The XP Files

Microsoft hopes to entice buyers with a number of new features planned for Windows XP. An image clipboard, for instance, lets XP users collect photos or video on a sidebar to make it easier to clip and edit them. CD burning will be much easier. Notebooks equipped with 802.11b wireless connections will be allowed to roam. The OS also functions much more efficiently than Windows 2000...Boot-up time is three to four times faster...In tests, Microsoft has found that 80 percent of notebooks can run through the shutdown/resume cycle in five seconds, while 70 percent recover in three seconds. The new Messenger tool (not yet available as a separate download) lards serious conferencing tools on top of the regular, typed chat windows. Messenger adds two-way audio and video, application sharing (in which your chat buddy views and controls programs on your PC), and whiteboarding (the ability to share freehand drawings and other graphics). Messenger even integrates with Remote Assistance, a feature that lets you yield control of your system to a friend (with enough password protection and time limitations to allay any fear of hacking). Messenger, but it doesn't work with Microsoft's existing conferencing software, NetMeeting. --CNET