It has been 7 years since Win98 was released

[Fredledingue]

I think I will use w98 another 10 years if no more.

It will depend basicaly on the hardware i'lml buy in the future.

[Controller Khan]

The question if everyone needs to buy new hardware.

For most things computers are fast enough

except the next Microsoft OS "Longhorn".

Only hardcore gamers need new hardware

in my view

[bullet]

I think your right Khan. I still think Bill Gates was right "640K ought to be enough for anybody."

People have been saying the same thing for years. They all have been wrong.

[tim_horton]

indeed khan i believe the average home user not power user which is a whole new animal only uses a pc to surf email and message friend the osscational yahoo games room or chat hell i can do that on a P1-166mhz .true gamer need the latest video cards ddr ram etc etc to keep pace with todays games but joe average doesnt.sometimes im on xp pro other times 98se and when im surfing etc makes no diff to me no really difference. so if your happy using 98se and just wantta keep sp up 2 date etc i say go 4 it i cant tell anyone to use xp because its better or theyll be less a man 2 use 98 if i didnt luck out and have xp on my pc id use 98se in a flash .people fighting over what 2 use .like i said unless your a nlite vmware unttented blah blah techno os junkie opps i just alienated half the forum lol you nprobably wouldnt care what u use 4 a os you may envy xp cool theme at best .so i say if your os works go with it upgrade accordly as u need 2 .hey maybe ill get another star under my name 4 this lol .i personal continue to tweaks and doctor 98se with latest sp etc etc putting all the goodies on cd so i can jazz up friends pcs .i spend 90%of my time in 98se forum than xp cause xp works well outside of nlite or new themes etc i see no need to change things but 98se is fun to revamp i love it. keep up the good work creator like gape mdgx tinhy we appeciate all u do.thx u peace out..

[bullet]

If you think that the only thing a home computer will ever be use for is surfing the web and checking email then you are extremely short sighted. It is amazing what the home computer can do right now just in the the field of home automation. Guess what, the computer does not have Win98 nor is it a P1 166MHz. If your only aspiration for a computer is to do what you are talking about Tim then be my guest, hold on to Windows 98. I choose to move forward.

[dman]

Tim was talking about the average user, and he's right. Many people that call me for computer service don't even KNOW what OS they have, they just want to open the pictures the grandkids sent or check their stock prices. The OS is just a tool, like the engine in their car... as long as it works.

Me, I triple boot XP, 98se & LinuxFromScratch (home compiled Linux), cause I'm a geek and like to have my fingers on everything techy, but 9 out of 10 just don't GAS.

[bullet]

I take it that you think that it will remain the same way forever then?

I don't. I will tell you the same thing I told Tim if you think that it will always be GrandMa and GrangPa asking how to open a picture then by all means keep 98. I for one do NOT think it will always be that way, so I choose to not hold on to the past. I remember it but I do not hold on to it.

[dman]

@bullet,

I just told you "I" run all kinds of OS'. I love the latest and greatest. The point is "average user". What makes you believe that these people will suddenly care about their OS? Sure, computers are going to do more and more, but the technical guts will be well hidden from average Joe.

[bullet]

The majority of this thread has been comparing 98 to XP, or really 98 to any other OS. That is what I am doing as well. You said

the technical guts will be well hidden from average Joe.

The point is that 98 does not have the "technical guts" to do what is expected of computers. The exception being that if you only surf the web and check email then 98 is sufficient. People in this thread act like 98 was and still is the greatest OS in the history of computers and they will never let it go. You are entitled to your opinion, but if you are intellectually honest then you will look at Win98 as was it really is; a stepping stone to bigger and better. Besides comsumers drive all markets and if there wasn't people wanting to do more than surf the web and check email then we would still have Win95 or possibly Win3.11 with a service pack.

[dman]

Of course there will always be power users like ourselves that want the best available, and I agree, win98 is certainly not going to power devices of the future, that is mainly going to be embedded Linux. It is already making its way into cell phones, dvr's and even the Mars Rover. Vertical appliances are also likely to replace the PC entirely for many.

Win98 certainly doesn't meet all of my needs (Some of what I do is write NT Services, not even possible on 98) but I fire it up in real-mode dos to play TIE Fighter, so it is still useful to me.

"Better" is a subjective word that encompasses many variables like price, available hardware and peoples prejudices. If win98 adds up to "Better" for some then I am not going to argue with them, I will just continue to use XP and linux with the occasional game on 98 and be happy.

