OK, so now that you’ve got Windows XP installed on that nice now-as-good-as-new computer, you’ll probably be interested in some of the fancy new resource-absorbent features the Microsoft has added! I mean, there has to be something in an operating system that takes nearly 3GB!

First, I’ll cover the more useful application. The new Windows XP Task Manager is magnificent. I don’t know how we lived without it in Win95-ME. You can access this special new utility via the classic Ctrl-Alt-Delete or right click on a free space on the taskbar and click "Task Manager." The first time you open this, you will be looking at the "Applications" tab. All this does is show you and programs that are present in the taskbar. You can end tasks, switch to them, or create new ones from this tab.

Now, you can click the "Processes" tab, and be presented with a detailed list of all the system processes. You can see how much CPU resources they are using, how much memory they are using, see which application is running them, and even kill them.

Now, click on over to the "Performance" tab. Here you can view how often your CPU is being used via a chart and a current status indicator. You can also see how often the system is "Paging" or using virtual memory on the hard drive. If you double click on the "CPU Usage History" chart, you can view an even larger status window with that information in it.

Moving right along, click on the "Networking" tab. This will present how often your modem(s) are being used and how efficient they are running. That tab is fairly self-explanatory. You may click on the "Users" tab to be presented with a list of the different user accounts that are currently logged in on your computer. You can disconnect, log-off, and send messages to the users. At any time, you can simply close the window as is normal, by using the red "X" in the top right corner of the windows.

Tune in next time for an explanation on the fancy GUI enhancements of Windows XP!