All operating systems have numerous features unique to themselves. Although these features may be unique to a particular operating system they usually fall into categories are that common to all modern operating systems. Features found for these operatin

Hundreds of peripheral devices, from printers to digital cameras work immediately when plugged into a Windows XP machine as the operating system comes equipped with driver support. Driver support has always been a feature that Mac users have enjoyed and is included with Windows XP. “While not new to Windows, Microsoft's policy manager is beefed up. When used in a networked environment, administrators can implement standard settings, such as appearance and security, and manage every computer in a central location” (Windows XP). The policy manager can let administrators make policies so that users can only access applications based on pre-determined credentials.

Microsoft claims that due to the Operating Systems roots that Windows XP is less crash prone. “Windows XP is based on the Windows NT kernel, aimed at making it better able to manage multiple applications running at once without crashing”(What’s New). Users will no longer be able to install a single copy of this Windows operating system on more than one computer. “While Microsoft has always had that policy it is now enforcing it with its Product Activation feature, which assigns an activation number specific to the machine it is installed on” (What’s New). If a user tries to install that same copy on a different machine, it issues a duplicate activation number and the installation will be unsuccessful.

The network and communications features include how the operating system communications with other systems. This category includes use of network protocols such as TCP/IP. It also includes network services such as DNS, WINS, SNMP or SMTP. All these network components allow one computer to interact with another sometime independent of the operating system on the other computer.

Application features can include applications that come with operating system upon initial installation, the operating system’s graphic user interface, programming languages used to create new applications and the operating system’s installation. This wide range of applications do have one thing in common, they can be available to the user by the time the operating system is completely installed. Any applications that come from other sources are considered to be part of the operating system.

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