The client version of Windows superseding Windows 2000 and prior to Windows Vista. Introduced in 2001, XP was a major upgrade with many changes to the user interface. In 2020, it was estimated that less than 1% of all Windows users were running XP.
XP improved support for gaming, digital photography, instant messaging, wireless networking and Internet sharing. XP added a personal firewall (see
Windows Firewall) and functioned as both client and server (see
peer-to-peer network).
Home vs. Pro
XP Home Edition was designed for the consumer, and XP Professional was aimed at the office worker with added security and administrative options. For example, XP Pro could log in to a domain-based network, and it supported Intel's Hyper-Threading. It could also be run remotely. See
HyperThreading and
Remote Desktop Services.
64-Bit XP
A 64-bit version became available for Intel IA-64 machines as well as AMD's 64-bit CPUs. Originally code-named Whistler, XP gained .NET support in 2002. See
Windows,
.NET Framework and
Windows Product Activation.