for use by corporate users as well as home users, it was originally created as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger...
or saving the invitation as a file. The computer can be controlled by both, the support person connecting remotely as well as the one sending the invitation. Chat, audio-video conversations and file transfer are available.
Fast user switching and Welcome Screen
Windows XP introduces Fast User Switching and a more end user friendly Welcome Screen with a user account picture which replaces the Classic logon prompt. Fast user switchingFast user switching
Fast user switching is a feature on some modern multi-user operating systems such as Windows XP and newer, Mac OS X, Linux. It allows users to switch between user accounts on a single PC without quitting applications and logging out. Analogous functionality was first developed on consumer level...
allows another user to log in and use the system without having to log out the previous user and quit his or her applications. Previously (on both Windows Me and Windows 2000) only one user at a time could be logged in (except through Terminal Services
Terminal Services
Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, formerly known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and previous versions, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network, using the Remote Desktop...
), which was a serious drawback to multi-user activity. Fast User Switching, like Terminal Services, requires more system resources than having only a single user logged in at a time and although more than one user can be logged in, only one user can be actively using their account at a time. This feature is not available when the Welcome Screen is turned off, such as when joined to a Windows Server Domain
Windows Server domain
A Windows domain is a collection of security principals that share a central directory database. This central database contains the user accounts and security information for...
or with Novell Client installed. Even when the Welcome screen is enabled, users can switch to the Classic logon by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the Welcome screen.
Windows Installer
Windows XP introduced Windows InstallerWindows Installer
The Windows Installer is a software component used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software on modern Microsoft Windows systems...
(MSI) 2.0. Windows Installer 2.0 brought major improvements such as installation and management of side-by-side and CLR
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as just-in-time compilation, the CLR compiles the intermediate language code known as CIL into the machine instructions...
assemblies, sandboxing MSI custom actions, improved event logging and hiding sensitive information in log files, per-user program isolation, digital signatures, improved patching (more robust patch conflict resolution and reduced unnecessary unversioned file copying and source prompts), Terminal Server support and integration with System Restore and Software Restriction Policies. Windows XP Service Pack 2 includes Windows Installer 3.0 which also adds numerous improvements to patching such as patch uninstallation support through Add or Remove Programs, binary delta patches, patch sequencing to install patches in the correct order, installing multiple patches for different products in one transaction, eliminating source media requests for delta compression patches, patch elevation for limited user accounts, MSI source location list and inventory management APIs, and fixing numerous bugs. Windows XP SP3 includes MSI 3.1v2. Windows XP can be updated to Windows Installer 4.5.
Disk Defragmenter
Windows Disk DefragmenterWindows Disk Defragmenter
Disk Defragmenter is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called defragmentation. Defragmenting a disk minimizes head travel, which reduces the time it takes to read files from and...
was updated to alleviate several restrictions. It no longer relies on the Windows NT Cache Manager, which prevented the defragmenter from moving pieces of a file that cross a 256KB boundary within the file. All parts of a stream including the cluster boundary for non-compressed files, reparse points, bitmaps, and attribute_lists, NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
metadata files, EFS
Encrypting File System
The Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption...
-encrypted files and the NTFS Master File Table can be defragmented. The defragmenter supports NTFS volumes with cluster sizes larger than 4 kilobytes. A command-line tool, defrag.exe, has been included, providing access to the defragmenter from cmd.exe
Cmd.exe
Command Prompt is the Microsoft-supplied command-line interpreter on OS/2, Windows CE and on Windows NT-based operating systems...
and Task Scheduler
Task Scheduler
Task Scheduler is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals. It was first introduced in the Windows 95 Plus! pack as System Agent but was renamed to Task Scheduler in Windows 98...
. Users who are members of the Power Users group can schedule defragmentation.
Windows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager incorporates a number of improvements in Windows XP. It has been updated to display process names longer than 15 characters in length on the Processes tab, which used to be truncated in Windows 2000. Session ID and User name columns have been added on the Processes tab. The Delete key can also be used to terminate processes on the Processes tab. A new Networking tab shows statistics relating to each of the network adapters present in the computer. By default the adapter name, percentage of network utilization, link speed and state of the network adapter are shown, along with a chart of recent activity. More options can be shown by choosing Select columns... from the View menu. The Users tab shows all users that currently have a session on the computer. On server computers there may be several users connected to the computer using Terminal Services. There may also be multiple users logged onto the computer at one time using Fast User SwitchingFast user switching
Fast user switching is a feature on some modern multi-user operating systems such as Windows XP and newer, Mac OS X, Linux. It allows users to switch between user accounts on a single PC without quitting applications and logging out. Analogous functionality was first developed on consumer level...
. Users can be disconnected or logged off from this tab. A Shutdown menu has been introduced that allows access to Standby, Hibernate, Turn off, Restart, Log Off and Switch User. Holding down
Ctrl while clicking New Task opens a command prompt.Command line tools
Windows XP includes new command line tools and WMI-based scriptsVBScript
VBScript is an Active Scripting language developed by Microsoft that is modeled on Visual Basic. It is designed as a “lightweight” language with a fast interpreter for use in a wide variety of Microsoft environments...
:
- Schtasks.exeSchtasksschtasks is a command which schedules other commands to be run at a certain time. It may run a command once, or repeatedly based upon the day of the week, or the date...
(Task Scheduler) - Shutdown.exe (Shutdown commands)
- Sc.exe (Service Control Manager)
- Gpupdate.exe and Gpresult.exe (Group Policy)
- Logman.exe, Relog.exe, Typeperf.exe and Tracerpt.exe (Performance monitoring)
- Eventquery.vbs, Eventcreate.exe, EventTriggers.exe (Event log)
- DSquery.exe, dsget.exe, dsadd.exe, dsmod.exe, dsmove.exe, dsrm.exe (Active Directory)
- Diskpart.exeDiskpartIn computing, diskpart is a command-line hard disk partitioning utility included in versions of the Windows NT operating system line from Windows 2000 onwards, replacing fdisk which was used in MS-DOS based operating systems....
, Defrag.exe and fsutil.exe (Disk management, Defragmentation and file system management) - Bootcfg.exeBootcfgBootcfg is a command on Windows NT operating systems which acts as a wrapper for editing boot.ini. A similar command exists in the Recovery Console for repairing or rebuilding boot configuration files....
(Boot.ini) - Openfiles.exe (Networking)
- Powercfg.exe (Power management)
- Tasklist.exeTasklisttasklist a DOS command-line tool available in Windows, local or distant.It's the equivalent to the UNIX command ps, and can be compared with the Windows task manager , or the UNIX command top.-Usage:...
, taskkill.exe, Getmac.exe, systeminfo.exeSysteminfo.exeIn computing, systeminfo.exe, a command-line utility shipped with Microsoft Windows versions from Windows XP onwards, produces summary output of Windows hardware/software operating-environment parameters....
