Windows Millenium Edition. Is it worth it?

[Yonatan]

My ISP was trying to trick me: They told me that if I change my internet connection package to a package where I pay 19$ per month (VAT included) for unlimited use, and promise (that means sign a contract) to stay a member of that specific ISP for at least 3 months from now, they will send me Windows ME for free.

But what they don't know (won't hurt them) is: My current package was 1$ a day for unlimited use, 0$ for days during which I'm not online, VAT included.
And I generally am online more than 19 days a month.
So I said, "why not" and took the package.

Now, I just received WinME in the mail.
I opened the box, and "isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?" The CD is holographic. The coolest thing I've ever seen coming from Microsoft!
It was really neat, I had to spend three minutes just tilting the CD in various angles.

Then, I held the Shift key (God forbid the autostart), and inserted the CD in the drive.
Six directories, four files. The usual.
One directory caught my attention: Tools.
Inside it were two directories and no files. The interesting of the two was OldMSDos.
I opened it to find... QBASIC.EXE! Oh the joy! Oh the nostalgia!

After playing a bit with CALL ABSOLUTE, the ultimate question came to my mind.

Should I keep this CD in the closet and use it only when I want to have fun with holograms and QBasic, or should I actually... Drum roll please... Install WinME?

Physically, philosophically, programatically, hard-drive-spaceically, and crashabilitily. Is the upgrade from 98 to ME worth it?

[Chris_SE]

Really it depends on what type of user you are. If you conside yourself a 'poweruser'(as most programmers are) then its not worth it. For the so-called 'average' user though it is a benifit. But besides a few new features it's really just win98 in a prettier package(wooww holograms)

[Yonatan]

I like new features!
So if it has new features, why isn't it worth it? (Considering I got it for free)

I'm running Win2000 Pro and must say this: G R E A T !

Not 1 crash! Even when fiddling with api calls that SHOULD cause a crash the only thing that happend was that VB got shut down. But before you rush to the store: Make sure every device in your PC in Win2000 compatible (most are) and that you'll have access to Win2000 Drivers for them. If everything is installed correctly and everything done in the right way then it's like heaven on earth.... The most stable OS I ever ran on my PC's and ever saw.

So you might consider Win2000. (Altough getting WinME for free is cool too).
My girlfirend also has a PC and I'm thinking of installing ME on her machine (she likes to play games etc..). Win2000 won't always run your favourite games...But most will.....

For development there's only 1 OS: Win 2000 Pro.

Hope I helped....

[Yonatan]

Stability is an important issue, since Win98 crashes twice a day.
But I can't just go and buy Win2K. (Saving for a few things)
Is WinME significantly more stable than Win98?
Or significantly less?

[kovan]

i installed winme
its a HELL
its FAST i admit that
but it crashes more than win98 SE more than ever
i liked win98 much better, and it was more stable..
maybe after they release service pack 1 for winME it will get better
now, at home i hate to use my computer cus of that winme ****
why dont i uninstall it? i will when i get a chance

but if you could get your hands on win2k
its worth it
i have it installed for like 7 montsh or so (yes i got it before microsft released it)
and it has NOT, i repeat, NOT once crashed
so when i get rid of winme
win2k goes on

[kovan]

i installed winme
its a HELL
its FAST i admit that
but it crashes more than win98 SE more than ever
i liked win98 much better, and it was more stable..
maybe after they release service pack 1 for winME it will get better
now, at home i hate to use my computer cus of that winme ****
why dont i uninstall it? i will when i get a chance

but if you could get your hands on win2k
its worth it
i have it installed for like 7 montsh or so (yes i got it before microsft released it)
and it has NOT, i repeat, NOT once crashed
so when i get rid of winme
win2k goes on

and about games

it ****ed up my UNREAL TOURNAMENT
i cant play it anymore (i can but the gotdamn thing is sooooo laggy, its good for about 15 min of the game, then it goes laggy, i have to restart the comuter so i can play another 15 min before another lag hits me..

[kb244]

WinMe has a slight performance decrease than Win98SE, its sometimes unstable, 90% of it's new features are free downloadables that can be placed on 98SE also most of you are confusing WinME with Win2k.

