Up to a point, Windows XP is something to use to help you focus in a completely different way, instead of looking at apps that can block out others to help you do work, or even when using Windows 11’s Focus feature that tries to solve this issue. However, downloading VLC Player solved this issue, as it did for me back in 2001. No Store, no easy way of managing music with MP3 players, and a bizarre setup to play videos by downloading and accepting licenses for types of video made this a miserable experience.

Loading up Windows Media Player 8 was a nostalgic moment, and while I’m still wanting to see Microsoft turn it into an Apple Music competitor, I can see why even for 2001 it was showing its age. Loading up Pinball and Minesweeper was a treat, and by logging into my GOG account, I could play games like Shadows of the Empire and Tomb Raider III with ease, as they had support for Windows XP around the time these games were released. Oddly enough, I didn’t mind this, as it kept me from procrastinating from continuing the task at hand.īut the games Windows XP is loaded with helped to scratch that itch. Loading text was fine, but images, different layouts, and even ads slowed everything down, and the web browser crashed multiple times throughout loading some sites. While this VM had 4GB memory, Windows XP simply can’t handle the modern web.

Going to TechRadar’s homepage resulted in a ’Page Cannot be Displayed’ message, so I had to download an older version of Firefox - which worked, giving me access to the internet again. Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft’s web browser that was fully deprecated for its Edge browser back in 2022, was able to work with Google and not much else. I decided to use Windows XP for work - typing up an article and using email to send it to my work email. Whichever method you opt for, as soon as you’re at the Windows XP desktop, you’ll be faced with a slight hiccup - connecting to the internet.Īs I was using UTM in macOS, it was a simple matter of selecting ‘Bridge’ in the Network settings, which used my Mac’s WiFi to enable this for the VM.

Windows 10 emulating windows xp setting