, driverquery.exe, reg.exe, regini.exe, IPseccmd.exe (Windows 2000Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
Resource KitResource KitResource Kit is a term used by Microsoft for a set of software resources and documentation released for their software products, but which is not part of that product...
). - IIS*.vbs (IIS and Active Server Pages management)
- Prn*.vbs (Printing)
- Pagefileconfig.vbs (PageFile configuration)
- WMIC.exe (Windows Management InstrumentationWindows Management InstrumentationWindows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
Console utility) - bitsadmin.exe, bindiff.exe, cabarc.exe, ftonline.exe, httpcfg.exe, ipseccmd.exe, netcap.exe, rasdiag.exe, spcheck.exe, tracepdb.exe (New support toolsWindows Support ToolsWindows Support Tools is a suite of management, administration and troubleshooting tools for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 from Microsoft Corporation....
)
Other management features
- CHKDSKCHKDSKCHKDSK is a command on computers running DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems that displays the file system integrity status of hard disks and floppy disk and can fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix.The command is implemented as an executable...
has performance improvements. - Non-persistent Shadow Copy (Volume Snapshot Service) support that uses a copy-on-writeCopy-on-writeCopy-on-write is an optimization strategy used in computer programming. The fundamental idea is that if multiple callers ask for resources which are initially indistinguishable, they can all be given pointers to the same resource...
technique in order to create a snapshot and APIs to use the same - System ConfigurationSystem ConfigurationA system configuration in systems engineering defines the computers, processes, and devices that compose the system and its boundary. More general the system configuration is the specific definition of the elements that define and/or prescribe what a system is composed of.Alternatively the term...
Utility has been updated to configure advanced Boot.ini options graphically, enable or disable Windows serviceWindows ServiceOn Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
s and launch built-in tools. - NTBackupNTBackupNTBackup is the built-in backup application introduced in Windows NT around 1997 and part of all subsequent versions up to and including Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It uses a proprietary backup format to back up files. Files can be backed up to tape, ZIP drives, floppy...
has a wizard-based interface for ease of use and supports backing up locked (in-use) filesFile lockingFile locking is a mechanism that restricts access to a computer file by allowing only one user or process access at any specific time. Systems implement locking to prevent the classic interceding update scenario ....
using Shadow Copy. Media pools created by NTBackup can also be viewed from the backup utility itself without opening Removable Storage Management. - Microsoft Management ConsoleMicrosoft Management ConsoleMicrosoft Management Console is a component of Windows 2000 and its successors that provides system administrators and advanced users an interface for configuring and monitoring the system.- Snap-ins and consoles :...
2.0 which introduced an automation object model, view extensions, visual style support, Console Taskpads etc. Windows XP SP3 includes Management Console 3.0. - Windows Script HostWindows Script HostThe Microsoft Windows Script Host is an automation technology for Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides scripting capabilities comparable to batch files, but with a greater range of supported features...
5.6 - Increased number of WMIWindows Management InstrumentationWindows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
providers and classes. - Unified RegistryWindows registryThe Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
editor that combines Windows 9xWindows 9xWindows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
's Regedit.exe and Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
's Regedt32.exe. The Registry Editor now supports multiple instances if the -m switch is specified. - IExpressIExpressIExpress is a Microsoft utility bundled with various editions of Windows operating systems : Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7...
as part of Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems...
to create self-extracting INFINF fileAn INF file or Setup Information file, is a plain text file used by Microsoft Windows for installation of software and drivers. INF files are most commonly used for installing device drivers for hardware components. Windows includes IExpress.exe for the creation of INF-based installations...
-based installation packages. - Files and Settings Transfer WizardWindows Easy TransferWindows Easy Transfer is a file transferring program included in newer versions of Microsoft Windows operating system which allows the switching files and settings between two PCs. The program aides migration of Windows XP or earlier to a new computer running Windows Vista or Windows 7. It...
and User State Migration ToolUser State Migration ToolThe User State Migration Tool is a Microsoft command line utility program intended to allow advanced users, comfortable with Scripting language, to transfer files and settings between PCs. This task is also performed by Windows Easy Transfer, recommended for general users... - Several deployment tools improvements including enhancements to SysprepSysprepSysprep is the name of Microsoft's System Preparation Utility for Microsoft Windows operating system deployment.- History :Sysprep was originally introduced for use with Windows NT 4.0. Later versions introduced for Windows 2000 and Windows XP are available for download from Microsoft and included...
, Setup Manager, introduction of WinPEWindows Preinstallation EnvironmentWindows Preinstallation Environment is a lightweight version of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2 that is used for the deployment of workstations and servers...
. For example, the Product Key stored in the Answer file for Setup Manager or Sysprep can be stored encrypted. SysprepSysprepSysprep is the name of Microsoft's System Preparation Utility for Microsoft Windows operating system deployment.- History :Sysprep was originally introduced for use with Windows NT 4.0. Later versions introduced for Windows 2000 and Windows XP are available for download from Microsoft and included...
can add updated drivers to an installation image with per-machine customizations. The time to preload Windows XP using Sysprep has been reduced using a scriptable WinBOM.ini file that drives Sysprep. - Unattended installations are improved in Windows XP with far more comprehensive configuration options for various operating system components.
- Several improvements have been made to the Package Installer (Update.exe) over Windows 2000.
- Increased number of Group PoliciesGroup PolicyGroup Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems. Group Policy is a set of rules that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and...
, including security policies and Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) management console which allows administrators to see applied policies in logging mode or simulate policy settings that will be applied before committing to changes to objects in planning mode. - A Desktop Cleanup WizardDesktop Cleanup WizardThe Desktop Cleanup Wizard is a component included with Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. It aims to reduce the clutter in a user's desktop environment by moving unused shortcuts to a separate directory called "Unused Desktop Shortcuts"....
was introduced to help users reduce clutter on their desktops, by looking at the shortcuts on the Desktop and moving any unused ones into a directory called "Unused Desktop Shortcuts". The Desktop Cleanup Wizard operates as a scheduled taskTask SchedulerTask Scheduler is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals. It was first introduced in the Windows 95 Plus! pack as System Agent but was renamed to Task Scheduler in Windows 98...
that runs once a day to determine if it's been 60 days since the last time the wizard was run. - Windows XP can be upgraded to from Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional. If performing an upgrade setup from Windows 9xWindows 9xWindows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
family, Windows XP takes a backup of the old installation so that the user can uninstall Windows XP or if setup fails at any point, the system goes back to the previous OS. If Setup completes successfully, users are asked whether they want to delete the backup. This feature is not available when upgrading from Windows 2000 Professional. - Windows XP includes a Shutdown Event Tracker (disabled by default) which when enabled from Group Policy allows administrators to document shutdown reasons and analyze the shutdown logs stored in the System log over time to develop an understanding of the cause for most shutdowns. Administrators can choose from a predefined set of reasons or enter their own reasons. Shutdown Event Tracker also takes a system state snapshot just before each shutdown to identify usage of system resources.
