XP-tan

Overview

Copyright

Software Personification
Usual Design Early Design
General Information
Name	XP-tan
Alias	Saseko XP Pekeppi
Universe/Origin	OS-tan
Designer	🇯🇵 XP Kaki-Aki
Debut	~2003
Representation
Represents	Windows XP Professional
Developer	🇺🇸 Microsoft
Appearance
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Blue or dark grey

Infobox Template

XP-tan (Japanese: ＸＰたん), also known as Saseko (させ子) is an OS-tan that personifies Windows XP, or more specifically Windows XP Professional Edition.

She is one of the better known OS-tans from Futaba Channel and often shown alongside Me-tan, 2K-tan and 95-tan.

History

XP-tan can be presumed to have first appeared in 2003, as the gallery of XP-tan was already present on OS-tan Vault as early as October 4, 2003. She was likely originated from the same Futaba Channel thread where Me-tan and the concept of OS-tans were first developed. It is unclear when or how she got the nickname Saseko.

Design

One of the earliest proposed designs for a Windows XP character was of a gynoid with glasses and a ponytail. Later, the artist XP Kaki-Aki posted an alternative design of a voluptuous dark-haired woman in a bikini top and skirt. This became the 'accepted' version of XP-tan, although traits from the first design appear to have been repurposed for Homeko and 2K-tan.

With the release of Service Pack 2, she was redesigned with a (slightly) more modest blue-and-white outfit reminiscent of a schoolgirl uniform. Other trademark elements are her detached sleeves, "XP"-shaped hair ornament, and large bust size compared to her peers.

Character

XP-tan is usually depicted as gentle and mild-mannered thanks to the stability of her NT-based system, but also gluttonous due to the high memory requirements of Windows XP at the time it was released. She is often drawn eating massive amounts of rice or gyūdon (beef bowl), alluding to early criticism of Windows XP as resource-intensive. In the Trouble Windows fanbook, she is described as caring and user-friendly, but nosy. She is also sometimes drawn cosplaying as other OS-tans as a reference to Compatibility Mode.^{[Challenged]ⓘ}

Early on, XP-tan's characterization was somewhat of a bimbo, and she was often used as fanservice material. This portrayal may have been inspired by Windows XP’s “pretty” interface, as well as its numerous security exploits when it was first released. However, that interpretation caused some backlash. In recent times, she is more likely to be portrayed as reliable and practical.^{[Challenged]ⓘ}

Following the end of Windows XP's extended support in 2014, XP-tan has been the subject of several fanworks made as tribute to both the operating system and character.^{[Challenged]ⓘ}

• 
  Example of such tribute, representing the end of support as the death of the OS-tan. The last panel of a 14-panel tribute.

Trivia

• XP-tan's nickname Saseko is based on the fact that the letters X and P on the QWERTY keyboard map to さ (sa) and せ (se) on a Japanese kana keyboard, but some people do not like to use this and instead call her Pekeppi (ぺけぴー, Pekeppi).
• She has a twin sister called Homeko, whom personifies Windows XP Home Edition.^{[Challenged]ⓘ}