Win2k = NT5
WinMe = Win98 Third Edition(in my opinion)

also read this review from tomshardware they recomend you hold off if you already have a stable 98SE.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/consume...927/index.html

about 8 out of the 10 reviews I've read, do not recomend it, they dont outright say "IT Sucks" but they certainly say to wait for the next release when WinME isnt just a bunch of addon features with a slowed down performance.

[simonmay]

never use win95 and its children if you don't wanna play...

use nt4 sp5 or better: winy2k.......

[Yonatan]

I always heard that WinNT, Win2K and such were for business users only and definitely not ever for home users.
Is that true, or did people tell me that just because they thought I was a cl00le$$ n00bie?

[kb244]

NT based windows, is more oriented towards businesses, yet it can play games(win2k) , but it isnt quite perfect, and it isnt actually made to work with many of the home user type things, yet they will work, but it really depends, Win2k is a nice stable system, great as a workstation, however it's not #1 when it comes to game compatibility, and usally requirees a tad bit more understanding.

[kovan]

personally i think win2k ALL the way
i play games
i am a gotdamn home user
and i aint no business
and its STABLE
my opinion - best thing micrsoft ever have invented.

[kb244]

I think you are another person confusing Win2k with WinME.

for some of you who dont pay attention

Windows 2000 does not = Windows Millenium.

[Yoinkster]

Read the subject...

Anyways. As a Beta Tester for WindowsME, I can honestly say that's it's NOT worth it. The "Virtual DOS" is crappier, and the OS is a bit more asthetically pleasing. That's about all the "new" features that WinME has. Aside from being the first true non-DOS OS. Hell, my compiling w/ Borland C++'s command line tools won't even work right..no more DOS...augh..i need my DOS!

In short, stick w/ Win98 SE, or even better, 95

[kb244]

I too beta tested it a lil bit, but without the dos, and fact that 80-90% of it's new features can be installed on Win98SE, it isnt worth it.

[HarryW]

No DOS?! It's a disgrace! I demand DOS!

[Tyler from Alaska]

Is it true? I heard Window Millenium loads up in 10 seconds?

[kb244]

Tyler , thats quite untrue, it's going to depend on how fast your computer is, if you want to see how fast WinME might boot up, just move your config.sys and autoexec.bat, and some other dos files so that they arnt loaded at bootup, and start your watch from there, it may be that it takes 10 seconds to get into the GUI , but it would still take some loading time from whats in the GUI, I wouldnt get WinME either just based on their "Fast Boot".

[Yonatan]

And Win2K = WinNT5?
And how stable is WinNT4?
And how unstable is WinME?
And let's say I am moving to WinNT instead. What are the main pros and cons of moving from Win9X to WinNT?

[FantastichenEin]

NT4 SP6 is what we use here at work,
It is very stable, a great developing platform.
My box work has been on for nearly a year without a crash, so that tells you somthing about the reliabilty.
I am not sure if Direct X is compatiable with NT4 (anyone correct me on this?)
Speed comparison, NT seems quite slow to boot up from a cold start compared with 98, I don't worry as it has been left on for a year.
Other wise the speed is on par with my home 98 machine of same spec.
Most applications (apart from direct X) work fine.

[kb244]

NT4 and below are very DirectX limited, which is why it isnt an ideal gamming platform, however microsoft claims complete directx support in Win2k, also Win2k boots up a hell of alot faster than NT4(boots up in almost the same time or less than it takes me to boot up 98SE) As far as realiability and such, it's just as so with NT4 SP4+

[Yonatan]

My conclusion from this thread is that I should donate the WinME CD to some company working on optical illusions and holograms, and next time I get a new computer, I should make sure it has Win2K on it.

Right?

[FantastichenEin]

Looks that way doesn't it.

I'm planning to buy a new computer (I'm waiting for P4).
Looks like I'm going to run Win2K on it.

[kb244]

I'd hold off on the P4, Intel's been doing pretty badly with anything over 1Ghtz, as they seem to be in a rush to just show "somehting" so I'd wait least 2 months after the release of the P4, just to avoid any further "Recals" and delays , etc.

Oh, ok...
My second choice was PIII 933Mhz.