- Windows XP Setup includes a new Quick format option to quickly format large volumes without checking the entire volume for bad sectors.
PKI support
Windows XP PKI supports cross-certification and Bridge CA scenarios. User-type certificates can be auto-enrolled and renewed. Certificate requests for issuing new certificates or renewing expired ones can be pending until administrator approval or until issued by the Certificate AuthorityCertificate authority
In cryptography, a certificate authority, or certification authority, is an entity that issues digital certificates. The digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate...
and once approved, they install automatically. Root CA certificates now also auto-update via Microsoft Update. Windows XP also supports delta CRLs (CRLs whose status has changed since the last full base compiled CRL) and base64-encoded CRLs for revocation checking and will use them by default. Windows XP can enroll version 2 certificate templates which have many configurable attributes.
Smart cards can be used to login to terminal server sessions (when connecting to a Windows Server 2003 or higher Terminal Server), with CAPICOM
CAPICOM
CAPICOM is a discontinued ActiveX control created by Microsoft to help expose a select set of Microsoft Cryptographic Application Programming Interface functions through Microsoft Component Object Model...
or with system tools such as net.exe and runas.exe. There are also numerous improvements to certificate status checking, chain building and revocation checking, path validation and discovery. Windows XP Service Pack 3 adds SHA-2
SHA-2
In cryptography, SHA-2 is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the National Security Agency and published in 2001 by the NIST as a U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard. SHA stands for Secure Hash Algorithm. SHA-2 includes a significant number of changes from its predecessor,...
hashing algorithms (SHA256, SHA384 and SHA512) to the CryptoAPI for validating X.509 certificates.
Encrypting File System
Windows XP includes several Encrypting File System improvements The most notable improvement is that multiple user accounts can share access to encrypted files on a file-by-file basis. A Details button in the Advanced file attributes dialog in the file's properties allows adding or removing additional users who can access the EFS-encrypted file, and viewing the certificate thumbprint and the Data Recovery Agent account. EFS certificates are autoenrolled in the CA and there is support for revocation checking on certificates used when sharing encrypted files. Unlike Windows 2000, there is no default local Data Recovery Agent and no requirement to have one, although a self-signed certificate for the recovery agent can be generated using cipher.exe.The DPAPI
DPAPI
DPAPI is a simple cryptographic application programming interface available as a built-in component in Windows 2000 and later versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems...
Master Key can be protected using a domain-wide public key. A stronger FIPS 140-1 compliant algorithm such as 3DES can be used. Windows XP Service Pack 1 adds support for and the default use of AES-256 symmetric encryption algorithm
Symmetric-key algorithm
Symmetric-key algorithms are a class of algorithms for cryptography that use trivially related, often identical, cryptographic keys for both encryption of plaintext and decryption of ciphertext. The encryption key is trivially related to the decryption key, in that they may be identical or there is...
for all EFS-encrypted files. With KB912761 for Windows XP SP2 or on Windows XP SP3, users can configure whether EFS generates a self-signed certificate when a Certificate Authority is unvailable. Windows XP also warns the user if the EFS encrypted files are being copied to a file system such as FAT
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
or unsupported location which does not support EFS, and thus the file is going to get decrypted.
Windows XP can also encrypt files on a remote server with NTFS if the server is trusted for delegation in Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
and the user's certificate and private key are loaded in the local profile on the server. If a roaming user profile
Roaming user profile
A roaming user profile is a concept in the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that allows a user with a computer joined to a Windows Server domain to log on to any computer on the same network and access their documents and have a consistent desktop experience, such as applications...
is used, it will be copied locally. On a WebDAV
WebDAV
Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a set of methods based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that facilitates collaboration between users in editing and managing documents and files stored on World Wide Web servers...
server mapped by a drive letter, Windows XP can encrypt the file locally and transport it as a raw encrypted file to the WebDAV server using the HTTP PUT command. Similarly, EFS encrypted files can be downloaded raw from the WebDAV and decrypted locally. The command line utilities cipher, copy and xcopy have been updated in Windows XP. EFS can also be completely disabled in Windows XP through Group Policy (for a domain) or through the registry (for a non-domain computer).
Password Reset Wizard
Starting with Windows XP, a password reset disk can be created using the Forgotten Password wizard. This disk can be used to reset the password using the Password Reset Wizard from the logon screen. The user's RSA private key is backed up using an offline public key whose matching private key is stored in one of two places: the password reset disk (if the computer is not a member of a domain) or in Active DirectoryActive Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
(if it is a member of a domain). An attacker who can authenticate to Windows XP as LocalSystem still does not have access to a decryption key stored on the PC's hard drive. If the password is reset, the DPAPI master key is deleted and Windows XP blocks all access to the EFS encrypted files to prevent offline and rogue attacks and protect the encrypted files. If the user changes the password back to the original password, EFS encrypted files can be recovered.
Credential Manager
Windows XP prompts for credentials upon authentication errors and allows saving those that use Integrated Windows AuthenticationIntegrated Windows Authentication
Integrated Windows Authentication is a term associated with Microsoft products that refers to the SPNEGO, Kerberos, and NTLMSSP authentication protocols with respect to SSPI functionality introduced with Microsoft Windows 2000 and included with later Windows NT-based operating systems...
to a secure roaming keyring
Keyring (cryptography)
In the cryptography sense, a keyring stores known encryption keys . For example, GNU Privacy Guard makes use of keyrings....
store protected by the Data Protection API. Saved credentials can be managed from the Stored User Names and Passwords item in the User accounts control panel. If a Ceritifcate Authority is present, then users can a select an X.509
X.509
In cryptography, X.509 is an ITU-T standard for a public key infrastructure and Privilege Management Infrastructure . X.509 specifies, amongst other things, standard formats for public key certificates, certificate revocation lists, attribute certificates, and a certification path validation...
certificate when prompted for credentials. When that same resource is accessed again, the saved credentials will be used. Remote access/VPN connections also create temporary credentials in the keyring to make the experience seamless. Credential Manager also exposes an API for Single Sign On.
Software Restriction Policies
Windows XP introduces Software Restriction Policies and the Safer API By use of Software Restriction Policies, a system may be configured to execute or install only those applications and scripts which have been digitally signed or have a certain trust level, thus preventing the execution of untrusted programs and scripts. Administrators can define a default rule using the Local Security Policy snap-in, and exceptions to that rule. The types of rules include: Hash Rule, Path Rule, Certificate Rule and Zone Rule which identify a file by its hash, path, software publisher's certificate or Internet Explorer-zone respectively. For example, an ActiveX control can be restricted to run only for a particular domain by specifying a certificate rule-based software restriction policy.Memory protection
Windows XP Service Pack 2 introduced Data Execution PreventionData Execution Prevention
Data Execution Prevention is a security feature included in modern operating systems.It is known to be available in Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating systems and is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. This helps...
