While Windows 2000 is still more stable in some cases for businesses, it also lacked the hardware and software support for many popular peripherals. Windows XP has taken the stability and speed from the Windows 2000 kernel and combined it with the vast driver resources and ease of use of Windows 9x family, making it the most versatile operating system from Microsoft. Windows XP doesn't support everything, but most companies will have new drivers out for their hardware within a few short weeks. It has been up to 37% faster than Windows 95/98/ME in some tests, while still maintaining the rock solid stability passed on from Windows 2000. Windows now gives each program its own section of memory to use, so if one program crashes, it won't bring down the whole system. Although It is still possible to crash XP, basically the only way to do this is through installing Windows 95/98 drivers that aren't supported by Microsoft, and trying to run a scanner or some other type of hardware. If you install a driver the is not compatible with Windows XP, or if a program installs an invalid driver, Windows can perform a driver rollback, restoring the old driver and bringing the computer back to working order. Also, most programs from the Windows 9x family run perfectly in XP, but if you run into any problems, you can select to have the program run in Windows Compatibility Mode, fooling the program into thinking it is running on a Windows 9x machine, which usually solves the problem. Finally, you can kiss goodbye to the dreaded "blue screen of death" as you will never see it again. If you run into a problem with anything in Windows XP, it will ask you for permission to generate a report of the problem and send this through the Internet to Microsoft so they can created fixes for these problems to be distributed in Service Packs. I would encourage every XP user to do this, as it fixes problems for everyone and the entire process only takes about 10 seconds to complete on a 28.8 modem. If you encounter any problems, the totally redesigned Help and Support menu is always only two clicks away. You also have the option of requesting Remote Assistance from a friend or co-worker over the Internet or a LAN, which allows another user of Windows XP to control your desktop from theirs, allowing them to make any change necessary to correct your problem; it even allows the remote user to reboot your machine. For the average home user who is plagued from the brain-damaged Windows ME with blue screens lurking around every menu, seriously consider upgrading; it's definitely worth it.