[kb244]

Hmm that's better, havent heard much probs with that, and perhaps you may even be able to overclock it :} hehe, I'm personally an AMD lover, but I follow both sides of the story. In my opinion Intel being doing alot of PR Stunts to get public respest for being the "Fastest" thus losing their "Reliable" title on the newer CPUs, I dont see why they should have to be in such a rush and worrying when a vast majority of companies will still take their business

I'm not really a CPU expert, what's overclocking?

[oetje]

Overclocking is let a processor run at a speed that is higher then it's normal speed. I mean like letting a 200 mhz processor run at 233 mhz.

[kb244]

It's not typically recomended for the novice, and would certainly void your warrenty, but like my AMD Athlon 750, I can over clock it to 890Mhtz just using the FSB (I can do it more in other methods, but I would also need alot of cooling)

Looks cool.
I'm not going to do it, but how do you do it?

[Yoinkster]

And Win2K = WinNT5?
And how stable is WinNT4?
And how unstable is WinME?
And let's say I am moving to WinNT instead. What are the main pros and cons of moving from Win9X to WinNT?

1. Yep.

2. Very stable. In all my years of using/trying to haX0r() an NT network, (about 3 years.), I have NEVER had an NT box crash on me. EVER. NT4 is one of the most stable OS'es iv'e ever seen, barring Linux. Speaking of which, here's an interesting fact: Did you know that NT has only 4 more security holes/bugs than Linux? (NT 34, Linux 30)

3. WinME is VERY unstable. I'd go as far to say that it suX0rs . In short, it's a waste of your time.

4. Moving from WinXX to WinNT shouldn't be much of a problem. It's the little things, like DirectX, and games that cause problems. If you install the lastest release of DX into an NT box that has all the Service Packs installed, you should be good to go. Also, make sure your software will run on WinXX/WinNT before even thinking of switching to a NT/2K. I think you can find TONS of good reasons to switch, if you ask anyone experienced w/ Networks, eg. Myself, and probably a lot of other people here at VBWorld.

I'd like to add something myself, too. Win2K is awesome!

[HarryW]

From what I remember, NT4 SP6 is supposed to work with DirectX up to verion 6. That's what I remember anyway.

Can anyone confirm Win2K's DX compatibility?

[S@NSIS]

we use Win2K at work (for development) and we also have gaming sessions once a week (upto 24 networked). And...

Unreal Tournament kicks serious ass on the machines.

Other games played include Quake III, Age Of Empires, Grand Prix 3 and Earth 2150.

We have had no trouble whatsoever with any game played on Win 2k.

I run WinMe at home and have had no problem with UT (or anything else for that matter! ) but if anyones asks I tell them not to bother buying it because it's just not worth it. (almost exactly the same an Win98SE).

[Tyler from Alaska]

Thank for answering my question.

[Fox]

WinME has some nice improvements, ie. the menus or file extension sorted by extension (and not by file type description!), but it's also slower (media player 7!!!) and you will get more problems...

I had big problems installing ME coz it automatically adds recognized hardware (even if it's wrong recognized) and such.

I'd recommend it if you buy a new computer but if you already have 98 stay there!

[kb244]

I just installed win2k Pro today , which I was able to download PC-DVD drivers for my Dxr3 Dvd decoder, which performed admirably under Win2k, currently there is a working win2k driver of everything thus far that I have, also at windowblinds.net I went and paid for Object Desktop, which by god really spices up Windows even further than Win2k has had it. (Looks very nice in Win2k, since Win2k has alpha blending and such, win9x and WinME doesnt) also games go good in Win2k, etc etc,

also Whilstler is what Win2k was intended to be, Win2k was intended to be NT + 9x, but instead, it became NT5(Or just newer version of NT based) and WinME because newer Win9x type, Whilstler will look exactly like Win2k, but have the pluses of NT/Win2k, and the pluses of WinMe.

[da_silvy]

whats the dif between Windows Me and W2K?

I have Windows Me, wondering if should install.

Don't have Windows Me drivers for my stuff though?

[da_silvy]

has whistler been released?

[Yonatan]

How well does DirectX work on WinNT4?
If at all?