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Window Manager
Brian Livingston
Microsoft announces Windows XP: The easy, new operating system means eXtra profits

MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED in Seattle on Feb. 13 its next operating system upgrade: Windows XP. As you may have heard by now, this will become the next consumer version of Windows. It will replace Windows Me but is based on the more stable Windows 2000 code base.

The company's beta demo emphasized that Windows XP automatically displays thumbnails when a digital camera is plugged in and that it copies audio and video files more quickly.

But the features that really caught my eye were the tie-ins. Each application now contains commands such as "Buy the DVD," "Get Prints of This Photo," and so on.

Microsoft says XP stands for "eXPerience," but the revenue links built into the operating system make it look as if "eXtra Profits" are the focus.

Faced with a declining growth rate for PC sales, the Redmond, Wash.-based company has apparently decided to position Windows XP as a giant e-tailing portal. The company can collect a piece of the business generated when users send their images out for photo-finishing, buy multimedia content, or use other tied-in services.

Although there's nothing new about tie-ins, it will be interesting to watch the jockeying over which companies will get to service XP's soon-to-be-gigantic user base. I asked a Microsoft spokesman if he could say who these providers would be, but the answer wasn't immediately clear.

I'll be writing more about Windows XP as its beta versions get closer to a final product.

If you have details about new tricks and undocumented features in XP, send me a message at the address below. Your confidentiality is guaranteed.

Get back Thumbnail view

Speaking of thumbnails, I wrote in my column three weeks ago about a way to make individual folders in Windows Me and Windows 2000 display graphics as small thumbnails in Windows Explorer (see www.infoworld.com/opinions/morewindowmanager.html). You also can do this globally by pulling down Explorer's View menu and clicking Thumbnails.

Reader Zisha Weinstock says that this worked great until her daughter installed a graphics program.

The installation grabbed the associations for some file extensions and broke the Registry entries that are needed for Thumbnail view to work.

But not to worry. It's a simple problem to correct, if this happens to you.

Step 1. Close all running applications.

Step 2. In Windows Me and Windows 2000, click Start, Run.

Step 3. In Windows Me, type the following command and click OK:

regsvr32 %windir%\system\thumbvw.dll

In Windows 2000, type the following command and click OK:

regsvr32 %windir%\system32\thumbvw.dll

Step 4. You should see a message that DllRegisterServer succeeded.

Click OK.

That's it. This reregisters the Thumbvw.dll file, after which Thumbnail view should work again.

Make Windows 2000 shut down

Reader Ron Houtman was having a problem with a Windows 2000 PC that would hang rather than shut down properly.

He found that the problem was related to his ATX power supply and an interaction with its configuration.

Here's how to fix it:

Step 1. In Windows 2000, you must be logged on as Administrator or as a user with administrator privileges. Any network policies in effect must also permit the procedure.

Step 2. Right-click the My Computer icon on the Windows Desktop; then click Manage.

Step 3. Select the Device Manager icon in the left pane of the Computer Management window that appears.

Step 4. Pull down the View menu, and then click Show Hidden Devices.

Step 5. In the right pane, expand "NT AMP/Legacy Support," if present. Right-click the item "NT AMP/Legacy Node," and then click Properties.

Select "Use this Device" (enable).

This procedure should allow Windows 2000 to properly handle the device that's interfering with the shutdown.

Readers Weinstock and Houtman will receive a free copy of Windows Me Secrets for being the first to send me tips I printed.

Get Livingston free by e-mail

Go to www.iwsubscribe.com/newsletters and click Window Manager to receive this column every Monday, free via e-mail.


Brian Livingston's latest book is Windows Me Secrets (IDG Books). Send tips to brian_livingston@infoworld.com. He regrets that he cannot answer individual questions.



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