Has anyone gotten their hands on WinMe?

[mikeycorn]

I had heard that the latest installment of the 9x family was not much more than 98 with version 7 of Windows Media Player attached and just a few cosmetic enhancements, so I really wasn't prepared for what was awaiting me when I finally got my hot little hands on Windows Me. The install was the same blue screen with the black bar at the side, and it looked pretty much just like the install of 98, but if it ain't broke (the install, that is) don't fix it.

Once I got through those three or four obligitory restarts and made it to the desktop, a nice, light blue desktop awaited me. I installed some software and the first thing I noticed when I started playing with the software was that for the very first time, my 700MHz Athlon actually felt what I had always envisioned that a 700MHz processor should feel like!!!

After enjoying this new found speed, I tried a restart and was giddy with joy when I found myself back on the desktop in under 20 seconds! I did a little further investigating and found that they've incorperated a very easy to use Go Back feature to the OS called System Restore. It's nice to know that if some buggy software brings you down, it's very easy to get back to the last snapshot of your previously working registry.

What a difference an OS makes! Alot can be said about Microsoft and their maniacal quest to destroy the competition at any cost, but as big of a giant as they are, they still really do listen to the consumer. I think the consumer has been saying, "give us more stability" more than anything else and they're finally delivering. Who knows, in a couple months I may report back to you with a revised view of this, but as for right now after a week of installing lots of software and tweaking with the OS to my heart's content, the stability of this OS feels rock solid!

Hopefully they'll keep the full version under $200, and if they do, it will be well worth the money spent.

If you've tried WinMe yourself, I'd like to know what you think!

[alex_read]

Hi Mikey, yep I got my hands on a copy.

Do you think it is worth the money? I love the fast reboot I will admit (though I heard a rumour that the F8 key & ability to get into DOS on startup was remved), but apart from this, are we not just looking at windows98 third edition?

For the little amount they have changed, they could have put out a service pack. They have put the latest hardware drivers on, but I found that as well as doing this, have removed some as my scanner is not supported and cannot be installed.

I am not normally a miserable b"!*@d, but I feel that you have only just receied a copy, and have not realised at how little has changed for the $150-$200 everyone will pay.

[Jimbob]

I installed it for the first time yesterday

I've not really investigated it too much, but it does seem a bit more stable than 98.

[mikeycorn]

Funny you should mention the scanner issue. I loaded ME on my girlfriend's computer and it was all hunkey-dorey until I tried using her MicroTek ScanMaker3600 USB scanner and got nothing but crashes. I had to put her system back on 98.

Other than that, though, it really does seem more stable and I'm sure I probably will go out and spend the money when it's released. Now that the warm glow of the newness has worn off, however, I'm not sure that this new OS really justifies the purchase. If I'm here six months later and it still hasn't crashed, then yes, it's worth the money spent. If it requires a reinstall every six months like 98, I'm sure I'll buy it anyways because I've got this tendency to want the latest, even if it's not all that much greater. Chalk it up to behavior patterns of the typical computer geek.

[alex_read]

I didn't say I wouldn't buy it, just be interesting to find out HOW MUCH has changed. It took MS 3 years to do win98 from win95, It has only taken 1 year to do winMe from win98SE.

I don't know what you mean by "reinstall every six months like 98" though! I have had mine on for about 14 months with no re-install. Am I just one of the lucky ones?

[JazzBass]

Hi,
First of all, I don't have WinME. But, it sure sounds like from the reviews I've read that it's a pretty good product. More stable than Win98, but appearently a far cry from Windows2k. At least you guys who run 98 can upgrade for around $60 US.

I'm still with 95, freshly reinstalled and running great. I may just wait until the NT consumer version of Windows is out before I make the jump.

If they had a special price to upgrade from 95, then I would be more inclined to do so.

Who knows? Maybe MS has finally gotten it right (if not all the way, close).

JazzBass

[kb244]

I got my hands on WinME Final, speaking of stability, most of my games have more problems in WinME than it did in Win9x, WinME is basically a visually changed Win98, to look more like Win2k, performance-wise it's exactly the same as Win98, has few features like auto recovery, but besides that, it's no differences, other than the problems I had with a few games.

[mikeycorn]

Alex,

I'm a bit of a tweaker when it comes to computers, so I install a lot of software, and at the first hint of things getting bogged down and when those blue screens of death start popping up, I just format c: and reinstall. It has gotten me in a very good discipline of backing everything up to CD to prepare for the inevitable reinstall, although so far with ME, it has yet to crash, although I haven't been loading oodles of software just yet.


JazzBass,

If at all possible, always try to get your hands on the full version. It just might be that the upgrade will work perfectly on your system, but the upgrades are notorious for having issues.

By the way, do you have a Fender Jazz or are you a stand-up guy?

[JazzBass]

Hi,

About Windows:

I hear you about the full version. I have the full version of Win95. I would imagine you could buy the upgrade, format your drive, start the upgrade and when asked where the qualifing product is, you pop in the older version in floppy or CDROM, and away you go. It saves you money and it's basically a full version. Nothing illegal about it either. I may be wrong, but that's what you do with MS Office and other programs if you don't what the leftovers of the upgrade process.


About the Bass:
I don't know if your really into guitars, but this is what I play:

Ibanez EX Series 5 string Electric Bass
Modified with EMG Active Pickups and EMG BTC Circuit (Wired for 18 volt)
Also added a Brass Headstock Nut for added sustain.

I love my Bass.

It's funny, but when I go into music stores and try out new stuff, nothing plays like mine. Go fig.

If the music store has an upright, you bet I play that thing. I would love to own one and play. Maybe some day.

Thanks for asking.
JazzBass



[Edited by JazzBass on 08-10-2000 at 11:09 AM]