. This feature, present as NX (EVP) in AMD's AMD64 processors and as XD (EDB) in Intel's processors, can flag certain parts of memory as containing data instead of executable code, which prevents overflow errors from resulting in arbitrary code execution. It is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. This helps prevent certain exploits that store code via a buffer overflow
Buffer overflow
In computer security and programming, a buffer overflow, or buffer overrun, is an anomaly where a program, while writing data to a buffer, overruns the buffer's boundary and overwrites adjacent memory. This is a special case of violation of memory safety....
, for example. DEP runs in two modes: hardware-enforced DEP for CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
s that can mark memory pages as nonexecutable, and software-enforced DEP with a limited prevention for CPUs that do not have hardware support. Software-enforced DEP does not protect from execution of code in data pages, but instead from another type of attack (SEH overwrite). Hardware-enforced DEP enables the NX bit
NX bit
The NX bit, which stands for No eXecute, is a technology used in CPUs to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions or for storage of data, a feature normally only found in Harvard architecture processors...
on compatible CPUs, through the automatic use of PAE
Physical Address Extension
In computing, Physical Address Extension is a feature to allow x86 processors to access a physical address space larger than 4 gigabytes....
kernel in 32-bit Windows and the native support on 64-bit kernels. Software DEP, while unrelated to the NX bit, is what Microsoft calls their enforcement of "Safe Structured Exception Handling". Software DEP/SafeSEH simply checks when an exception is thrown to make sure that the exception is registered in a function table for the application, and requires the program to be built with it.
If DEP is enabled for all applications, users gain additional resistance against zero-day exploits. But not all applications are DEP-compliant and some will generate DEP exceptions. Therefore, DEP is not enforced for all applications by default in 32-bit versions of Windows and is only turned on for critical system components. However, Windows XP Service Pack 3 introduces additional NX APIs that allow software developers to enable NX hardware protection for their code, independent of system-wide compatibility enforcement settings. Developers can mark their applications as NX-compliant when built, which allows protection to be enforced when that application is installed and runs. This enables a higher percentage of NX-protected code in the software ecosystem on 32-bit platforms, where the default system compatibility policy for NX is configured to protect only operating system components.
Windows Firewall
Windows XP RTM introduced the Internet Connection Firewall. It was later upgraded to Windows FirewallWindows Firewall
Windows Firewall is a software component of Microsoft Windows that provides firewalling and packet filtering functions. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003...
in Windows XP Service Pack 2 with support for filtering IPv6 traffic as well. By default, Windows Firewall performs stateful packet filtering of in-bound solicited or unsolicited traffic on all types of network interfaces (LAN/WLAN, PPPoE, VPN, or dial-up connections). Like Internet Connection Sharing, the firewall has a location-aware policy, meaning it can be disabled in a corporate domain but enabled for a private home network. It has an option to disallow all exceptions which may be useful when connecting to a public network. The firewall can also be used as the edge firewall for ICS clients. When the firewall blocks a program, it displays a notification. Excepted traffic can be specified by TCP/UDP port, application filename and by scope (part of the network from which the excepted traffic originates). It supports port mapping and ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol
The Internet Control Message Protocol is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is chiefly used by the operating systems of networked computers to send error messages indicating, for example, that a requested service is not available or that a host or router could not be...
. Security log
Security log
A security log is used to track security-related information on a computer system. Examples include:* Windows Security Log* Internet Connection Firewall security log...
capabilities are included, which can record IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es and other data relating to connections originating from the home or office network or the Internet. It can record both dropped packets and successful connections. This can be used, for instance, to track every time a computer on the network connects to a website. Windows Firewall also supports configuration through Group Policy
Group Policy
Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems. Group Policy is a set of rules that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and...
. Applications can use the Windows Firewall APIs to automatically add exceptions.
Windows Security Center
Windows Security Center, introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2, provides users with the ability to view the status of computer securityComputer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
settings and services. Windows Security Center also continually monitors these security settings, and informs the user via a pop-up notification balloon if there is a problem. The Windows Security Center consists of three major components: A control panel
Control Panel (Windows)
The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options...
, a Windows Service
Windows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
, and an application programming interface
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
that is provided by Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
. The control panel divides the monitored security settings into categories, the headings of which are displayed with color-coded backgrounds. The current state of these settings is determined by the Windows service which starts automatically when the computer starts, and takes responsibility for continually monitoring the system for changes. The settings are made available to the system through a WMI
Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
provider. Anti-malware and firewall software vendors can register with the Security Center through the WMI provider. Windows Update
Windows Update
Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer...
settings and status are also monitored and reported.
Other security and privacy features
- The Security permissions user interface is improved over Windows 2000. A new property sheet called Effective Permissions evaluates implicit permissions against explicit permissions and assigned permissions against inherited permissions. When setting object permissions, the user names, groups and security principalSecurity principalA principal in Computer Science is an entity that can be authenticated by a computer system or network. Authentication is the process of validating and confirming the identity of such an entity....
s can be searched on the domain by specific criteria. - The Secondary logon (Run As) feature allows running programs with a restricted token if the Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity option is checked.
- For non-domain computers, network logons and secondary logons (Run As) are disabled for user accounts with blank passwords. Only logons from the main physical console logon screen will be allowed for blank passwords.
- If the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database is deleted from another OS, Windows XP will not allow bypassing the logon and will show an error message and then shut down the computer.
- Digest SSPDigest access authenticationDigest access authentication is one of the agreed upon methods a web server can use to negotiate credentials with a user's web browser. It uses encryption to send the password over the network which is safer than the Basic access authentication that sends plaintext.Technically digest...
for HTTP and LDAP queries between Windows and non-Windows systems where Kerberos is not available. - Credentials Security Service Provider (CredSSP) in Windows XP SP3 (Disabled by default) which provides Single sign-onSingle sign-onSingle sign-on is a property of access control of multiple related, but independent software systems. With this property a user logs in once and gains access to all systems without being prompted to log in again at each of them...
and Network Level AuthenticationNetwork Level AuthenticationNetwork Level Authentication is a technology used in Remote Desktop Services or Remote Desktop Connection that requires the connecting user to authenticate themselves before a session is established with the server. Originally, if you opened an RDP to a server it would load the login screen...
for Remote Desktop Services. - Attachment Manager introduced in Windows XP SP2
- IPsec configuration for server or domain isolation is simplified with the Simple Policy Update which reduces the number of IPsec filters from many hundreds of filters to only two filters.
- The Everyone user group no longer includes the Anonymous SIDSecurity IdentifierIn the context of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems, a Security Identifier is a unique name which is assigned by a Windows Domain controller during the log on process that is used to identify a subject, such as a user or a group of users in a network of NT/2000...
. - Windows XP introduced the
LOCAL SERVICEandNETWORK SERVICEaccounts to run certain Windows serviceWindows ServiceOn Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
s in isolation so that the privileges and access assigned to services is reduced to just those needed for their roles. This way, any potential attack surface is reduced when an attacker is exploiting the service. - AuthZ API which implements the NT kernel Security Reference Monitor in user mode for applications to protect objects.
