MS has confused a lot of people with the whole XP thing (anyone know what XP
really stands for?). Usually, here on the News Group, PowerPoint XP is
referred to as by one of its other names, PowerPoint 2002 to avoid
confusion. Here is some background information to help explain things.
Windows XP is your operating system. It controls Windows (operating your
disk drives, printers, modems, mouses, sound cards, video drivers, etc.),
and has a few variations (Home, Pro, etc.). Windows XP was the next release
in MS's chain of Operating Systems: Windows 3.1, 95, 98, & ME.
Access XP, Word XP, PowerPoint XP are all examples of applications. That is
to say, programs that run in the Windows Operating System (OS). The Office
applications work well with one another and are able to share many kinds of
information and component parts. Most of these applications will run on
several versions of the operating system, limited more by computers hardware
than it's software. Theses applications have also been released in series:
97, 2000, & 2002. For some reason, MS called the 2002 version of these
programs XP, just like their Operating System.
Office XP is primarily a collection of these applications. Not all versions
of the Office collection contain PowerPoint (most notably to this group is
Small Business Edition's lack of PowerPoint).
So, with that history under our belt, let's answer your question. Yes, you
can buy PowerPoint for your home computer. You may want to review your
needs and decide if you also want other applications from the Office
collection. If so, but Office XP, but not the Small Business Edition.
If you only need PowerPoint, than buy PowerPoint XP stand alone -- check
that it is not the upgrade version. In order to use the upgrade you must
already have a version of PowerPoint on your computer. The stand alone
version of PowerPoint is more expensive, but will work; whereas the upgrade
will not.
If you only want to be able to see the PowerPoint (not change or write new
files), you can also download the viewer for free from Microsoft's web site.
Hope this complex answer to your simple question makes things clear,
B