What operating system do I get tomorrow??

me

[Sungirl]

I would appreciate any advice.....

Tomorow at noon is a big day.....
Do I get Windows 98....Windows 2000.....Windows ME?? Windows XP is OUT!

I just want it for home use...no networks....no administrators. Simple, efficient and stable.

PLEASE ADVISE.

[beckett]

Why is XP out? It's a perfectly reliable system and no more difficult for home use than any of the others you've listed. Besides, you will be glad you got it in a few years when some of the others are less supported by developers and XP is still a standard --- amortization applies in operating systems too.

Rule of thumb #1: Avoid the bleeding edge, i.e., don't be the first in line with the geeks to get the latest stuff.
Rule of thumb #2: After a reasonable interval to allow for the more outrageous bugs to be discovered and corrected, get the latest technology.

[T Wayne]

Would someone please explain to me WHY I should have to ask GMC's permission to haul firewood in my 4 x 4?

[zog]

I HONESTLY don't know if it's true or not, but seems to me I read a blurb that XP with multi processors actually costs more, like you got a motherboard with two CPU chips and for some reason it costs more. Like I said, could be wrong on that.

[2OOOll]

I just want it for home use...no networks....no administrators. Simple, efficient and stable.

If you were Win95 user you should feel at home with Win98 SE, but make sure it is the Second Edition – some bugs, problems removed. I had just installed one on a Pentium IV 1.8GHz machine, after removing XP. Too many things did not cooperate with XP. The eye candy looks, the nagging, the hardware and software incompatibility, the privacy/security issues, are too big a price to pay for a “stable” Operating System.
Personally, I dislike XP and consider it a spyware.

More opinion on XP.

Win98 SE will let you install and run virtually every program out there. Very straightforward to use. That is all you need of an operating system. On a fast machine with 256MB RAM it will sing.

Good luck tomorrow! If it is a new computer you are buying it will make you happy pretty much regardless of what OS you decide upon.

[Bush2000]

Would someone please explain to me WHY I should have to ask GMC's permission to haul firewood in my 4 x 4?

Would somebody please explain how you can duplicate your 4x4 with a CD burner and give it to your friends? < /sarcasm >

Get it ... yet?

[Bush2000]

I HONESTLY don't know if it's true or not, but seems to me I read a blurb that XP with multi processors actually costs more, like you got a motherboard with two CPU chips and for some reason it costs more. Like I said, could be wrong on that.

Yes, you are wrong. Don't you feel the slightest compulsion to verify anything you post?

[Bush2000]

B2K, your take?

Windows is licensed on a per-machine basis, not per user. If you have more than one machine, it doesn't matter that you're not using them simultaneously. Each of them has to have a separate license of Windows.

[disclaimer]

Holy Smokes, you're running XENIX?? One of my machines has SCO's AT&T UNIX running circ. 1991 - that's the oldest I have going. I've had my hands on XENIX early on, and wrote a device driver for a multi-point communications card. XENIX multitasked well on the original XT with a 8086. I may still have a set of XENIX install diskettes laying around, but it probably would get dizzy running on a Ghz machine coming from a 4.77~8Mhz world. Cracks me up you have that antique running!

[AF_Blue]

"Don't Let Me Get Me"

Do you think P!nk was thinking of an O/S when she recorded that? ;->

[disclaimer]

I re-read your posting. At first I took it that you're running XENIX now, but I see that were saying that you had in the past. Opps. It's getting late.

[disclaimer]

Bush2000, you really ought to disclose that you work for Microsoft so everyone knows you have non-technical bias involved in your opinions. I see you on just about every thread where Microsoft is brought up in discussion always promoting MS. Are you paid to keep a vigil on the FreeRepublic?

[2OOOll]

It is wrong to recommend orphan software….

You mean rich daddy is going to abandon his love child???????????
Besides, I have not met anyone needing MS’s “support” for 98 SE. All you need for “support” is the CD. I do not see why would that change in the foreseeable future. There are some upgrade freaks daily checking for new spyware from MS. And I say to them all, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

[all_mighty_dollar]

Both of your statements that ME is unstable/doesn't use memory > 128 meg are suspect...

While I'd probably recommend XP over 98ME, I've been using ME since close to intro & have not had a lot of problems. I was runing as many a 7 AMD K-6's & K-7's 24/7 running SETI analysis until Gov Davis jacked up electric rates.

My machines are have memory up to 512K per machine and run without problems and use ALL available. I use 3 of the K-7 Athlons (also all overclocked) for work during the day.

[2OOOll]

….98 was broken since birth….

98 Second Edition is fixed O.K. though.

….there are security exploits on the web that will NEVER BE FIXED….

I have this funny inkling MS designs the OSs in a way that they can be exploited. That so far seems to apply to XP more than to any other version of Windows.

….you should not recommend old software….

It feels kinda old software, but the “new” stuff isn’t much better and at least I know where it hurts and where it doesn’t. Gamers find 98 SE the most utilizable OS.

I am not an Apple or Linux shareholder. I base my opinion only upon my personal experience and the countless hours I spent with MS products. Some of them are less perfect than others, and some are ****. In a good conscience, I can recommend Win98 SE for an easy reliable daily home use. So far, it is the most secure, and compatible with the most programs version of Windows that I know. That's all.