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Windows 98 in '08


CooledComputer

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Hi, all!

My first post here. I still love 98SE, mostly because it's MY d*** computer, not Microsoft's as they would like to claim. I use XP only when I absolutely gotta. About 98% (no pun intended) of the time, I'm in 98SE, like right now. I'm fairly certain that it's not phoning Redmond right now to report on me; I can't say that about the more "modern" flavors of Windows.

I fix a bunch of computers on the side and sell a few, too. We 98 lovers always hear the "why are you using an obsolete OS" junk from the supposedly more enlightened. Well, I'll tell ya. 98SE is way easier to fix than XP, W2K, or (gag) Vista. Virus or spyware problem on 98? No problem - boot from a DOS disk and rip that sucker out by the roots! On the more "advanced" OS's, with something really sticky you're probably (time wise) better off reinstalling. Oh, that's right, you can't do that too many times without getting permission from MS. Boot problems? A simple sys c:\ fixes most of them, or an fdsisk /mbr if it's really bad.

With Vista, Microsoft finally went all the way to the dark side. If you have that OS, fully half of your computing power (on your very powerful computer) is dedicated to preventing you from doing things that Microsoft doesn't want you to do. Another strange thing is how you can't seem to get XP drivers for new computers. This is a first - there has never been an MS product launch where you couldn't get hardware drivers for the previous edition. Some of the more odious OEM's (well, OK, HP) have taken to censoring their forums to prevent access to XP drivers.

I could (and have) gone on and on. I will use 98SE as long as I can, but it looks like the future for true 32 and 64 bit lies with linux.

I do have a problem, though, with 48 bit LBA. I'm gonna post it under it's own topic and I hope someone can help.

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There is problem with licensing Windows 98 today, which is important in a corporate environment. M$ doesn't want you to use older software and cuts you out with selling OEM lincenses with no 'rights' for 'downgrading'. It's true even for Win2k, which I would otherwise always install in order to get rid of useless XP's eye candy.

Here I needed Win98 for an old program with an odd multi-codepage standard. I had to physically exchange computers only because the other machine happened to have a Win98 hologram on its case.

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I just dusted off an old Dell Dimension v350 with a Voodoo5 PCI graphics card (little bit of history there). The PC has a Powerleap CPU upgrade (Celeron 1.4) and 384 MB of PC100 RAM. I installed Win 98 SE on it last night, installed the Unofficial Service Pack and then used Windows Update for everything else. It's hooked up to a DSL router with a hardware firewall. I installed the latest version of Opera as my browser and Avast! AV, plus numerous other 98 friendly utility programs. I also installed Diablo II and Divinity Divinity (two Glide games I like - main reason I resurrected this PC).

It runs beautifully and I'm surprised how viable a Win 98 machine can still be. There is no reason to "junk" a solid old PC like this and it's a shame MS doesn't see fit to help it's customers get the most out of their hardware. And the two Glide games are great. It was such a good gaming API in it's time - it's a shame 3dfx went under.

Now that I have this little old jewel put back together I'll definitely hang onto it as long as possible.

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As long as my MoBo and Graphic card stay alive, I'll keep w98se running on them.

The MoBo, the Graphic card and the case are the only pieces that remain from the computer I bought 5 years ago.

Happy new w98 year!

I run 98 as a VM (Virtual Computer) on my core 2 quad Vista 64bit box and on serveral Macintosh computers. Windows 7 is expected to be a hypervisor (small base OS for running VMs) with everything else running as VMs. So when I have 128 core CPU, 64 g memory and a 16g Video card, I'll still be running Win 98, Win NT and Win3.11 when ever they are usefull.

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I'm glad I still have my 98SE computer running...I've modded it and killed it hundreds of times, but I just reload the OS and slap on some new hardware and I'm good to go. It's a shame to see my dad running VISTA, because it runs so horribly slow; but he, much like many others just can't "handle" the complex obsolescence of an older OS (if that makes any sense)...I on the other hand love using a variety of electronics that the "mainstream" has deemed obsolete. To this day I still use regularly: Win98SE and 2000 (I do have XP on a computer I never use though), a Compaq Evo n610c that's been the most reliable laptop I've ever had, a CRT television, Sony walkman tape player/tapedeck, a vcr, and an oldsmobile (which continues to fall apart from the inside out).

I still love all my sh!t, even if it is almost all obsolete...everyday I boot up my 98SE desktop and enable auto-reverse on my tape deck I feel all the more nostalgic!

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and i will still never understand why people think new is always best

The best system is the one you're most familiar with and therefore can work most efficiently on it.

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and i will still never understand why people think new is always best

That's because the industry has been bombarding the users with that propaganda for years. Their primary motivation is to get users to part with their money. 98 is nowhere near as obsolete as they'd like you to believe. I have 98 first edition, 98SE, and Win2K-SP4. 98 first edition is my workhorse and the one I use most often.

Rick

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