Frankly Speaking: XP finally makes PCs user-friendly

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Frank Shipe is a former SBJ staffer and current free-lance writer.|ret||ret||tab|

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The best comment I've heard on Microsoft's new XP operating system comes from a computer genius who works with both Macs and personal computers. "After 10 years," he said, "Microsoft finally got it."|ret||ret||tab|

He's right, and what Microsoft got is what Apple knew when it created the Mac almost two decades ago: that a computer graphic interface shouldn't be a jigsaw puzzle, but should lead the user intuitively from a simple starting point to any content on the computer.|ret||ret||tab|

Apple did it so beautifully with the Mac that it made "intuitive" and "stable" tech clichs. It also created millions of users devoted exclusively to the Mac.|ret||ret||tab|

This summer, however, after 18 years of owning only Macs, I bought a PC. Why such heresy? Because I couldn't resist the not-so-easily-impressed computer genius' enraptured take on XP and digital photography. "With XP, you plug in your camera and the system recognizes it and downloads and organizes the photos so fast you can't believe it."|ret||ret||tab|

That was for me, I figured, since I was doing an increasing and sometimes overwhelming amount of work with digital photos. |ret||ret||tab|

Having worked with Windows 2000 and, for several months with Windows NT (which practically required a crash helmet), I had some real trepidation about Windows systems. I also don't much like Bill Gates' glasses. |ret||ret||tab|

But I took the leap, and what I found really surprised me. Here is a view of XP from a nontechnical, somewhat klutzy human who's actually used the system to do real work in the real world. |ret||ret||tab|

XP comes in two versions: The Home Edition ($99) lacks a few features of XP Professional ($199), such as file encryption. It should, however, be more than adequate for the average user. It's the Home Edition we talk about here.|ret||ret||tab|

Getting a quick handle on XP starts with Microsoft's taskbar, a long bar along the bottom of the screen and quite literally the nerve center of the XP graphic interface. Clicking "Start" on the bar opens the Start Menu, which lists on one side the most recently used applications, along with a button labeled "All Programs," that brings up a popup menu listing every program on the computer. Simple enough? You bet. You already have access to just about everything you'll need. |ret||ret||tab|

On the Start Menu's right side are the folder choices My Documents, My Pictures, My Music and My Computer, and other items such as Control Panel, Search, Help and Support, all accessible with a click. (The Help utility, by the way, is thorough and excellent).|ret||ret||tab|

The rest of the taskbar is so nifty it can bring you to tears. One segment is the Quick Launch Taskbar, with tiny icons that open their referents with a click. The rest of the bar lets you place upon it any number of buttons you like, which will then open anything folders, documents, applications, Web pages, toolbars, network connections, individual e-mail documents and other controls within applications. You can even display folders on the bar along with their contents, making each item immediately accessible.|ret||ret||tab|

The taskbar buttons serve as toggle switches for opening and closing windows. You don't have to go through a process to create the buttons, either. Anytime you click on a window's "minimize" icon (a minus sign in the upper right-hand corner), the window disappears and a button with its name appears on the taskbar. Click the "X" in the upper right hand corner of a window, and the window and its taskbar button both disappear.|ret||ret||tab|

The taskbar is completely customizable. Clicking on and dragging its top margin can resize it up to about four inches deep enough to contain a great many buttons. As the bar expands, the desktop automatically adjusts to keep its contents visible. If you like, you can even remove the taskbar from the screen, then make it visible again when needed.|ret||ret||tab|

In sum, the taskbar gives you total access to and control over everything you use on the computer. |ret||ret||tab|

Because my own business of writing and editing can require multitasking and gathering and reconciling information from many sources, I often have to move quickly among Microsoft Word, mail and other applications, multiple Web pages, various utilities and different types of documents. XP's taskbar makes these acrobatics as easy as pie, and, I hate to say it, even faster and easier than with the wonderful Mac interface.|ret||ret||tab|

XP lists far more features than could fit in this space, but I have to note the utilities that Microsoft calls "Wizards." Wizards lead users step-by-step through various key operations. For example, if XP doesn't automatically recognize and install Windows 95-and-up applications, the user can go to the Compatibility Wizard and correct the problem.|ret||ret||tab|

On Aug. 12, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft had sold more than 46 million XP licenses since its late-October 2001 debut. The system also has received record support from the computer industry, with about 700 companies designing more than 23,000 XP-specific products. This user is not surprised. |ret||ret||tab|

XP's intuitive interface also poses a definite challenge for Apple as both companies vie to create the best platform for tomorrow's multimedia applications. As a decided Mac-lover, even I have to say Apple's work is cut out for it, especially since "Microsoft finally got it." |ret||ret||tab|

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