- P3PP3PThe Platform for Privacy Preferences Project, or P3P, is a protocol allowing websites to declare their intended use of information they collect about browsing users...
support in Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems... - Windows XP Service Pack 2 includes significant security-related changes to MSRPCMSRPCMicrosoft RPC is a modified version of DCE/RPC. Additions include support for Unicode strings, implicit handles, inheritance of interfaces , and complex calculations in the variable-length string and structure paradigms already present in DCE/RPC.- Example :The DCE 1.0 reference implementation...
, DCOM and MSDTCDistributed Transaction CoordinatorThe Distributed Transaction Coordinator service is a component of modern versions of Microsoft Windows that is responsible for coordinating transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems...
.
Wi-Fi networks
Windows 2000 wireless support did not support seamless roaming and auto-configuration. Windows XP's Wireless Zero ConfigurationWireless Zero Configuration
Wireless Zero Configuration , also known as Wireless Auto Configuration, or WLAN AutoConfig is a wireless connection management utility included with Microsoft Windows XP and later operating systems as a service that dynamically selects a wireless network to connect to based on a user's preferences...
service
Windows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
supports automatic wireless network configuration with re-authentication when necessary thus providing seamless roaming capability and setting the preferred order of connections. In the absence of a wireless access point, Windows XP can set up an ad hoc wireless network
Ad hoc wireless network
An ad hoc network typically refers to any set of networks where all devices have equal status on a network and are free to associate with any other ad hoc network devices in link range...
. There is native support for WPA and WPA2
IEEE 802.11i-2004
IEEE 802.11i-2004 or 802.11i, implemented as WPA2, is an amendment to the original IEEE 802.11. The draft standard was ratified on 24 June 2004. This standard specifies security mechanisms for wireless networks. It replaced the short Authentication and privacy clause of the original standard with...
authentication in infrastructure networks with the latest service packs and/or updates applied. Windows XP includes a Wireless Network Setup Wizard which supports the Windows Connect Now: USB Flash Drive (WCN-UFD) method to ease setting up the wireless network for inexperienced users. (KB918997) for Windows XP SP2 and Windows XP SP3 add a Wireless LAN API for developers to create wireless client programs and manage profiles and connections. There is IEEE 802.1X
IEEE 802.1X
IEEE 802.1X is an IEEE Standard for port-based Network Access Control . It is part of the IEEE 802.1 group of networking protocols. It provides an authentication mechanism to devices wishing to attach to a LAN or WLAN....
support for wireless and wired connections. In case, a PKI
Public key infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
is not available to issue certificates for a VPN connection, there is support for preshared key for IKE
Internet key exchange
Internet Key Exchange is the protocol used to set up a security association in the IPsec protocol suite. IKE builds upon the Oakley protocol and ISAKMP...
authentication.
Windows XP can connect to hotspots created using Wireless Provisioning Services.
Bluetooth support
Windows XP Service Pack 2 added native BluetoothBluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
support. The Windows XP Bluetooth stack supports external or integrated Bluetooth dongles attached through USB. Windows XP SP2 and SP3 support Bluetooth 1.1 (but not 1.0), Bluetooth 2.0 and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The Bluetooth stack supports the following Bluetooth profiles natively: PAN, SPP, DUN, HID, HCRP. The Windows XP stack can be replaced by a third party stack which may support more profiles or newer versions of Bluetooth.
Internet Connection Sharing
In Windows XP, Internet Connection SharingInternet Connection Sharing
Internet Connection Sharing is the use of a device with Internet access such as 3G cellular service, broadband via Ethernet, or other Internet gateway as an access point for other devices...
is integrated with UPnP, allowing remote discovery and control of the ICS host. It has a Quality of Service Packet Scheduler component. When an ICS client is on a relatively fast network and the ICS host is connected to the internet through a slow link, Windows may incorrectly calculcate the optimal TCP receive window size based on the speed of the link between the client and the ICS host, potentially affecting traffic from the sender adversely. The ICS QoS component sets the TCP receive window size to the same as it would be if the receiver were directly connected to the slow link.
Internet Connection Sharing also includes a local DNS resolver in Windows XP to provide name resolution for all network clients on the home network, including non-Windows-based network devices. ICS is also location-aware, that is, when connected to a domain, the computer can have a Group Policy to restrict the use of ICS but when at home, ICS can be enabled.
Quality of Service for modems and remote access
When multiple applications are accessing the internet simultaneously without any QoS and the connection isn't fast enough, the TCP receive window size is set to the full window of data in transit that the first application uses in the connection until a steady state is reached. Subsequent connections made by other applications will take much longer to reach an optimal window size and the transmission rate of the second or third application will always be lower than that of the application that established the connection first. On such slow links, the QoS component in Windows XP automatically enables a Deficit round robinDeficit round robin
Deficit round robin , also deficit weighted round robin , is a modified weighted round robin scheduling discipline. DRR was proposed by M. Shreedhar and G. Varghese in 1995. It can handle packets of variable size without knowing their mean size...
scheduling scheme, which creates a separate queue for each application and services these queues in a round-robin fashion.
IPv6 support
There is basic but production quality support in Windows XP for IPv6IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
and Teredo tunneling
Teredo tunneling
In computer networking, Teredo is a transition technology that gives full IPv6 connectivity for IPv6-capable hosts which are on the IPv4 Internet but which have no direct native connection to an IPv6 network...
through the Advanced Networking Pack later incorporated into Windows XP SP2. After the network interface's link-local address is assigned, stateless autoconfiguration for local and global addresses can be performed by Windows XP. Static IPv6 addresses can be assigned if there is no IPv6 router on the local link. Transition mechanisms such as manually configured tunnels and 6to4 can be set up. IPv6 addresses are preferred when a DNS query sends back both IPv4 and IPv6 resource records. IPv6 has to be installed and activated from the command line using the netsh interface ipv6 context. Windows Firewall
Windows Firewall
Windows Firewall is a software component of Microsoft Windows that provides firewalling and packet filtering functions. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003...
beginning with Windows XP SP2 also supports IPv6 stateful filtering. Applications and tools such as the Telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
client, FTP client, ping, nslookup, tracert, DNS resolver, file and print sharing, Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
, IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
have been updated to support IPv6. Privacy extensions are enabled and used by default. 6to4 is automatically activated for public IPv4 addresses without a global IPv6 address. Other types of tunnels can be set up include: 6over4, Teredo, ISATAP, PortProxy. Teredo also helps traverse cone and restricted NATs
Network address translation
In computer networking, network address translation is the process of modifying IP address information in IP packet headers while in transit across a traffic routing device....
. Teredo host-specific relay is enabled when a global IPv6 address has been assigned, otherwise Teredo client functionality is enabled.
