Which OS for new machine?

[funked]

OK the countdown to 1.33 GHz is getting very short.  

Which OS do you guys recommend for a new machine?  It will be used mostly for gaming and internet stuff, with secondary use for Word and Excel, etc.

[Dowding]

I put Win98 SE on the system I built recently - I'd heard Win ME has a few problems, and didn't really warrant the extra cost in terms of new features.

I've had no stability problems at all and I'm using DirectX 8.0a.

[TheWobble]

 

I'd heard Win ME has a few problems

ME is no different than 98 as far as how it effects games, its just as stable (if not more so) and has about the same system load as 98.  there a a few functional differences in ME, thats the only difference.

Ive been using it for a few months now and i like it much better than 98.

[MrSiD]

I also heard WinME has a few problems, and not just a few.

Driver compatability can become an issue, the hideous restore feature and horrid use of virtual memory..

Me can be tweaked to work pretty well, but if youre new to computers, I'd take Win98SE with _all_ updates from the microsoft.com.

However if you think 98 is outdated, by all means try W2k pro. It's very stable if your system has over 128Mb ram (if you get 1.33 T-bird I'd expect you get at least 256..)

In game use, some older games wont work with w2k but generally speaking it's very good also for game use. Only problems may come if you have some special brand joysticks etc.

I have SB Live! (ok, the drivers suck at w2k still.. but it works.) And ms precision pro which worked without a glitch in w2k (ok, the sidewinder command central didnt install on w2k even that it says it should in ms page.. M$ rules!) Even though there are those small annoyances, it's working and thats that.

[TheWobble]

 

I also heard WinME has a few problems

It has no problems that win98 didnt.. like i said, been using it a long time now

 

Driver compatability can become an issue

it doesent

 

the hideous restore

the restore feature is an option, you have to specifically select to have it, its not a problem in any way, jsut dont use it.

 

horrid use of virtual memory..

set your virt memory to 2x your ram amount if you have over 128mb and 4x if you have 64. dont do anything if you have 32 or less (idiot)  Me uses virt mem the same way as 98SE


Of course this is coming from somebody who is actually using ME and not something somebody heard about something about so take it with a grain of salt.....

[funked]

ME is definitely out of the question.  I guess I'm just wondering if W2K will be OK for games.

[SOB]

I like Win2k a lot, and use it as my primary OS.  I've got Win98SE installed on a second small partition and use it as my "AH" boot, since my sticks aren't yet supported in Win2k.  AH runs fine for me in Win2k too, but I rarely use it there for anything but the film recorder.


SOB

[MrSiD]

I can't believe I've become a W2000 cheerleader, but I have to say I've grown to like it..

I think those problems I heard earlier were pre-SP1. 8 Megs of updates.. sheesh .. =)

[Animal]

Just install Windows 98 SE

trust me.

[Sancho]

Win2k.  With that fast of a pc, you won't lose any framerate compared to a slower machine using Win2k.  Win2k is far more stable than Win98.  I can go a few weeks without a reboot in Win2k--try that in Win98.        Even being stupid and running a whole bunch of programs at once trying to crash my machine is unsuccessful, whereas Win98 quickly chokes and dies.

I'm not a big time gamer--just play WB and AH.  But I can't recall a game or demo that didn't run normally under Win2k in the past year.  Win2k should be fine for a gamer's system.

[This message has been edited by Sancho (edited 04-15-2001).]

[SOB]

Heh, good call Sancho    I've been running Win2k so long that I hadn't even considered the crash factor.  So far, with my machine, I haven't experienced a crash...I've had an application crap out here or there, but never the OS.  I only reboot when I install new software that requires it or when I boot to 98 to fly.

[TheWobble]

Why doees Win2k supposidly slow done slower computers and not faster ones..

How does that work, it seems that if it slows a slow computer down it will slow a fast one down too..not as much of course but still...

What im getting at is Wont win2k run slower an ANY machine than say Win98 would on the same Machine?

[bloom25]

98SE or Win2k are the only real options. For the most part I've found ME to be a waste of money.  It's just basically a graphical update of 98 that tries to hide DOS from you.  I personally have tried it, and found it's basically what you'd get if you took win2k's interface and slapped it onto 98 then decreased performance by about 10% for that silly restore thing.

If you turn it off, what you get is basically 98SE with DX7.1 and a newer version of media player.  In other words, no big deal.  

As someone who deals with computers A LOT, I can tell you I prefer 98SE over ME currently.  About all ME has going for it is more drivers included with it and hence slightly better Plug and Pray compatibility.

As for the speed issue, Win2k has MUCH better memory management than the 9x kernal.  What this means is that as the amount of memory increases the performance difference between 2k and a 9x version decreases.  Win2k also supports multiple processors if your machine has them.  Win2k stability is also FAR better than 9x versions.  Applications can crash in 2k, but 99.9% of the time you can kill that process and the system won't crash.  The NTFS file system is also more secure.



------------------
bloom25
-MAW-
(Formerly of the)
THUNDERBIRDS

[funked]

Thanks guys!
I'll probably try 2K, just wanted to make sure there weren't any serious issues with games.

[-lynx-]

Just keep in mind that Saitek X36 is not working properly under W2K in AH... That is if you're using this particular HOTAS setup.