Question on XP home vs Pro and June 30th

[marblecatdog]

Hi, I'm helping a friend buy a new laptop and I have a few questions. My friend wants a cheap and simple laptop and he wants it to have window XP too, I have some dell models in mind (he only wants a dell) but I had a question on XP.

First, will a Core 2 Duo processor work with XP Home? I read somewhere that Pro supports two physical processors so if you have a Core 2 Duo and XP home will it only use one core?

And second, what is with this June 30th Windows XP thing? Are they really going to stop selling Windows XP on computers after June 30th?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zoron]

Yes and yes.

A dual-core processor is still only one PHYSICAL processor. The best way to think of it is by the number of sockets on the motherboard. As long as there is one CPU socket, it can have a bazillion cores (well ok, maybe not THAT many) and XP Home will still utilize it. If you have 2 or more sockets, then only XP Pro or Windows Server editions will take advantage of those extra sockets. (Though XP Pro usually only supports two sockets).

You might still find leftover stock of computers with XP on them after June 30th... but OEMs will stop loading it onto any computers built after that date and you won't be able to purchase new copies of XP. Anything still around after the 30th is there only until the stock has been depleted.

 

[marblecatdog]

Ok thanks that clears up a lot thanks!