Windows XP is the latest desktop version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Released on October 25, 2001, Windows XP has brought to the consumer line of Windows new features not available before, such as stronger stability and efficiency due to its pure 32-bit kernel, instead of the hybrid 16-bit/32-bit in consumer versions of prior Windows versions. It also contains work-arounds to avoid the "DLL hell" that plagued older consumer versions of Windows, which stemmed from inefficient software management. It also contains a graphical user interface (GUI) that Microsoft touts as more user-friendly than the older versions of Windows. Windows XP has had many security issues; as of February 2005, there have been two service packs released to address security problems with Windows XP. Windows XP has also been the first consumer version of Windows to use product activation to combat software piracy, and this restriction did not sit well with some privacy activists, and indeed many home users. Spyware and adware—unwanted programs that can cause system instability, display advertisements, and track a user's activities for marketing purposes—are a continuing problem on Windows XP and other versions of Windows.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1849: Denmark became a constitutional monarchy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark)

1947: George Marshall called for economic aid to war-torn Europe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Marshall)

1967: The Six-Day War began with an Israeli air force attack on Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War)

1968: Sirhan Sirhan mortally shot Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirhan_Sirhan)

1995: A new phase of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate was discovered. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose-Einstein_condensate)

2004: U.S. President Ronald Reagan died.</div> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind." -- John Maynard Keynes (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes)