Yeah, if you invest countless hours, you can get XP to look just like 2000.

I actually like the way Windows XP looks, minus the default theme. The start panal to me now is second nature, and makes getting to My Computer and such much easier with a ton of open programs. The Start panal is also nice for the recently run program area. The system tray icon hider is also very nice, saving valuable taskbar space. I also like one feature of the taskbar grouping. Having it enabled keeps multiple windows from the same program next to each other, instead of scattered randomly around. I use TweakUI to set the minimum grouping setting to 99, as I don't like it when multiple windows turn into one taskbar entry. Also, I like the Windows-L for locking the workstation, and the ability to lock down the taskbars to prevent changes like it getting moved around ro resized.

That about sums up my liking of the new UI. Under the hood, the watchdog and error reporting process have been very helpful in narrowing down errors with my Shuttle system.

I could also care less about the newer Media Players, but they tend to be a necessary evil of getting the new codecs now. So, Start, Run, mplayer2 has been standard procedure for me to get back the 6.4 player and set it to defauly on any Windows platform. Though, I am liking the idea of having a single media player period (aka, no Quicktime), and the newer Real One players do play Quicktime files now. I'm still testing my patience with RealOne to decide if it's worth the hassle.