Customer Reviews

Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP [Old Version]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I bought Plus for XP, recently, then I installed it. I was expecting a Microsoft Plus that added great features like Plus 98. But, it was nothing like that. First, there was 4 measily little themes. And the fish screen saver, which if you want more fish, you'd have to pay for it. Well what was the $...for anyway? And the games! For heavens sake. Why put a stinkin lite edition into a $...collection of programs. And there are other programs that I might not fool with anyway.

For those who are looking to buy this, please note that you at least need a 500 megahertz computer, 64MB of RAM, and a 3D video card with 16, I repeat 16MB of video memory.

If Microsoft had added such things as an Antivirus to the program, more desktop themes, FULL EDITION Games, and less steep requirements, then I'd recommend this to everyone.

So if your at the store, leave this on the shelf!!!

PS - This program is a prime example of Bloatware.

I received Microsoft Plus! XP as a gift and I really don't have the heart to tell my friend that they wasted their money. Oh, there are a couple of good things on the disc but nothing that really merits the purchase price. It's almost like the software was an afterthought - let's see what we can put in it since we don't really have anything.

First off lets start the Digital Media collection. Nothing here really to speak of that's worth anything. A voice recognition system for the media player? It's not worth fighting with to run just a media player. The label maker, speaker enhancement and personal DJ? They don't do anything that really matters (or other software doesn't do without spending the extra cash). Media Player skins and Visualizations? You can download those for free from a number of sites - and again without paying for it. As for the MP3 audio converter, yes the new files are smaller but the only player you can use is the Microsoft one and the sound quality is not as good as an MP3.

The games - there are only three and only one is a full version. The other two require downloads and additional purchases. The Bowling game is difficult to control and well, boring. The Labyrinth game isn't too bad but it's very difficult. The winner is Russian Square which is actually fun and addictive.

As for the themes and screen savers - most aren't anything that special or noteworthy. The one exception is the aquarium screensaver which really is something to look at. But again, if you want the full version of the program you have to pay an additional cost. The rest aren't anything that really merits the cost of the program.

Overall I'm really disappointed in the entire package - the cost is far too high for what you get and I can't help shaking the feeling the entire package is just a cheesy gimmick to sell you even more software. "Look at the great things in Microsoft Plus! XP" then when you buy it you find out you have to pay even more for the rest of the programs.

You get the game "Hyperbowl," Right? Wrong. You get to sample it. Basically you get 2 lanes...you have to buy the full version on line.

You get the aquarium screen saver, Right? Wrong. You get a sample of that too. If you want more than 3 fish, guess what? You have to buy the rest of the fish on line.

This entire package is nothing more than samples trying to get you to buy software online.

Don't waste your money on a teaser that should be free.

This is absolutely the worst software product I have ever bought.

There is nothing special about microsoft plus. The 3-D is nice, and games are entertaining, but this package isn't worth $.... The games offered in the package have very limited play and so you have to purchase other packages to play the game completely. The screensavers are okay, but there many screensavers that you can download from many sites. This product improves how Windows XP looks but it doesn't improve everything dramaticly. Also Plus! needs a lot of Video Memory at least 16MB, so dont buy it if you dont have enough Video Memory. There are only 4 themes, so overall this product is not worth $.... It should come with Windows XP without having to purchase it on its own.

I bought this product simply because I wanted to give XP a facelift. I like none of the very few themes that ships with XP. I considered buying windowblinds ... but wanted something a little more MS endorsed. What a mistake.

There are only two really noticeable themes in this version: essentially the aqua ..., I mean, luna interface shaded green instead of blue and grayscale instead of blue. The new themes simply use these two new color shadings, plus the original blue, to make six or so listless and boring variations. The new screen savers are crude adaptations of Microsoft's "3D" set that shipped with NT many moons ago. They lack any refinement at all, such as antialiasing or better bitmapping. Leonardo's helicopter happily flies through all the textures without casting a shadow. ... Also included are a few screen savers that try very pathetically to simulate flowing or dripping water. Even on a high-end 3d graphics card, these are hopelessly lackluster or even the antithesis of eyecandy.