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Windows XP includes the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, a Windows serviceWindows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
that facilitates prioritized, throttled, and asynchronous transfer of files between machines using idle network bandwidth. BITS will only transfer data whenever there is bandwidth which is not being used by other applications, for example, when applications use 80% of the available bandwidth, BITS will use only the remaining 20%. BITS constantly monitors network traffic for any increase or decrease in network traffic and throttles
Bandwidth throttling
Bandwidth throttling is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion. Bandwidth throttling can occur at different locations on the network. On a local area network , a sysadmin may employ bandwidth throttling to help limit...
its own transfers to ensure that other foreground applications (such as a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
) get the bandwidth they need. BITS also supports resuming transfers in case of disruptions. BITS version 1.0 supports only downloads. From version 1.5, BITS supports both downloads and uploads. Uploads require the IIS web server
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
, with BITS server extension, on the receiving side. BITS 2.0, part of Windows XP SP2, added support for performing concurrent foreground downloads, using Server Message Block paths for remote names, downloading portions of a file, changing the prefix or complete name of a remote name, and limiting client bandwidth usage. BITS is upgradeable to version 2.5 in Windows XP. BITS 2.5, part of Windows XP SP3, adds support for IPv6 and certificate-based client authentication for secure HTTP transports and custom HTTP headers.
Windows XP components such as Automatic Updates, Windows Update
Windows Update
Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer...
/Microsoft Update use BITS to download updates so only idle bandwidth is used to download updates and downloading can be resumed in case network connectivity is interrupted. BITS uses a queue to manage file transfers and downloads files on behalf of requesting applications asynchronously, i.e., once an application requests the BITS service for a transfer, it will be free to do any other job, or even terminate. The transfer will continue in the background as long as the network connection is there and the job owner is logged in. BITS supports transfers over both HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a networking protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web....
and HTTPS. If a network application begins to consume more bandwidth, BITS decreases its transfer rate to preserve the user's interactive experience, except for Foreground priority downloads. BITS is exposed through Component Object Model
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
(COM), making it possible to use with virtually any programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
.
Faxing
Windows XP has a Fax Console to manage incoming, outgoing and archived faxes and settings. The Fax Monitor only appears in the notification area when a fax transmission or reception is in progress. If manual reception of faxes is enabled, it appears upon an incoming fax call. Archived faxes open in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in TIFF format. Upon installing Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
, the Fax Service automatically switches from the Windows Address Book
Windows Address Book
Windows Address Book is a component of Microsoft Windows that lets users keep a single list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. It is most commonly used by Outlook Express. It was introduced with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996 and improved in subsequent versions. The Windows Address...
to using Outlook's Address Book.
Windows XP introduces the Fax Service Extended COM
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
API for application developers to incorporate fax functionality.
Simple File Sharing
Windows XP introduces a more simplified form of sharing files with local users in a multi-user environment and over the network called Simple File Sharing. Simple File Sharing which is enabled by default for non-domain joined computers, disables the separate Security tab used to set advanced ACLs/permissions and enables a common interface for both - permissions on file system folders and sharing them. With Simple File Sharing enabled, the My Documents folder or its subfolders can only be read and written to by its Owner and by local Administrators. It is not shared on the network. By checking the Make this folder private option in its Properties, local Administrators are also denied permissions to the My Documents folder. For sharing files with other user accounts on the same computer when Simple File Sharing is enabled, Windows XP includes the Shared Documents folder.Simple File Sharing disables granular local and network sharing permissions. It shares the item with the Everyone group on the network with read only or write access, without asking for a password but forcing Guest user permissions.
WebDAV mini-redirector
In Windows XPWindows XP
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, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, a "WebDAV mini-redirector" has been added which is preferred over the old Web folders client, by default. This newer client works as a system service
Windows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
at the network-redirector level (immediately above the file-system), allowing WebDAV
WebDAV
Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a set of methods based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that facilitates collaboration between users in editing and managing documents and files stored on World Wide Web servers...
shares to be assigned to a drive letter
Drive letter assignment
Drive letter assignment is the process of assigning alphabetical identifiers to physical or logical disk drives or partitions in the root filesystem namespace; this usage is now mostly found in Microsoft operating systems...
and used by any software, even through firewalls and NATs. Applications can open remote files on HTTP servers, edit the file, and save the changes back to the file (if the server allows). The redirector also allows WebDAV shares to be addressed via UNC paths (e.g.
Other networking features
- Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems...
upgradeable to Internet Explorer 8Internet Explorer 8Windows Internet Explorer 8 is a web browser developed by Microsoft in the Internet Explorer browser series. The browser was released on March 19, 2009 for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds are available...
with Windows RSS PlatformWindows RSS PlatformWindows RSS Platform, included in Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista is a platform that exposes feed handling and management to Windows applications. The RSS support in Internet Explorer 7 is built on the Windows RSS Platform.-Overview:... - Outlook ExpressOutlook ExpressOutlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
6, Windows Address BookWindows Address BookWindows Address Book is a component of Microsoft Windows that lets users keep a single list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. It is most commonly used by Outlook Express. It was introduced with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996 and improved in subsequent versions. The Windows Address...
, NetMeeting 3.01 and MSN ExplorerMSN ExplorerMSN Explorer is a web browser, developed by Microsoft, that integrates MSN and Windows Live features such as Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger with a web browser. To make use of these services requires a Windows Live ID...
6 - DHCP client alternate configuration to support more than one network or in the case when a DHCP server is not available
- Network bridging (IEEE 802.1DIEEE 802.1D802.1D is the IEEE MAC Bridges standard which includes Bridging, Spanning Tree and others. It is standardized by the IEEE 802.1 working group. It includes details specific to linking many of the other 802 projects including the widely deployed 802.3 , 802.11 and 802.16 standards.VLANs are not...
Transparent Bridging) allows a Windows XP computer to act as a bridge for different network mediums, eliminating the need to configure multiple IP subnets and routers to connect multiple network mediums together - Network Setup Wizard for setting up the network on non-domain joined computers, an evolution of Windows Me's Home Networking Wizard. Windows XP also improves connection wizards for setting up internet or VPN connections or remote access to a network.
- NAT TraversalNAT traversalNAT traversal is a general term for techniques that establish and maintain Internet protocol connections traversing network address translation gateways. Network address translation breaks end-to-end connectivity. Intercepting and modifying traffic can only be performed transparently in the...
APIs to abstract UPnP functions. UPnP IGD devices show up in Network Connections if the IGD Discovery and Control client is installed and double clicking their icon can initiate a connection to the Internet via the gateway device and show status information. NAT port mappings are also shown and can be set up. - Built-in PPPoE protocol for individual authenticated access to remote servers.
- Connection Manager is the client dialer with the ability to connect to customized remote access connections and customized phone books of access numbers that can be created using the Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK). Connection Manager supports favorites to save settings for multiple network locations, client side logging and callback features and exposes more previously unavailable settings in the UI. There is support for split tunneling (although not secure) for VPN connections so VPN clients may access the internet.
