What are your limitations using 9x or ME?

[vipejc]

What limitations do you face using 9x or ME in 2014?

Can you still access the Internet?

Have you lost the ability to watch YouTube videos?

Can you no longer bank and shop on the Internet through SSL?

Do certain buttons and features on websites no longer work because your version of Flash or Java are too old?

Is your web browser awfully slow and takes a long time to render webpages?

Do you think sometime in the future you'll be forced to retire Windows 9x or ME?

Feel free to add any other issues you have.

Edited April 25, 2014 by vipejc

[Flasche]

1.What limitations do you face using 9x or ME in 2014?

2.Can you still access the Internet?

3.Have you lost the ability to watch YouTube videos?

4.Can you no longer bank and shop on the Internet through SSL?

5.Do certain buttons and features on websites no longer work because your version of Flash or Java are too old?

6.Is your web browser awfully slow and takes a long time to render webpages?

1. The biggest issue is to get newer programs, or hardware to run.

2. Yes

3. No

4. I dont bank or shop on the internet so I wouldnt know.

5. No not with opera 12.02

6. No faster than my vista computer

[TmEE]

1. Modern hardware, but that is what PCI slots are for.

2. As long as IPv4 exists, that one will not be a problem.

3. No. Latest Flash runs fine.

4. SSL has never been an issue. What is in my country is that most stuff is done with the ID card and the software for it is XP and higher. I do have an XP machine around so that's not a problem really to me.

5. Haven't had any problems around that.

6. Rather opposite. The newer the browsers get the worse they seem to become as far as speed goes. Put the OS bloat on top and there is no way modern OS+browser wins.

My 9x machines all run circles around the XP+ machines, even with same hardware. One of the more tangible reasons I keep using 9x, other really big one is the hardware I use which just isn't supported by newer stuff, but is indisposable in my "production" environment.

[vinifera]

I don't run any win98 or ME

but if I did, I would certainly miss stability of OS

as I remember switching to win2000 was such a relief

[TmEE]

Stability is not a problem, with the current unofficial service pack. I don't remember when I last had an OS crash or BSOD or something. And when I do get them it is always hardware/driver related, and that also applies to XP+ in my cases.

[ZortMcGort11]

I feel more limited using newer computers. I'm not running a home business here... so... I like to see what's on my computer, I don't need to be locked out of it.

Everything is obfuscated on modern systems.

Word 6.0 on Windows 3.1 was sufficient, but yet, here we are, 20 years later, still paying for the X version of Office/Word, which produces ink on a piece of paper like it did 20 years ago.

Edited April 26, 2014 by LostInSpace2012

[ZortMcGort11]

Do you think sometime in the future you'll be forced to retire Windows 9x or ME?

Feel free to add any other issues you have.

Okay, I will.

(1) I can't open any newer kind of Office Documents... whatever the proprietary format of the day is. I stopped keeping track a while ago. What is it? Doc, or DOCX, or something like that?

I use RTF format documents. If I need something fancier I can use Open Office or Abiword. That's if I want to send documents to people. But that's literally like never. I like to write fanfiction sometimes, or else print fanfics that I got online. I don't need Office 2014(?) for that. I have a DOS program called "Ink" which is like 13 KB in size, which can also produce a piece of paper with ink and words on it. People can actually read these too. The font is nifty looking too.

I won't retire my Windows ME machine. To me, it's lke a 1970 ford f-100. Everybody else is paying $1000 dollars to get a light bulb replaced in the dashboard of their 2012 Mercedes Benz. But for $1000 dollars I could replace/rebuild my radiator, get new belts and hoses, rebuild the carburateur, and put in new spark plugs, get the brakes replaced, and probably get a crapload of parts used from the junkyard. But they both get you from point A to point B (the car and truck I mean).

*http://www.scovetta.com/archives/simtelnet/msdos/editor/page-2

ink10.zip

Edited April 26, 2014 by LostInSpace2012

[loblo]

(1) I can't open any newer kind of Office Documents... whatever the proprietary format of the day is. I stopped keeping track a while ago. What is it? Doc, or DOCX, or something like that?

You can view and convert to pdf/html MS Office documents up to 2013 (which is currently the latest if i am not mistaken) with Oracle Outside In products (requires KernelEx).

http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/embedded/025613.htm

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/content-management/downloads/oit-dl-otn-097435.html

[ZortMcGort11]

Thanks, Loblo.

[submix8c]

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

[vipejc]

I think it's so cool how you guys love your old Windows OSes and work so hard to keep them running and doing what you want, no matter what year it is. I'm the same way. I plan to use XP forever. I'm actually going to most likely be the world's last XP user and plan to send Microsoft a screenshot of my XP desktop with the date shown in a tooltip in the bottom right-hand corner in like 2050. The new Microsoft president will view it on Windows 150. It will crash and he will cry. LOL

[RacerBG]

I think it's so cool how you guys love your old Windows OSes and work so hard to keep them running and doing what you want, no matter what year it is. I'm the same way. I plan to use XP forever. I'm actually going to most likely be the world's last XP user and plan to send Microsoft a screenshot of my XP desktop with the date shown in a tooltip in the bottom right-hand corner in like 2050. The new Microsoft president will view it on Windows 150. It will crash and he will cry. LOL

Keep in mind me about your plan in 2050.

[G8YMW]

I don't run any win98 or ME

but if I did, I would certainly miss stability of OS

as I remember switching to win2000 was such a relief

When I was running 98se, certainly for the last 2 years I never had any problems.

Contrary to what Microsoft say, I found that if you put some effort into getting the DOS right, the Windows looks after itself.

Unfortunately I changed the motherboard but the thing that was causing the trouble was one of the optical drives. Oh well!

The mobo was a Gigabyte GA7zx with an 800 MHz Duron processor (Thank you MDGx for the tips on your site)

[Flasche]

Yea personally I found windows Me to very stable, alot more than 98.

[vinifera]

@TmEE

yes drivers were most problematic

so whenever you watch a video or try to play a game ... BSOD

so much for stability