By default, Windows 98/ME always plays games at the highest refresh rate your monitor and video card can handle, and this offers the least flicker and the least eyestrain possible. However, Windows XP plays games at much lower refresh rates. In every resolution, all DirectX games in Windows XP run at only 75 Hz, and all OpenGL games in Windows XP run at only 60 Hz. The only way to get these problems fully fixed is to let Microsoft know how much you hate them. Microsoft has a website up just for submitting feedback here.

Wow. This looks like a huge oversight to me. Especially since every other person has an nVidia card. I'll bet that Microsoft continues to ignore it, though. They'll take their own sweet time in developing a patch. If it has nothing to do with security, then there's no sense of urgency. I'm not saying that security issues aren't any less (or more) important, but if there's an annoyance that is nagging a huge market – namely, the gamers – then someone should at least acknowledge the situation and propose a workaround or fix delivery date. “The customer is always right, but only when we want them to be.”