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What are your limitations using 9x or ME?


vipejc

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its not only nvidia

every vendor is in question

the 9x OS is very picky and sensitive on drivers, especially IRQ addresses

I know I HATED 98SE, every little now and then BSOD, just because some crap VxD driver

ME kinda fixed this and was less prone to driver BSOD's

but freezing during the work annoyed the shitze out of me

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ME kinda fixed this and was less prone to driver BSOD's

but freezing during the work annoyed the s***ze out of me

I too used to have that freezing issue till I did a fresh reinstall with /p i to remove acpi. I then replaced my crappy old hp optical mouse for a good old mechanical mouse, and I never had another performance issue with my main pc again :thumbup .

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Has there been any luck getting the latest Opera Classic (12.16) or Qupzilla running on 98SE/Me with KernelEx? I tried the latter on 98SE a while ago, kept crashing on startup :/ (right now on my ThinkPad 600X I use Firefox 3.6.28 and Opera 11.64 on 98SE with 576MB RAM)... I know both can work on Windows 2000 with little or no modification (other than the use of BlackWingCat's KernelEx and UURollup... even got some stuff to install just by temporarily changing the reported Windows version)

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Might I interject here? Asking for help -or- providing setup/install/version info on a given product/software seems like being WAAAAY off-topic.

Anyone needing help installing or questions on installing (e.g. Opera - see previous post) you should make a NEW Topic for it. This is not the place to do that and your question MAY not be even noticed -and- it clutters up the primary Topic.

Please stick to the subject matter "Why do you guys cling to these old OS' 9x->ME (all-inclusive) since you know of all these limitations that I asked you to provide and please specify which OS and what limitation under which circumstance".

Edited by submix8c
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My experiences likely jibe with those of others.

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

Obviously, it's been a challenge finding compatible software and hardware for ten years and counting. There are no 95-compatible convertors for Office 2007 files that I know of. The mad and partially Apple-induced rush to replace working legacy interfaces with USB was a ploy that left 95 (and NT4) users high and dry. I use Windows 2000 for syncing up my digital camera; though not much else.

"Can you still access the Internet?"

Yes. You can also access the Internet with DOS or Mac OS 7; it isn't a big hurdle in itself.

"Have you lost the ability to watch YouTube videos?"

No; YouTube is still compatible with a patched Flash 7 on SeaMonkey 1.1 (though their browser checks attempt to throw you for a loop while trying).

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

SSL is not an issue...for shopping, anyway. I personally avoid online banking out of concerns for security.

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

This is an issue...Flash 7 and Java 1.4 are quite a few years old, and most of the content that targets newer versions is not backwards-compatible. The biggest issues I have with websites these days isn't with browser plugins, however, but with JavaScript content: The trend of the last few years has been to link to enormous JQuery libraries and tracking scripts that bog down and break on 9x-compatible browsers, then rely on them for basic functionality so that the sites are blank or totally broken without JavaScript enabled. The Disqus comment plugin is epidemic of this: Dozens of big websites that should know better have blindly replaced their own self-hosted comment forms with that crap, and it doesn't even work on Firefox 3!

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

SeaMonkey 1.1 is slow (less slow with Noscript), but reliable. Opera 10 is fast, but flaky.

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

I won't make any denials here: Windows 95 isn't getting any easier to use, and I may be forced to simplify at some point and retire my 9x-era PCs in favor of a single newer computer. (Though what that computer would be or run is anyone's guess...I won't touch Windows XP or subsequent versions with a ten-foot pole; ten years of experimentation with Linux have made me dislike its conventions with a passion, and Apple lost me as a customer when the last beige G3 left the assembly line.)

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Main issue, as other said, is with updating software and hardware.

I forgot about updating/installing new softwares about 3 years ago. Had to do everything with unchanged set-up.

Fortunately I didn't need to update anything since, save for on 3d program I rarely use.

I can access the internet but I disable javascript most of the time. It can crash or freezes sometimes when javascript is enabled.

I'm a little bored of losing content because of that. But so far it's ok.

Without javascript, internet browsing is extremely fast and safe and I prefer losing some content than facing slow and unsafe internet. But this is valid also for newst versions of Windows.

Should I use W8, I would disable Javascript too.

I lost the ability to watch YouTube videos, but I didn't bother installing the patches required and KerenelX etc.

I can't wantch YouTubes also because I disable Javascript and ActiveX.

I'm also bored of having to use another computer for that.

I do internet banking on a daily basis on W98SE, with two banks. But not evry bank website would allow that, I think.

I do think that in the near future, in one or two years, I'll have to quit W98 in order to enjoy full functionality for everything. But it will be with sadness... ;)

Despite the limitations, it's still a pleasure to use it instead of W7, W8 or Vista.

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I lost the ability to watch YouTube videos, but I didn't bother installing the patches required and KerenelX etc.

