This is a good news and possibly bad news situation. The good news is 
that Windows XP is a much better operating system than Windows ME and 
upgrading is not a bad thing. Once you pass through the initial learning 
curve (not that difficult) you will be happier with XP. I've never seen 
or heard anyone say ME is better than XP.

Now the possible bad news:

Windows XP costs between $85 and $100. If you buy XP, spend the few 
extra dollars for a full install product rather than the upgrade product.

Not all computers can be upgraded to XP without some hardware 
upgrade(s). And not all computers can accept the hardware upgrades. On 
their site, Microsoft has a download program which will examine your 
computer to determine what, if anything, needs to be done to the 
computer to run XP. If more than a memory enhancement (XP likes 512MB or 
more), is needed, cheap computers, with XP installed, can be purchased 
for under $300. They are not high powered and will not run (at least not 
well) high end games or programs.

A fresh install of XP on a newly reformatted hard drive is the best way 
to go. Same as you would get on a new computer. This means you will need 
to backup any data files you may want to keep, reinstall any programs 
you want continue to use, reinstall the saved data files, and 
reconfigure all programs to the way you want them. None of this is 
difficult, but it is time consuming.

Microsoft is close (according to them) to releasing a new operating 
system as a next step beyond XP. You should consider the options of 
upgrading now or of waiting for the new operating system. The new 
operating system might require even further hardware upgrades.

My suggestion:

If you are happy with ME for now, return the product you purchased. If 
it did not include a warning on the outside of the packaging that XP is 
required, returning it should not be a problem. Investigate if the 
product comes in an ME compatible version.

Tom Mayer

> We just bought my son an Apple Ipod Nano. While installing the software that came with it, we were told that we needed Windows 2000 or Windows XP. We have Windows ME. I called Apple, and they said I would need to upgrade, and that it would not work with Windows ME. What is the best way for me to do this? Do I need to buy the software or can I just upgrade from the Microsoft website? I've read about it, and it sounds like it's complicated and I could have problems after upgrading. What's the least complicated thing for me to do? Thank you for any advice. 
>
>                 Curious about the people moderating your
>                    messages? Visit our staff web site:
>                     http://freepctech.com/staff.shtml
>
>   

                Curious about the people moderating your
                   messages? Visit our staff web site:
                    http://freepctech.com/staff.shtml