[Technical] Off Topic - Windows XP and Serv Pack 2 Incompatibility

[Clarky]

-----Original Message-----
From: tech-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:tech-bounces at edulists.com.au] On
Behalf Of Con Zymaris
it is my understanding that standard XP ships with a 'comaptibility testing'
utility. Perhaps SP2 has an updated version of this? 
--------------------------

Hi Con,

Well, there's a developer utility that tests older apps - are you thinking
perhaps of the checkboxes that tell XP to pretend to be a Win2000 or 95
computer, just for a particular program?

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Alternatively, perhaps trial your apps on SP2 on a single test machine prior
to commitment on the remaining lab.
----

Yep, that should always happen.

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I'd also be curious to know what a lab full of XP machines costs, if it's
not a problem to reveal such numbers.
---

Not including the hardware? It really depends. 

For single consumers, a single copy of XP Home costs $400 and XP
Professional $600 "off the shelf". 

A business can buy 30 licences of XP Pro for about $200 each. 

Hardware manufacturers like Dell, HP and Acer buy OEM licences in large
quantities so cheap they 'bundle' them with their computers.

Big businesses or government departments don't even worry about the price
stickers everybody else has to pay - they negotiate with the vendor
directly.

Of course, you don't pay a cent if you download, say, Ubuntu Linux! 

Cheers,
Clarky