:o

but you should. These patches bring life to a new level in Windows 9x. If you dont insist on using kernelEx then you should at least use this to web search http://toastytech.com/files/95browsing.html . This site has a custom seamonkey 1.21 pre, firefox 2.xx, and firebird 2.xx custom. It also has a modified flash 7 so you can watch youtube. If you do decide to use kernelEx then you should (my opinion) download opera 12.02 to get the add-ons you want (like adblock) then revert to opera 11.64 for best modern usage.

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The Internet is not the primary (or only, as it seems looking around) goal for a computer usage. If/when faced with the choice, I will give up Internet without blinking, rather than losing 98SE. Simple as that.

I don't use Google, I don't watch YouTube, I don't do banking or shopping. Flash is permanently disabled in my browsers, Java is not installed (and the 98SE machine has MS Java runtime uninstalled).

Admittedly, I am forced to use another computer with a different OS for my current Internet connection, because the chinese manufactures obviously wouldn't produce 9x drivers for the GPRS modem I have, which is my only means of connection. But I've lived without Internet and I will continue to survive without it when time comes.

As for software, I either go search for open-source projects that I can use as-is or modify freely, or just build it myself according to my own desire and specs.

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The Internet is not the primary (or only, as it seems looking around) goal for a computer usage. If/when faced with the choice, I will give up Internet without blinking, rather than losing 98SE. Simple as that.

Yes, but Internet today as transformed into the primary operation for computers today.The Internet revolves around the lives of most people today, so making sure my browser can handle it is a top priority. When the day comes to when the most modern browser cant handle the web, then this will do quite well http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171363-possible-hope-for-old-browsers/#entry1074566 .

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It's not the rendering that bothers me, it's the connection itself. I've raised the topic some time ago and others did as well: when IPv6 will become the de-facto connection standard, Win9x will be kicked out of the Internet instantly. Nobody seems to have improved/ported that Win95 Hitachi IPv6 driver to the whole 9x family.

Browsers can be built/modified/rebuilt to work around the standards and limitations but if one can't even connect to the Internet in the first place, what would one need a browser for? Drivers are the main, extremely important issue and those who put out extensive efforts to forbid creation and distribution of 9x-compatible drivers knew that very well. Hardware manufacturers don't hand out the specs publicly so not even the best developers out there could face the challenge of creating 9x drivers for newest hardware. When old hardware dies of old age (or lousy quality components as it recently happened with my most powerful motherboard) it'll be strike three and out for 9x. And no, running in a virtual machine does not count.

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It's not the rendering that bothers me, it's the connection itself. I've raised the topic some time ago and others did as well: when IPv6 will become the de-facto connection standard, Win9x will be kicked out of the Internet instantly. Nobody seems to have improved/ported that Win95 Hitachi IPv6 driver to the whole 9x family.

Browsers can be built/modified/rebuilt to work around the standards and limitations but if one can't even connect to the Internet in the first place, what would one need a browser for? Drivers are the main, extremely important issue and those who put out extensive efforts to forbid creation and distribution of 9x-compatible drivers knew that very well. Hardware manufacturers don't hand out the specs publicly so not even the best developers out there could face the challenge of creating 9x drivers for newest hardware. When old hardware dies of old age (or lousy quality components as it recently happened with my most powerful motherboard) it'll be strike three and out for 9x. And no, running in a virtual machine does not count.

That is true, but hopefully the ipv6 driver will be ported. Curious though how true do you think this article is http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/07/at-our-current-rate-of-progress-ipv6-will-be-fully-implemented-on-may-10-2048/ . If the article is true then there should be nothing to worry about.

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Personally I think that article is an outright advertising for that hosting (or whatever) company. I also think the recent bubble burst on privacy that started with Snowden's so-called whistleblowing was just the kick required to start implementing worldwide tracking, loss of privacy and so on and for that, an IPv6 network would be required. So don't worry about being too old when it happens, because it'll happen sooner than you believe. And I do wish I was wrong, but usually when it comes to bad things, I'm not.

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Personally I think that article is an outright advertising for that hosting (or whatever) company. I also think the recent bubble burst on privacy that started with Snowden's so-called whistleblowing was just the kick required to start implementing worldwide tracking, loss of privacy and so on and for that, an IPv6 network would be required. So don't worry about being too old when it happens, because it'll happen sooner than you believe. And I do wish I was wrong, but usually when it comes to bad things, I'm not.

I sure as well hope your wrong too, as just like you no internet wont stop my love for 9x either.

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The Internet is not the primary (or only, as it seems looking around) goal for a computer usage. If/when faced with the choice, I will give up Internet without blinking, rather than losing 98SE. Simple as that.

Yes, but Internet today as transformed into the primary operation for computers today.The Internet revolves around the lives of most people today, so making sure my browser can handle it is a top priority. When the day comes to when the most modern browser cant handle the web, then this will do quite well http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171363-possible-hope-for-old-browsers/#entry1074566 .

That's what I said when he said that.

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