Well "respect" is a relative term. XP was the first OS that required online (or phone) activation. And the first to complain about "non-genuine" versions if it detected you were using a pirate key. That pissed a lot of people off at the time. Win2K was probably the last version that "respected" (or at least "trusted") its customers.

But XP was the last OS where I felt like I was getting something from upgrading.