MSBoxer Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 OK, the time has finally come my new 1.2GHZ will be arriving within the next week to replace my aging Pentium I 200mhz. Question is which operating system should I put on it. I like the flexibility of WIN 98 SE, but the stability of Win 2000 is calling. Any experiences you care to share would be most appreciated. Specs on new machine 1.2 Ghz Athlon 384 MB Ram 40 Gig HD Generic 128bit 64MB 3D APG card (I plan to update eventually) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Win2000 is definitely a nice, stable OS. It does require more memory than Win98SE, but that sometimes results in better performance. Overall Win2000 would be the better bet for an OS, however there are some problems. The drivers for some hardware may not be up to the same level as those developed for Win9x/ME. Some developers/manufactures are catching up though, so this will be less and less of a problem (especially with new hardware). The problems that CM had with NVidia-based video cards was a major reason not to recommend Win2000 in the past (at least for CM purposes). But NVidia has released some beta drivers that address some of the issues of running CM under Win2000. One caveat though is that I notice that the refresh rate for my NVidia-based card can't go as high as it can under Win9x (with the refresh rate being limited by both the resolution and color depth). A small issue, but it can be a bit of an annoyance at higher resolutions and color depths. One other problem with Win2000 is that some multimedia features (TV Tuners, certain USB devices, etc.) may not work with anything but Win9x/ME. Some programs may also not work (certain games, etc.), but this is more of a legacy issue than a problem with newer programs and hardware. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorH TacOps Developer Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 I don't understand why people refuse to accept Microsoft's own repeated advice that Windows 2000 is for business users. I lifted the following quotes five minutes ago from the Microsoft Inc. Windows 2000 web site. These consititue Microsoft's official recommendations about its own products. "The Windows 2000 Professional operating system is designed for business users. Windows Me, on the other hand, is the best choice for home users and gamers. " - Microsoft. "Windows Me - Best platform for multimedia: music, pictures, video. Best support for PC gaming. Broadest support for consumer hardware and software." - Microsoft. Doesn't seem to me that Microsoft would be trying to talk home users and gamers out of buying the higher priced Win2000 if it was of any benefit to them. Just my two cents. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSBoxer Posted August 8, 2001 Author Share Posted August 8, 2001 Major, to answer your question as to why I would even consider Win 2K. Well I am a Web designer by trade and rely on my computer to work on freelance projects by night. One of my machines at the office runs Win 2K and the rest are Win 98 SE. So I am seriously leaning towards Win 2K at home because in my experience it is nearly impossible to crash. The reason that most recommend Win 98SE for games is due to the lack of support for multimedia devices in the early days of Win2K. True it is not intended to be a gaming machine, but it will perform that function admirably. Support is now arriving for higher end multimedia devices, and its management of memory is far superior to Win9x. My question here was basically to get more input from gamers, as to their experience with each system. To be honest at this point I may just go with a dual boot system, best of both worlds. One final note... At the office I run multiple monitors on each machine. Some games really take advantage of this. Understanding that BTS is a small outfit, it would be nice to be able to run it on a multi-monitor system without it crashing. I can see it now viewing an entire large map at level 3 view...drool... Edit - Stay away from windows ME like the plague. It is the most unstable version of windows since 3.1 Originally Win 2K was supposed to be a one for all system, both business and home. At a late point in the development Microsoft realized that they would be pricing themselves out of the home market and so rushed ME through. It is a sad hybid of win 98 and NT. After three months of constant reboot at the office I blew it out and put Win 98SE back on. [ 08-07-2001: Message edited by: MSBoxer ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dima Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Win2k is you best choice ! Stable, fast and supports games no worse than Win98/ME Regarding Microsoft's statement that Win2K is for business only - Microsoft likes to create many versions of the same product. The more stable it is - the more money you pay. Average Joe Sixpack who doesn't know much about computers will go to Microsoft site, read their statement and will buy BOTH OS's, one for games, one for Home Business use. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Well, since it looks like you have the resources, I would buy the machine with 98 then set it up to dual boot with 2000. Setting it up is a breeze (just install 2000 on the computer already running 98). I have that setup at home, and CM runs fine off the same install in either OS. The only problem I have had is some strange business with the recycle bin in 98. WWB 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesy Posted August 11, 2001 Share Posted August 11, 2001 In this OS debate, I'ld seriously consider Win XP, granted it's not out in release format, but you can get from the MS Website, and it is very stable, and has better support for games/multimedia. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Petersson Posted August 14, 2001 Share Posted August 14, 2001 Just out of curiosity: Since I'm a big fan of games written for MS-DOS 5 or so some ten years ago, how do these perform in Win2k, WinME (or WinXP)? Cheers Olle 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted August 15, 2001 Share Posted August 15, 2001 Well, that depends on the game. ME would be a definite No-No. Windows 2000, in theory, has a software compatibility mode for DOS apps. It does pretty well with applications that do not want to talk directly to hardware. But, unfortunately, DOS games usually want to do just that. The most success I have had running DOS games is under Windows 95 (which is still perfectly adequate for most things anyways) or with a boot disk. WWB 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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