The one potential screen saver, SereneScreen's aquarium, *should* have made this Plus! collection worthwhile. Unfortunately, it's rather annoying stripped nagware that lacks the additional fish, wire frame mode, frame count, etc. And along these lines, most of the other worthwhile programs are merely crippled versions.

It's insulting that Microsoft would try to pass a collection of junk, demo programs, and Plus! ... versions as a complete product. ...

You'd be much better off picking the exact products your interested in and buying them individually from the original authors than you would this ... collection.

As always, Microsoft has been releasing a Plus! extension for Windows. Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP does have new cool themes, screen savers and much more, but the reality is that for the price they are charging is better to save it for something else. It only comes with four themes (Aquarium, Space, Nature and da Vinci). Each theme has 2 screensavers (the aquarium screensaver is the most realistic 3D screensaver I have seen). Only three games which aren't that much fun. Some features like the CD Label Maker or MP3 Audio Converter are interesting, but everything else...you can find it over the Internet for free.

My advice is, don't spend the money!! If you really are a fanatic of Microsoft and want to have Microsoft Plus!, then it's your choice, but for the rest of consumers out there, save your money...I really mean it!! Buy something that is worth the money.

Nearly all the games and screensavers are shareware. The themes are sooo stupid and simple (you can download better themes at any website such as tucows). The extra features of the windows media player have no use at all. What a waste of money... Save your money and buy something else.

At first blush, this is a nice package of add-ons for XP, and indeed there are some solid aspects to the product.

For the media player there are a few new skins and a couple cool visualizations. There is also a nifty voice control add-on that is fun but not 100 percent accurate.

There are four new desktop themes: Da Vinci, nature, space and underwater. There are eight new screensavers, the coolest of which is the aquarium, which looks nothing short of incredible. The others are so-so to pretty good.

There are three new games, Hyperbowl which is a good substitute for solitare, Labyrinth, and Russian Square which is a decent Tetris spin-off.

The problem is that in many cases, you are actually getting what amounts to a preview version of these features. For instance, the aquarium screen saver says you can find more fish online, but when you click the link, you find out you have to pay $20 for an upgrade that includes 20 fish rather than the three it comes with.

And the Hyperbowl, which shows off six different lanes like bowling in ancient Rome or on the deck of a ship, actually lets you play only two of them. To unlock the others you need to pay... you guessed it, $20 for an upgrade.

Finally, the hardware requirements are tougher than what XP itself requires. This is odd, since the product is sold as an extension of XP. But when I first installed it on a 450-Mhz Dell with 224Mb RAM and a 64M Voodoo graphics card, the new screensavers wouldn't work because Plus! didn't support the Voodoo card (Voodoo's maker, 3dfx, went out of business recently). Fortunately there was an XP update available on Oct. 25 that included better 3dfx support so it all works fine.

So in short there are some decent features and some definite product, but in my mind for $40 you should be getting the full versions of everything they put in there, or at least offered MUCH cheaper upgrades, like $5.

The skins for Media Player are a waste;
The bowling game is a 2-version demo (and quite dull);
The other two games are fair.
The other features you will be very unlikely to use.
The fish screen saver is very cool but if you want more fish, you have to buy them.
Many features are actually demo versions that ask you to buy more.
...For $5.00 it would be OK. For $40 it's a rip-off.

I was very much disappointed by this product I was certainly hoping a product that would make Windows XP more spectacular but all I got was things that should be a part of the operating system anyway. The games are not full version, that's a major turn off, I was expecting more games too and some of them are memory hogs. Themes are great but could have gotten a little bit more for my money. What they should have done with this product was to include 10 categories of each feature, 10 games, 10 themes etc. Just to make the product at least seem worthy of the price you are paying, remember most of the features are not full versions, the fish tank for one is not a full version that hyperbowl thing is not full version. Media Player features are really not necessary and you need a lot of PC Horse Power for the voice recognition which I think needs better integration with the product itself. Overall most of the features in here you can find elsewhere online. The product price needs to be dropped also.