- Peer-to-peerPeer-to-peerPeer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
networking support later expanded with Advanced Networking Pack/Windows XP SP2 which introduced Peer Name Resolution ProtocolPeer Name Resolution ProtocolPeer Name Resolution Protocol is a peer-to-peer protocol designed by Microsoft. PNRP enables dynamic name publication and resolution, and requires IPv6.PNRP was first mentioned during a presentation at a P2P conference in November 2001...
that allows dynamic domain name publication and resolution of names to endpoints. Windows XP PNRP support is updated to version 2.1 in Windows XP SP3. - Windows UpdateWindows UpdateWindows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer...
uses binary delta compressionBinary delta compressionBinary delta compression is a technology used in software deployment for distributing patches.- Explanation :Downloading large amounts of data over the internet for software updates can induce high network traffic problems, especially when a network of computers is involved...
so the size of Windows XP updates to download is reduced. - EAP-TLS support, PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2 support beginning with Windows XP SP1.
- Improved support for infrared including IrDAInfrared Data AssociationThe Infrared Data Association defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short-range exchange of data over infrared light, for uses such as personal area networks ....
networking (IrCOMM modems, IrNET and P2P) - Network connection status support tab which displays IP configuration and offers a 1-click "Repair" function to perform a series of steps that reset the network connection.
- Windows XP includes network diagnostic tools such as NetshNetshIn software, netsh, or network shell, is a utility included in Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems beginning with Windows 2000. It allows local or remote configuration of network devices such as the interface....
diag, netdiag.exe in the support toolsWindows Support ToolsWindows Support Tools is a suite of management, administration and troubleshooting tools for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 from Microsoft Corporation....
and Basic Network Diagnostics integrated into the Help and Support Center A later update, incorporated into Windows XP SP3, also introduced Network Diagnostics for Internet Explorer. - There are new WinSockWinsockIn computing, the Windows Sockets API , which was later shortened to Winsock, is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standard interface between a Windows TCP/IP client application and the underlying...
APIs for performance and IPv6 support. Network Location Awareness APIs are exposed through WinsockWinsockIn computing, the Windows Sockets API , which was later shortened to Winsock, is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standard interface between a Windows TCP/IP client application and the underlying...
for determining network states and notifying Winsock client applications of changes. Windows XP components such as Internet Connection Sharing, Windows Firewall and Network Setup Wizard make use of these network location APIs. - WinsockWinsockIn computing, the Windows Sockets API , which was later shortened to Winsock, is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standard interface between a Windows TCP/IP client application and the underlying...
has the ability to self-heal if a Winsock LSPLayered Service ProviderLayered Service Provider is a feature of the Microsoft Windows Winsock 2 Service Provider Interface . A Layered Service Provider is a DLL that uses Winsock APIs to insert itself into the TCP/IP protocol stack. Once in the stack, a Layered Service Provider can intercept and modify inbound and...
uninstallation damages it. Also, users can manually reset and repair a corrupted Winsock stack using the netsh winsock reset command. - Support for PVC Encapsulation (RFC 2684)
- NDISNetwork Driver Interface SpecificationThe Network Driver Interface Specification is an application programming interface for network interface cards . It was jointly developed by Microsoft and 3Com Corporation, and is mostly used in Microsoft Windows, but the open-source NDISwrapper and Project Evil driver wrapper projects allow...
5.1 has performance enhancements, Plug and Play and Power event notifications for miniport drivers, send cancellation and 64-bit statistic counters. Remote NDISRNDISThe Remote Network Driver Interface Specification is a Microsoft proprietary protocol used mostly on top of USB. It provides a virtual Ethernet link to most versions of the Windows operating system...
supports USB attached network devices. - Expanded support for soft modems and HomePNAHomePNAThe HomePNA Alliance is an incorporated non-profit industry association of companies that develops and standardizes technology for home networking over the existing coaxial cables and telephone wiring within homes.-Overview:HomePNA does not manufacture products, although its members do...
adapters. - Notification when a network has limited or no connectivity.
- TAPITelephony Application Programming InterfaceThe Telephony Application Programming Interface is a Microsoft Windows API, which provides computer telephony integration and enables PCs running Microsoft Windows to use telephone services. Different versions of TAPI are available on different versions of Windows...
3.1 exposes COMComponent Object ModelComponent Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
interfaces. H.323v2 based IP telephony and IP multicast AV conferencing Telephony Service ProviderTelephony Service ProviderA telephony service provider, as defined in Microsoft's TAPI specification, is a software interface to a physical telephony device that can be accessed programmatically to perform actions such as dialing a phone number or logging a call. TSPs can be thought of as a TAPI specific driver for a...
s are included. TAPI 3.1 also includes File Terminals (record streaming data), Pluggable Terminals (add external terminal object), USB/HID Phone TSP (control a USB phone and use it as a streaming endpoint) and support for Auto Discovery of TAPI Servers. Several H.323 supplementary services have been implemented for richer call control features (Call Transfer, Call Hold, Call Diversion, Call Park and Pickup). - Windows MessengerWindows MessengerWindows Messenger is a client by Microsoft that is included in the Windows XP operating system. Designed for use by corporate users as well as home users, it was originally created as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger...
and RTC (Real-Time Communication) Client API to provide IMInstant messagingInstant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
, presence, AV communications, whiteboarding, application sharing, Acoustic Echo Cancellation, media encryption, PC to phone and phone to PC services to applications. - Windows XP SP3 added a Network Access ProtectionNetwork Access ProtectionNetwork Access Protection is a Microsoft technology for controlling network access of a computer host based on the system health of the host, first introduced in Windows Server 2008....
client and Group Policy support for IEEE 802.1X authentication for wired network adapters. - For computers in a workgroupWorkgroup (Computer networking)A workgroup is Microsoft's terminology for a peer-to-peer Windows computer network.Microsoft operating systems in the same workgroup may allow each other access to their files, printers, or Internet connection...
, the Windows Time Service in Windows XP supports a new Internet Time feature (NTPNetwork Time ProtocolThe Network Time Protocol is a protocol and software implementation for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. Originally designed by David L...
client), which updates the clock on the user's computer by synchronizing with an NTP time server on the Internet. This feature is useful for computers whose real-time clockReal-time clockA real-time clock is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time.-Terminology:The term is used to avoid...
does not maintain the correct time. - Microsoft Message QueuingMicrosoft Message QueuingMicrosoft Message Queuing or MSMQ is a Message Queue implementation developed by Microsoft and deployed in its Windows Server operating systems since Windows NT 4 and Windows 95. The latest Windows 7 also includes this component...
3.0 supports: Internet Messaging (referencing queues via HTTP, SOAPSOAPSOAP, originally defined as Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks...
