Run 64 bit software reliably, among other things. People tend to forget how bad XP was, it was just that it was released before and after even worse versions (ME and Vista if you only look at the consumer line). It was quite bad before SP1. There were also a lot more bluescreens under XP. I guess this was also a result of of the introduction of the Windows Display Driver Model which made graphics much more reliable.
It was at least usable at that point, but it still had significant limitations. I basically migrated from XP to Linux, with getting a Windows 7 partition later. I actually believe 7 was a good system from the very beginning all things considered. Though one might argue that it was just a paid service pack for Vista.
What did 7 do that XP did not?
Run 64 bit software reliably, among other things. People tend to forget how bad XP was, it was just that it was released before and after even worse versions (ME and Vista if you only look at the consumer line). It was quite bad before SP1. There were also a lot more bluescreens under XP. I guess this was also a result of of the introduction of the Windows Display Driver Model which made graphics much more reliable.
You could argue XP wasn’t great until SP2 for a litany of reasons.
It was at least usable at that point, but it still had significant limitations. I basically migrated from XP to Linux, with getting a Windows 7 partition later. I actually believe 7 was a good system from the very beginning all things considered. Though one might argue that it was just a paid service pack for Vista.