98SE vs ME+DOS.. which should I use?

[azagahl]

Which is better, 98 SE or ME? Please consider my specific case, not general arguments.

I find that 98 SE with the unofficial SP 2.0b2 works fine with my fast, new hardware and loads of different gizmos. I'm using various XP files and will probably through some ME files in per Axcel216's instructions.

However, I heard ME is faster and more stable so I thought I'd give it a try.

If I use ME, I will need it modified with all of Axcel216's hacks that enable DOS mode. So I want to be able to boot into DOS mode, run batch files using the most obscure DOS arcana, run old DOS games, etc.. Will everything still work? Or am I asking for trouble?

[soldier1st]

win me can be stable but you gotta do alot to make it that way,but win 98 is better,you don't need to do as much to get it stable,if you want dos mode keep 98 as it has it,with me it has it's access removed,i see no reason to use me,also more hardware will work with 98 over me

so you will want to use 98 over me,with me your asking for trouble,stick to something like 98 not me

[Jzee]

In my opinion...Win 98 SE is a much better OS than ME. I've had bad experiences with applications loaded on ME (that's if I could get it installed on ME). Load the same application/s on Win 98SE and there's no problem at all. Infact I haven't had problems with Win 98SE until recently when I installed MDAC 2.8, what it did was take my option of creating a new folder from the file menu away.

[soldier1st]

but's it's strange that i've never installed mdac but i've only installed the security updates found on windows update

[^_^]

WindowsME can be a fine operating system, but you have to select the proper drivers for it to be stable

Basically, even some of the drivers it loads thru the installation process won't work properly.

Only use Win98 or Win9x drivers or stability problems will beset you. Go thru the device manager 1 by 1 making sure you have proper drivers and you'll be fine.

WinME has more features than Win98, plus lots more things are plug and pray such as flash drives, external drives, digital cameras etc.

But don't forget XP, tis the finest Microsoft has offered to date

[soldier1st]

he does not want xp

even though me has better plug n play with flash drives n stuff,if you apply the sp for 98 se it basicaly is 98 with me enhancements,me always slows down even if your lucky to have hardware that it likes

98=do alittle to get it stable

me=do alot to get it stable

sides some hardware doesen't say me but 98 on it

98 never slows me down,me is unpredictable,98 isn't,just put proper updated drivers in 98 n your sailing,out of say 10 pcs 1 pc liked me,all of them liked 98,that says it all

[zoem]

i disagree, 98se doesnt need anything to b made stable. but if u want to improve the stability further, add DirectX 9.0c, WMP 9.0, IE6 SP1 to the picture and do a windows update.

whereas me, thats another story. my advice is to not run it on ISA hardware even if u can find the drivers or me installs the device with its own. and dont run it on no-name hardware. its picky as.

i also hav a feeling win me doesnt like sharing RAM with on-board graphics adapters. i hav only come across this once though.

[Tarun]

he does not want xp

even though me has better plug n play with flash drives n stuff,if you apply the sp for 98 se it basicaly is 98 with me enhancements,me always slows down even if your lucky to have hardware that it likes

98=do alittle to get it stable

me=do alot to get it stable

sides some hardware doesen't say me but 98 on it

98 never slows me down,me is unpredictable,98 isn't,just put proper updated drivers in 98 n your sailing,out of say 10 pcs 1 pc liked me,all of them liked 98,that says it all

I did maybe 2-3 tweaks and my ME system was stable as ever.

I removed PCHealth, System Restore, and added an AlwaysUnloadDLL to my registry.

[soldier1st]

what i did was left system restore and pchealth and removed the rest and it was stable but i had a pc with xp on it that had an older isa soundcard n it worked