stick with win 98 or go to XP??

[DiddlySquat]

Right now i currently have win 98 (just down-graded from ME...it was CRAP) im not sure if i want to go to XP or not....what are the advantages and disadvantages? THANKS!



o yeah here's my system

AMD Duron 850 MHz
20 Gig HD
16MB vid card (on my way to the store tomorrow for a GeForce 3)
512 MB ram

[neoufo51]

Huge Stability and security improvements. Better support for the latest video, graphics and wireless transfer standards. Very easy to use, even if you think Win98 is too easy, wait till you try XP. And its pretty:bling

[Power Penguin]

I used to use 98 and on a couple of occasions I had to completely reinstall as it wouldn't start at all.

I've not had this problem with XP.

All your programs will work too. What you waiting for?

Rush down to your nearest software emporium and buy a copy (ahem)

[DiddlySquat]

i like all the software features but i heard that XP doesnt suppored a lot of hardware.....or did the SP1 fix that?:hole

[DiddlySquat]

I'm a newbie to this forum but i am pretty good at computers. just to let all yall know that im not a total newb...:cross

[Sephiroth]

If your computer can run XP then you want to get XP or Win2k. XP is suppose to be better for games but i think all current and future games should run on win2k with no problems. Win9.x/ME arent that great and itsnt worth the bugs, crashes, and etc. that they are known for. Using it just because of often exgerrated claims about XP and MS and because your paranoid is not a good reason.

[Travis982]

Go with XP! XP & 2k are my favourites (in the MIcrosoft family).

There are some programmes that won't run with XP, but not very many. And most hardware mfgs have updated drivers on their websites for XP. XP is similar to 2k (internally) and runs quite stably.

DOS access is gone, but can be restored with a patch.

If you find you need to tweak XP, visit www.blackviper.com where you'll find explanations of various processes, whether they're necessary for your configuration, and how to disable or enable them.

Beware of service pack 1. If you've done tweaks and later install SP1, you'll find it slyly overrides many tweaks. Read a lot about SP1 before installing it. In my opinion it's a sneaky update.

[DiddlySquat]

thanks for the help guys....hopefully i'll be able to get by this weekend!:black

[DigitalJunkie]

I heard there are anti pirating features with SP-1, does anyone having problems yet?

[dverma75]

there sre pstches available to get rid of this thing

[Sephiroth]

Not if you own a LEGAL copy then you should not have any problems at all..

www.tweakxp.com is another good site which has alot of XP tweaks on it.

[bobhss]

I'd go XP. I also had the crap called ME. Too many problems. The only downside to XP has been in the two older pieces of hardware it didn't support: a Logitech Quickcam and a Canon Laser Printer. I bought new ones. Nothing too big for the stability I found thanks to it's roots in Win2K. Filesharing has been fine with it too, but I've only run Gnucleus and Kazaa Lite on it, no experience with the other programs and XP here.

[DrEaMs In DiGiTaL]

Don't forget that if any programs don't work under XP, u can set the compatibility mode to another version of windows and it should work fine.

[Crazy Horse]

For pretty much all his reasons. Don't buy because it looks good. XP definitely has it's share of problems and I've read alot of them. The constant patches are something to keep a close eye on. Bill Gates is getting ready to screw the p2p people in a big way. Sp 1 has some dubious things written in and the next patch will have more. Bet on it. I also agree about the 98se not crashing if properly configured. It has been a good os for me and until I'm sure about XP being clean, stable & nothing hidden to block my fun then I will stick with what I have.

[«°¤§téålth§t®îk餰»]

i guess i'll be the ignoranis in this thread cause i'm not good with OS's and ask this question.

I have ME, where should i go to know more about it?

Should I upgrade or degrade or stay?

[ston]

The best solution is to install both operating systems. Use Partition Magic to partition your hard drive, then install both Windows 98SE and XP.

This is because lot of software does not run at all or runs poorly on XP, even in emulation mode.

I could make a very long list of things I have discovered that only work or work better in Win98 than XP.

However, in the future both software and hardware will be optimized for XP, and support for 98 will eventually be dropped.

Another advantage in having 2 OS's is in case one gets corrupted, you can boot into the other to fix the problem.

Since you can download both os's for free off newsgroups, IRC, FTP, or P2P's like Fasttrack or eDonkey, there is no excuse not to have both operating systems on your computer.

[Angry Dad]

How do you remove the spyware from 98se.

[method]

A lot depends on what u wanna do with your connection.

I was 98SE-pro all the way until I needed to install cable and run stuff where my OS could handle 1000 connections or more...

I probably would have upgraded to XP but for one, my computer isn't really that up-to-scratch (only 192 Mb RAM and 400mhz) and for two.. I just don't trust the way MS are going these days.

I opted for Win2k 'coz of it's stability (which it must be said, XP has as well!!) and for the fact that it's not full of eye candy, i wanted something simple that would run fast on my lame machine.

