Comments on: Windows 98 and Millennium Edition, RIP http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/ The world according to Jared Smith: Web development, the Charleston, SC tech scene, and the weather, among other things. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:33:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Facebook User http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-249 Facebook User Wed, 12 Jul 2006 22:42:36 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-249 System Restore was largely useless in Windows Me but can be quite the lifesaver in Windows XP...unless it's backed up a virus. That's definitely an issue. Microsoft has to make it easier for antivirus products to scan the restore points. And I will concur on the Visual Styles as well. I used Watercolor for a long time, which is based on the first "Codename Whistler" visual style which was actually extremely attractive because it was a subtle enhancement to the Windows interface, not a bloated Fisher-Price nightmare gone wrong. :) System Restore was largely useless in Windows Me but can be quite the lifesaver in Windows XP…unless it’s backed up a virus. That’s definitely an issue. Microsoft has to make it easier for antivirus products to scan the restore points.

And I will concur on the Visual Styles as well. I used Watercolor for a long time, which is based on the first “Codename Whistler” visual style which was actually extremely attractive because it was a subtle enhancement to the Windows interface, not a bloated Fisher-Price nightmare gone wrong. :)

]]> By: beanboy89 http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-248 beanboy89 Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:43:31 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-248 I actually like System Restore. It's saved me from a complete reformat/reinstall a few times already, and the disk space it takes up is hardly a drop in the bucket with today's breed of large hard drives. And I do run my Windows XP systems in Windows Classic mode, but not for the performance gains, but because I think they look alot cleaner than any Windows XP Visual Style I've tried. I actually like System Restore. It’s saved me from a complete reformat/reinstall a few times already, and the disk space it takes up is hardly a drop in the bucket with today’s breed of large hard drives.

And I do run my Windows XP systems in Windows Classic mode, but not for the performance gains, but because I think they look alot cleaner than any Windows XP Visual Style I’ve tried.

]]> By: Facebook User http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-247 Facebook User Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:45:48 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-247 I've run XP in classic mode since I've gotten it. The RAM usage is a bit higher but it's not bad. I recently installed the Profile Hive Cleanup Service or something to that effect, and have noticed a rather nice increase in performance as a result. It helps keep things tidy. :) I’ve run XP in classic mode since I’ve gotten it. The RAM usage is a bit higher but it’s not bad.

I recently installed the Profile Hive Cleanup Service or something to that effect, and have noticed a rather nice increase in performance as a result. It helps keep things tidy. :)

]]> By: NotMyBest2Day http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-246 NotMyBest2Day Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:28:15 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-246 Aww, 98 and ME were fun though. I had ME when I got my Gateway. Of course it was a living Hell, but it was the hardware's fault--really. 98 Always did a good job for me, too. As far as system restore, I always turned it off the first chance I got after a reformat/reinstall. That thing was such a waste, and still is to this day. Totally useless feature, IMO. Yes, NT-based OSes are much better, but I don't know about XP. I don't like it. More eye candy than I want. There comes a point where performance is better than looks, and well, XP crossed that line, so 2000 (which is all XP is, essentally) works great for me. Nothing like the OS only using 40mb of RAM instead of somewhere in the low hundreds and all the processing power wasted to make the GUI look stupid. Aww, 98 and ME were fun though. I had ME when I got my Gateway. Of course it was a living Hell, but it was the hardware’s fault–really. 98 Always did a good job for me, too. As far as system restore, I always turned it off the first chance I got after a reformat/reinstall. That thing was such a waste, and still is to this day. Totally useless feature, IMO.

Yes, NT-based OSes are much better, but I don’t know about XP. I don’t like it. More eye candy than I want. There comes a point where performance is better than looks, and well, XP crossed that line, so 2000 (which is all XP is, essentally) works great for me. Nothing like the OS only using 40mb of RAM instead of somewhere in the low hundreds and all the processing power wasted to make the GUI look stupid.

]]> By: the_duke http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-245 the_duke Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:04:48 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-245 It's about time, IMO It’s about time, IMO

]]> By: Facebook User http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-243 Facebook User Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:35:41 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-243 Yep, they had to push the date back because 98 was, indeed, so widely used. Microsoft would have looked foolish had they killed Me before 98, so that was pushed back too, though I would have lauded the move. ;) I think Windows Me did some good, though. At the time of its release, MS was trying to complete Whistler (XP), and making sure all the backwards-compatibility hacks (really, that's all they were) worked properly. Windows Me bought them some time to do so, as they didn't -- wait for it -- want to keep customers waiting too long for a new version of Windows. ;) Plus Me was a good proving ground for some of the new stability features they wanted to try, such as System Restore (though System Restore -- surprise! -- never worked properly on Me for...umm...me) and Automatic Updates (which also never worked properly, haha). Yep, they had to push the date back because 98 was, indeed, so widely used. Microsoft would have looked foolish had they killed Me before 98, so that was pushed back too, though I would have lauded the move. ;)

I think Windows Me did some good, though. At the time of its release, MS was trying to complete Whistler (XP), and making sure all the backwards-compatibility hacks (really, that’s all they were) worked properly. Windows Me bought them some time to do so, as they didn’t — wait for it — want to keep customers waiting too long for a new version of Windows. ;) Plus Me was a good proving ground for some of the new stability features they wanted to try, such as System Restore (though System Restore — surprise! — never worked properly on Me for…umm…me) and Automatic Updates (which also never worked properly, haha).

]]> By: beanboy89 http://jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/comment-page-1/#comment-242 beanboy89 Wed, 12 Jul 2006 06:21:33 +0000 http://blog.jaredwsmith.com/2006/07/11/windows-98-and-millennium-edition-rip/#comment-242 Windows 98 and Me support was due to end back in 2003, but users encouraged Microsoft to push the end-of-life back to eventually 2006. Actually, I was using Windows 98 SE up until about a year ago on an old Pentium III, and finally we decided to get a new computer with Windows XP. I didn't miss Windows 9x one bit, and the stability and security on NT-based OSs is tones better than 9xs DOS codebase. Really, I don't know why Microsoft ever went to the trouble of making Windows Me (which shipped with Windows Media Player 7.0, not 9 beta ;-) ). They should've made Windows 98 SE the last DOS-based Windows OS, then focused on making Windows 2000 more consumer-friendly (remember Neptune?). -Billy Windows 98 and Me support was due to end back in 2003, but users encouraged Microsoft to push the end-of-life back to eventually 2006. Actually, I was using Windows 98 SE up until about a year ago on an old Pentium III, and finally we decided to get a new computer with Windows XP. I didn’t miss Windows 9x one bit, and the stability and security on NT-based OSs is tones better than 9xs DOS codebase.

Really, I don’t know why Microsoft ever went to the trouble of making Windows Me (which shipped with Windows Media Player 7.0, not 9 beta ;-) ). They should’ve made Windows 98 SE the last DOS-based Windows OS, then focused on making Windows 2000 more consumer-friendly (remember Neptune?).

-Billy

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