Weazel, it sounds like you are blaming XP for some hardware problems. Although XP could use a little maturing, it's a very good and stable OS right from release. If you are having problems with it, I guarantee it's a hardware problem. XP works great, as does Win2k, but it doesn't put up with bad hardware like Win9x will. With 9x, if something is failing, the OS runs along fine and you just get crashes, data corruption, and general problems. In NT/2k/XP, if hardware is failing it will prevent some of the problems and data corruption, but the OS likely won't work.
If you describe your system, what you are trying to do, and what problems you are having, I may be able to help. In my experience XP installs and runs great, and if anything it's the easiest and smoothest install MS has built yet. If you are having big problems it's not likely the OS... something else is wrong.