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Windows 95 or Windows 98 SE?


UltraO

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OK, I got an old Best computer which has Windows 95B(the one with usb support) on it. Now I wonder, should I keep Windows 95, or should I upgrade to Windows 98 SE? 98 drivers do work on 95B don't they? And same with applications?

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You'll get a number of different responses. Personally, I feel as though the performance advantages, workmanlike UI, and lack of IE integration in Windows 95 OSR2 make it the superior choice of the two. However, nowadays there are quite a few versions of applications and, yes, drivers out there that work on 98 yet break themselves (or stick up and refuse to run) on 95. There probably isn't any good reason for this (aside from developers going out of their way to add trivial 98-specific code, or using Microsoft development tools that did that for them), but it's a fact of life...

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As a Windows 95 OSR 2.x user as well, I recommend Windows 95. I feel they got it right with this version. Of course, the downside is that less applications support it. In the end, it really depends on what you want to do with it.

Lacking driver support isn't really a conspiracy. Windows 98 has much better support for a better driver model that was borrowed from the Windows NT line. Many drivers are written in this new structure.

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Lacking driver support isn't really a conspiracy. Windows 98 has much better support for a better driver model that was borrowed from the Windows NT line. Many drivers are written in this new structure.
Actually, that is incorrect. The Windows Driver Model (WDM) was first introduced for Win98, and then used on Windows 2000. Drivers written specifically for Win98 (WDM drivers) will not work on NT4.0 or Windows 95 (although drivers for Win95 will work on Win98 in compat mode, usually).
98 drivers do work on 95B don't they?
Depends - if the drivers are WDM drivers specifically for Win98 and higher, then no. If they're the older Virtual Device Driver (VxD) model introduced in earlier versions of Windows. then yes, Win98 can use those drivers.
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Ahh... good ol' VxDs.

Brings back memories.

The only advantage I can see of installing Windows 98 on this uber old computer is if the underpinnings of the OS will somehow bring out an advantage(s) to the hardware. Then, if speed is an issue (which it probably will be, 98 is enormously fat compared to 95), use 98lite or similar to slim down the overhead, remove IE if you want, and do a shell swap.

Technically speaking you can run Windows 98 on a 486/66 with 16MB of RAM but it would be pretty much unusable.

What's your specs dude?

EDIT: Buggered up BB code

Edited by JustinStacey
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Windows 95 USB support is very limited. There are almost no USB devices able to work in Windows 95.

So, if USB is to be used, Windows 98 is the right choice.

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Actually, that is incorrect. The Windows Driver Model (WDM) was first introduced for Win98, and then used on Windows 2000.

You don't seem to browse this forum enough, as I'm only partially incorrect. :P Windows 95 OSR 2.x' USB support patch installs a newer kernel that has basic support for WDM drivers.

Windows 95 USB support is very limited. There are almost no USB devices able to work in Windows 95.

In a way, this is true, but don't underestimate Windows 95's ability to work with lots of USB flash drives!

Edited by BenoitRen
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You don't seem to browse this forum enough, as I'm only partially incorrect. :P Windows 95 OSR 2.x' USB support patch installs a newer kernel that has basic support for WDM drivers.
:)

Note that what I said wasn't incorrect - it was *introduced* in Win98 as a fully supported driver model for the whole OS. It was never advertised for Win95, for two reasons - one, because WDM support was only for OSR 2.5 systems (2.0 and older couldn't run the new kernel), and you couldn't buy OSR 2.5 from a retail store as it was OEM-release only, and two, the WDM kernel for Win95 only supported specific USB devices and certain system bus plug and play devices (some video cards and audio devices released with WDM drivers for Win95 OSR 2.5 and installed the new kernel as a patch, if I remember back that far correctly), and support was indeed minimal (and not entirely stable either) at best.

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System specs: 256 MB RAM(133MHz), Intel Pentium III 1 GHz and I don't know about the other, but I think I am going for Windows 98 SE as if I am correct Windows 95 may be unstable with 350Mhz+ processors??

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System specs: 256 MB RAM(133MHz), Intel Pentium III 1 GHz and I don't know about the other, but I think I am going for Windows 98 SE as if I am correct Windows 95 may be unstable with 350Mhz+ processors??

There is a patch that corrects this error in 95. However, with a 1GHz processor and 256 RAM, 98SE will run fine. It's really up to you to decide whether or not you need the newer software & hardware support that 98SE can give you.

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System specs: 256 MB RAM(133MHz), Intel Pentium III 1 GHz and I don't know about the other, but I think I am going for Windows 98 SE as if I am correct Windows 95 may be unstable with 350Mhz+ processors??

I would concur with the other posters - this system would run Win98 / SE quite fine. Unless you have some need for Win95, I think Win98SE would be suggested on this hardware if you want to run a Win9x system (which I assume you would since you're posting in this forum ;)).

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You can install Win 98 or you can even install Windows XP or

Nlited XP and it will work perfectly :-)

i hade puter of same specs only with 128mb ram :_)

and it ran XP Perfectly :-)

i would recomend 98 :-)

Edited by vaska94
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