Microsoft Windows XP (Beta 2) Review
By: Arie SlobSearch Companion
Searching for documents/files on your local system has long been problematic using Microsoft's 'built-in' search tools. I doubt that the solution Microsoft presents in Windows XP will prove to be much better than previous attempts. If you do a search, you will have to follow a wizard-like process to define your search criteria. This of course will work fine for novice users, but experienced users will get annoyed with it pretty quickly.
Finally! A capable version of Microsoft Backup shipping with XP! For one thing, backup can now handle multiple media types, such as CD-RWs, whereas in the past only tape & file were supported. It also includes a scheduling capability. Although not perfect, it's an improvement on previous versions, and will be suitable for most people's needs.
The backup utility also includes Automatic System Recovery (ASR), which is a two-part backup for your system, a floppy disk containing your system settings, and another media that contains a backup of your local system partition. You can use these backups to quickly rebuild your system when serious damage occurs.
Another big plus is the Snapshot feature built into backup. This enables the backup of files that are "open" (in use at the time you run backup), so that they are still backed up.
The only negative is that Backup is not included in the Personal version of Windows XP, which seems like another Microsoft blunder. Wouldn't it be useful to get home users comfortable with the idea of backups? Perhaps their argument is that a not a lot of people have been proven to regularly back up their systems. But then again, the backup capabilities of previous Windows versions have always been quite limited, and in most cases required you to buy 3rd party replacements to be able to schedule backups, or to back-up to CD-RW.
Internet Connection Firewall
Windows XP provides Internet security in the form of a firewall. Designed for use in the home and small business, Internet Connection Firewall provides protection on computers directly connected to the Internet. This feature is available for Local Area Network (LAN) or dial-up networking, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) connections. It also prevents scanning of ports and resources (file and printer shares) from external sources.
To turn on the firewall capabilities of Windows XP, open the Network Properties (right-click My Network Places and select Properties) then right-click your connection, select Properties and select the Advanced tab. Just check the checkbox, and off you go!
You can also use the advanced settings to configure the firewall more to your needs, but I would at least turn on the Logging Options found on the Security Logging tab. This will log both unsuccessful inbound connection attempts, as well as successful outbound connections.
The only indication you have that the firewall is running can be seen from the red background behind your connectoid in the Network Connections window.
By doing a simple Port Probe at the grc.com Web site, before (Figure) and after (Figure) activation of the built-in firewall you can quickly see that it is working quite nicely, putting the examined ports in "Stealth" mode (meaning that when someone scans the IP address at which your PC resides, it will be as if the computer is not connected).
Since the firewall is not turned on by default, it should be pointed out (especially to the growing number of broadband connection users) that it really is the best idea to turn it on.