Windows XP: A struggle to get things done

How do you get XP to look just like W2k in not just the Desktop. Away with IE, Outlook and in with Opera.

Actually, all of these things are to some extent true. As RC1 drew closer it was becoming abundantly clear that this was to all intents and purposes what you were going to get, that the "revolutionary new UI" hype Microsoft was spreading at the beginning of the year was just hype, and that XP really was just Win2k and a bit. So not a lot more to write, really. I took the precaution of calling up the PR people and requesting a copy of Win2k while I could still get it off them, and the two of us been reasonably happy together since then.

Aside from the lack of anything truly wonderful I wanted in XP, there were things I didn't like that did come with it. Product Activation is a pain if you're always switching computers around (which I am), I'd rather not use WMP, IE and Outlook Express, thank you very much, and I didn't think I could be bothered catching and killing all of the popups. I was in this unenthusiastic state, my unenthusiasm having been increased by the later beta builds refusal to do anything but BSOD with an Alcatel SpeedTouch USB, when Microsoft decided to bring things to a head by blowing my computer up.

I got the automatic update alert saying they had an important kernel update just for me, and instead of thinking, yeah, sure you have and cancelling I thought, that's nice, and installed it. Drunk? Must have been. The machine - which, dammit, I had actually activated - immediately went into BSOD on boot mode, and stayed there. Trying a repair got me an installation which decided it hadn't been activated, and which furthermore wouldn't work at all unless I activated it now. So I did, and it turned out to barely work at all anyway - it kept trying to reinstall apps from screwy paths, and was just about usable if you didn't mind clicking cancel about six times every time an install process popped up.

Well, atleast he gets it into a W2K state.

Source: The Register