Officially, Windows XP won't debut until Oct. 25, but Microsoft is permitting PC makers to sell computers with the new OS on Monday. Initially, Microsoft instructed PC makers to soft-pedal the prelaunch. But subtlety appears to be falling by the wayside. And roughly 30 days after the Oct. 25 release, Windows XP will become the near-exclusive OS for consumer computers, according to sources in the PC industry.

I've been meaning to give XP a shot, a friend at MS was kind enough to get beta2 sent out my way right around time all hell broke loose and I was in the middle of moving so never got to check it out. Doh.