-formatted messages, MSMQ support for Internet Information ServicesInternet Information ServicesInternet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
), queue aliases, multicasting of messages, and additional support for programmatic maintenance and administration of queues and MSMQ itself. MSMQ 3 clients directly communicate with Active DirectoryActive DirectoryActive Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
using LDAP.
Other features
- Internet Information ServicesInternet Information ServicesInternet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
5.1 - COM+ 1.5
- Speech Application Programming InterfaceSpeech Application Programming InterfaceThe Speech Application Programming Interface or SAPI is an API developed by Microsoft to allow the use of speech recognition and speech synthesis within Windows applications. To date, a number of versions of the API have been released, which have shipped either as part of a Speech SDK, or as part...
5.1 - SAPI 5 support in Microsoft NarratorMicrosoft NarratorNarrator is a light-duty screen reader utility included in Microsoft Windows. Narrator reads dialog boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications for Windows....
- Paint is based on GDI+ and therefore, images can be natively saved as JPEG, GIF, TIFF and PNG without requiring additional graphics filters (in addition to BMP). However, alpha channel transparencyTransparency (graphic)Transparency is possible in a number of graphics file formats. The term transparency is used in various ways by different people, but at its simplest there is "full transparency" i.e. something that is completely invisible. Of course, only part of a graphic should be fully transparent, or there...
is still not supported because the GDI+ version of Paint can only handle up to 24-bit24-bitNotable 24-bit machines include the ICT 1900 series and the Harris H series.The IBM System/360, announced in 1964, was a popular computer system with 24-bit addressing and 32-bit general registers and arithmetic...
depth images. Support for acquiring images from a scanner or a digital camera was also added to Paint. - WordPadWordPadWordPad is a basic word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Works Word Processor and Microsoft Word. It replaced Microsoft Write....
has full Unicode support in Windows XP, enabling WordPad to support multiple languages. Windows XP SP1 ships with the RichEdit 4.1 control. - General improvements to international support such as more locales, languages and scripts, MUI support in Terminal Services, improved IMEsInput method editorAn input method is an operating system component or program that allows any data, such as keyboard strokes or mouse movements, to be received as input. In this way users can enter characters and symbols not found on their input devices...
and National Language SupportLanguage localisationLanguage localisationThe spelling "localization", a variant of "localisation", is the preferred spelling in the US and Canada. is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation to account for... - Full UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
support in the RichEdit control shipped in Windows XP and used by WordPadWordPadWordPad is a basic word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Works Word Processor and Microsoft Word. It replaced Microsoft Write....
. - Support for tablet and pen-sensitive screens, portrait-oriented screens in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It also includes speech recognition to control the operating system and for text dictation in applications using the RichEdit control or the Text Services FrameworkText Services FrameworkThe Text Services Framework , is a COM framework and API in Windows XP and later Windows operating systems that supports advanced text input and text processing. The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and word processing features to applications...
, handwriting recognition and digital ink support accessible through the Tablet PC Input PanelTablet PC Input PanelThe Tablet PC Input Panel is an accessory included in Microsoft Windows that allows input of text using a pen and digitizing tablet, touch screen, an on-screen soft keyboard or mouse. It performs handwriting recognition and converts handwriting into text for use in most non-full-screen Windows...
(TIP). Also included are applications to complement these features such as Windows JournalWindows JournalWindows Journal is a notetaking application, created by Microsoft and included in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition as well as Home Premium or superior editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. It allows the user to create and organize handwritten notes and drawings and to save them in a JNT-File...
, Sticky Notes for note taking, a game called InkBallInkBallInkBall is a computer game that is included with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and the Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. It employs the use of a stylus or mouse to draw lines to direct balls into holes of corresponding colors...
and several additional downloadable Tablet PC applications, extras and powertoys. - Microsoft Active AccessibilityMicrosoft Active AccessibilityMicrosoft Active Accessibility is an Application Programming Interface for user interface accessibility. MSAA was introduced as a platform add-on to Microsoft Windows 95 in 1997...
2.0 API, adding support for Dynamic Annotation and MSAA Text. The newer accessibility API, Microsoft UI AutomationMicrosoft UI AutomationMicrosoft UI Automation is an Application Programming Interface for User Interface accessibility that is designed to help Assistive Technology products interact with standard and custom UI elements of an application as well as to access, identify, and manipulate an application's UI elements...
can also be installed on Windows XP. - Windows XP supports a total of 1 million card deals in its version of FreeCellFreeCell (Windows)FreeCell, as included in Microsoft Windows, is a computer implementation of the card game FreeCell.-History:The first computer version of the game is believed to have been created by Paul Alfille in 1978 for the PLATO system. Microsoft developer Jim Horne, who learned the game from the PLATO...
. Pinball has been updated to fix a high CPU utilization bug. - Help and Support Center is very comprehensive with detailed step-by-step how-to and troubleshooting articles, glossary of terms and an index of all articles. Help and Support Center has Favorites, History and advanced search options. It includes the ability to search across multiple information sources including help sources on the Internet such as the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Users can share and install help content to and from other computers running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 or switch to help for other supported operating system. Help and Support Center is also OEMOriginal Equipment ManufacturerAn original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
-customizable. - New set of PowerToys to significantly enhance the operating system functions such as Alt-tab switching, fast user switching, slideshow generation, desktop slideshow, ClearType optimization, shell powertoys and accessories and customizing operating system settings.
- Ability to change the product key using the Windows Product Activation wizard.
New downloadable features
Although Windows XP did not ship with the following major Windows features out-of-the-box, these new features can be added to Windows XP by downloading these components which were incorporated in later versions of Windows.- .NET Framework.NET FrameworkThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 - Windows SearchWindows SearchWindows Search is an indexed desktop search platform released by Microsoft for the Windows operating system....
2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 - Windows DefenderWindows DefenderWindows Defender, formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware, is a software product from Microsoft to prevent, remove, and quarantine spyware in Microsoft Windows...
- Windows Services for UNIX
- XPS Essentials Pack
- Microsoft Virtual PCWindows Virtual PCWindows Virtual PC is a virtualization program for Microsoft Windows. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product...
2004 and 2007 - Windows Live EssentialsWindows Live EssentialsWindows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities...
2009 and Wave 2. - Windows PowerShellWindows PowerShellWindows PowerShell is Microsoft's task automation framework, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on top of, and integrated with the .NET Framework...
1.0 and 2.0 and Windows Remote Management 1.0 and 2.0.
See also
- MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
- Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
- History of Microsoft WindowsHistory of Microsoft WindowsIn 1983, Microsoft announced the development of Windows, a graphical user interface for its own operating system , which had shipped for IBM PC and compatible computers since 1981...
- Comparison of Windows Vista and Windows XPComparison of Windows Vista and Windows XPThis page is a comparison of Windows Vista and Windows XP. Windows XP is currently the dominant operating system in the desktop and personal computer markets, with an estimated market share of 62.21% as of May 2009...