THE NEWNESS OF Windows XP -- with its sometimes addled approach to license restrictions, copy protection, and security -- lends itself to confusion. Reader Tom Gleason sent me an example, quoting Web sites that claimed XP needlessly consumes 20 percent of your PC's network bandwidth.
Like a lot of online talk, this is misinformed. Windows 2000 introduced QoS (quality of service) features using an Admission Control Service and the Internet Engineering Task Force's RSVP signaling. XP doesn't support these two protocols but provides its own QoS components. The QoS Packet Scheduler dialog box in XP Professional shows a default "bandwidth limit" of 20 percent. This created a buzz on the Web to the effect that XP artificially withheld one-fifth of your bandwidth, even if its Packet Scheduler was turned off.
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