So far, I'm happy, I'd probably like to use XP but I just don't want my system being bogged down with a fancy UI to make the OS more 'friendly' for users. Either way.. it's time to upgrade.. Win2k or XP, if you're computer can handle the extra requirements of XP.. go for it, if not, Win2k ain't too bad and nowadays.. has very few compatibility problems too. :)

[method]

oh btw.. if u wanna run two or three windows versions and don't want to partion drives.. u can also use VMWare ;)

[Angry Dad]

cheers mate

[ston]

Let me retract something about suggesting Windows XP.

Windows 2000 Professional is said to be faster and more stable, and less buggy than XP. Also much less of a resource hog. Since XP is based on the same code, software compatibility should be similar for programs designed to run on XP.

However, Win 2000 never was widely used by consumers. How-to information on it is not as common as for XP, and it is no longer being sold.

If you have an older computer , Windows 2000 pro would be a better choice than XP. I still recommend installing Windows 98SE on another hard drive partition, as 2000 is not compatible with a lot of older software and hardware( just like Win XP)

As far as installing a second operating system using VMware or Virtual PC, it runs as slow as a snail, plus hardware support is very limited. I strongly recommend partitioning your hard drive over using a virtual machine to install a second OS.

[blady]

avoid xp!

it adds features you do not need. it slows down your hard drvie's reads and writes. it is waiting all the time to send messages back to microsoft about what you are doing. it takes a gigahertz-plus processorto run it right, and even then, it always needs more power.

keep 98!

[madpiggy_dj]

hmm......98 vs. xp

well 98 was somehow BETTER than ME, but you gotto admit, 98 is 4 years behind, and xp is way easier to use, and get this!

HAS NOT CRASHED

SO MY SUGGESTION, BUY(OR DOWNLOAD WHATEVER) XP, YOU'LL NEVER REGRET IT

NOTE:A LARGE PORTION OF GAMES DO NOT WORK ON XP OR ME, SO IF YOUR A GAME LOVER, STICK WITH 98

or you can always go with suse linux, it TOTALLY KICKS XP'S ASS, just thought you'd like to know

[ston]

I both agree and disagree with virtually every user's post on this thread.

There should not be a discussion of which operating system is "best" ; they all have their pros and cons. The best answer is: TRY SEVERAL.

There is basically 3 forms of Microsoft Windows:

1. 16bit Windows:
Windows 1.0 - Windows 3.1

2. The win32 series:
Windows 95 (actually three versions cooresponding roughly to '95, '96, and '97) Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows Me

3. The WinNT series:
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP

If nothing else, I recommend in general installing the final release of the series. However, Windows Me was a "lame duck" from the beginning as it was well known that it would be the final release of the line. Because there were substantial structural differences in Me from its predecessors, there was poor hardware and software support for Me as many vendors preferred to wait for XP rather than spending money developing products for an operating system that they knew would be extinct in less than a year.

So if Windows Me was the worst OS Microsoft put out, which was the best? In my opinion it was Windows 95b, also known as osr2. Unlike the earlier versions of 95, osr2 had support for FAT32, large hard drives, and USB, and is a perfectly acceptable operating system even for today. I still have it installed on my older computer, and have had no reason to "upgrade".

I have installed as many as 4 operating systems at a time on my hard drive. It is not hard to do, and any modern hard drive has more than enough room to do this. Unfortunately, a lot of people prefer the KISS(Keep It Simple, Stupid) approach, and want a simple, if imperfect, solution.

I also like Linux and would love to dump anything Microsoft, but let's face it - as long as Windows is used by 98% of PC's there will never be much software(especially filesharing) available for Linux.

If I was only allowed to choose one operating system, it would be Windows 98SE. But this is just my personal situation, because I have a lot of older programs and hardware that do not work on NT/2000/XP (I even have some DOS programs that do not run in anything later than Win 95, but I can manage) and there is (yet) nothing that I require Win XP for.

But for a newbie buying his first computer, Windows XP is the most logical choice.

[The Hunter]

:shy So far 98se has worked well for me, but I have found that it does get confused with many installs, and un-installs. What has kept it working for me is norton systemworks.

[bobhss]

twas a well written post ston.

[DiddlySquat]

I'm pretty good with computers....I just got WinXP Home. It works great for me. I tweaked it a little to my specifications so i like it:cross

[MoonMan]

Ok this is how I rate the Microsoft OSs (I've used nearly all of then beginning from 3.1)

3.1 - Not even a quetion, STAY AWAY.

95 - Was pretty good when it came out, now it is total trash.

98 - Better than 95 but virtually the same thing, sucks.

98se - Better but it still sucks, I couldn't stand it the last time I used it after using XP.

ME - Absolutely the MOST buggy operating system I have ever used, I was STUCK with this horse shit for a few months.

2000 pro - I love this operating system, very stable and reliable, and with the appropriate drivers, it runs very smoothly with hardly any crashing and I have NEVER gotton the all too familiar (thanks to WinMe) Blue Screen Of Death.

XP - I like this operating system, it works alot like 2000 pro but with some more tweaks and some crappy color.

That's how I rate them anyway, and if you can: get Mandrake Linux 8.2, very easy to use and learning Linux is almost a must if you ever want to do anything on computers.