XP and OS X: new operating systems for Windows and Mac.(TechLife)(Evaluation)(Product Announcement)

This year, both Microsoft and Apple brought out new computer operating systems, Windows XP and Macintosh OS X. Both adapt operating systems long used by businesses to make them less crash-prone. Although both represent major improvements in design and function, neither presents a radically different face. You can easily figure out how to use them, partly because both hide little-used menus, obscure functions, and other clutter.

We took a close look at Windows XP and OS X to help you understand what personal computing will look like from now on. Our basic conclusion: You don't need to be the first on your block to try these new operating systems.

WINDOWS XP: MICROSOFT EVERYWHERE

Windows XP isn't merely a program recorded on a CD-ROM and shipped in a box. It's central to Microsoft's new strategy, known as .Net, which aims to make the software giant the nexus of many web-based services and functions.

Embedded in the new operating system is Passport, a feature that collects personal information and then allows you to readily access other Microsoft services from a computer, cell phone, or personal digital assistant. Completing a Passport is a required first step to use some features of Windows XP, such as instant messaging.

Critics of Microsoft--including America Online, which has much riding on its own instant-messaging features--have maintained that Passport further exemplifies the monopolistic practices covered in the Microsoft antitrust suit. Privacy-protection advocates say Passport asks users to divulge far too much personal information.

However, Microsoft has abandoned plans to include other features that would extend Windows XP's reach beyond the computer desktop. One, "smart tags," could turn any word on any web site into a link to another site--often, to a Microsoft site. The other was a feature that could have disabled XP if you upgraded the computer hardware; the software would sense that it was running on a different machine. Now, you can upgrade the computer in small bursts without affecting the operating system.