Windows XP (Home & Professional) introduced major stability improvements, USB 2.0 support,
enhanced driver compatibility, and a modern NT-based core. XP runs most Windows 2000 software
and supports newer multimedia, archive, and internet tools.
Archive Utilities (Windows XP)
7-Zip (Windows XP) — ver. 3.80, ver. 4.00, ver. 4.20
Notes: Fully compatible. Version 4.x recommended for XP systems.
WinRAR (Windows XP) — ver. 3.20, ver. 3.30, ver. 3.40
Notes: Full NTFS support. Version 3.40 is stable and fast on XP.
PKZIP (Windows XP) — ver. 4.00
Notes: NT-compatible release. Supports ZIP64 and long filenames.
Info-ZIP (Windows XP) — UnZip ver. 5.41, Zip ver. 2.3, WiZ ver. 4.2
Notes: Works well with NTFS and XP’s improved file handling.
ARJ (Windows XP) — ver. 2.70
Notes: DOS-based but compatible with XP’s NTVDM subsystem.
LHA / LHArc (Windows XP) — ver. 2.78
Notes: Required for many Japanese PC titles.
Graphics & Multimedia (Windows XP)
IrfanView (Windows XP) — ver. 3.95, ver. 4.00
Notes: More plugins supported compared to Windows 2000.
QuickTime (Windows XP) — ver. 6.0, ver. 7.0
Notes: QuickTime 7 works well. Later versions require Vista/7.
RealPlayer (Windows XP) — ver. 9.0, ver. 10.0
Notes: RealPlayer 10 is the last major version supporting XP.
Windows Media Player (Windows XP) — ver. 8.0, ver. 9.0, ver. 10.0
Notes: WMP 10 adds more codecs, skins, and improved playback.
Internet & Networking (Windows XP)
Internet Explorer (Windows XP) — ver. 6.0, ver. 7.0, ver. 8.0
Notes: IE 8 is the last version supported on Windows XP.
Netscape Navigator (Windows XP) — ver. 7.1
Notes: Final Netscape release. Limited modern compatibility.
Opera (Windows XP) — ver. 8.0, ver. 9.0, ver. 10.0
Notes: Opera 10 is the last version supporting Windows XP.