[azagahl]

if you think that it will always be GrandMa and GrangPa asking how to open a picture then by all means keep 98.

You act like there is something wrong with 98. Newsflash: 98 SE works just fine for me. In fact, all of these things work on 98 SE:

-Browse Internet. (Personally I prefer Firefox.)

-Use Office 2003.

-Use Remote Desktop client.

-Edit videos. View videos with Windows Media Player.

-Compile software.

-Use Cygwin or emulate all kinds of game systems.

-Listen to music. Usually I use WinAmp5 or for MIDI's I use another program and have about 200 MB of soundfonts loaded.

-Compose music.

-Run DOS TSR's such as sound and CD-ROM drivers. Then boot into real mode and play DOS games.

-Or install DX 9.0c Apr2005 redist and play 3D games.

-Use 1 GB RAM (that's what I use, probably others have more).

-Use 3+ GHz processors.

-Use 300 GB disks.

-Defrag disk in background.

-Connect digital cameras, MP3 players, USB, FireWire, UltraATA, SATA, and Bluetooth devices. Use multiple monitors.

-Run firewall software, virus scanners, download managers, etc.

-Create RAM drive and mount a compressed volume on it.

-Set up a FAT16 partition with a fixed 1 GB page file.

-Spruce up your desktop wtih desktop themes, fading menus, transparent icon text, and transparent alpha-blended icons. Use JPG wallpaper. View Thumbnails in Windows Explorer.

-Continuing support from Microsoft.

-Install USP2RC3 and avoid having to download Windows Update patches.

-Easy partition imaging with freely available software.

-Install selected files from free XP SP2 and 2003 SP1 (yes, many of us do this on 98 SE).

-Disable unneeded services.

Not everyone believes MS's marketing hype. Not everyone agrees with buying software that they don't have the right to use. Not everyone wants the corpulence of a multi-gigabyte OS with features like Resultant Set of Policy and integrated CD-burning.

Before you criticize 98 SE further, I suggest you actually try it. For a skilled user, 98 SE is quite nice now, compared to when it came out 5 years ago. I use 98 SE and XP regularly and find that I prefer 98 SE.

[un4given1]

I'm gonna chime in again...

Use Office 2003.

That's funny.. Office 2003 doesn't support or install on Windows 98.

Not everyone agrees with buying software that they don't have the right to use

Yet you bought and installed Office 2003 on Windows 98? Your stories have holes all in them. You hate the activation of Windows, I can bet you LOVE activating Office 2003. Open Office will do everything Office 2003 will... why not use it? That's your thinking... take a dose of your own medicine. Why aren't you using it?!? BECAUSE office 2003 is BETTER, just like Windows XP is BETTER. But, once again, I am calling you out on Office 2003 being installed on Windows 98.

[bullet]

@azagahl

I am not sure what your point is. Like I said before Win98 was a stepping stone to bigger and better. I did not mean that literally the only thing you can do with 98 is check email and surf the web. You say that you can do all of those things with 98 which all are true except the office 2003. You are mistaken on that one. None the less, Windows XP does all of those things and a whole lot more. Taking what you have and improving it is the definition of progress. I really am not trying to criticize 98, I just want people to take it at what it is. When you try to compare 98 with another OS like XP then 98 pales in comparison. Windows 98 simply is not as good of an operating system as Windows XP. It is a fact.

[azagahl]

That's funny.. Office 2003 doesn't support or install on Windows 98.

You say that you can do all of those things with 98 which all are true except the office 2003. You are mistaken on that one.

It installs fine if you already have an earlier version of Office installed. I believe Horsecharles was the first to discover this. (If anyone discovered earlier, please let me know.)

Yet you bought and installed Office 2003 on Windows 98?

No, actually I use Office 2000 on 98 SE. I did not buy Office 2003 (nor would want to) as I have an MSDN license and use Office 2003 on XP via a network license manager.

BECAUSE office 2003 is BETTER

Office 2000 is less bloated than 2003 and works fine IMHO. I honestly don't even know what the difference is here. A 3D talking dog?

I only put forward the possiblity of using Office 2003 on 98 SE to show that 98 SE deserves more credit than you guys give it. It's OK if you did not know using office 2003 on 98 SE was possible. This is probably partly due to the fact that you haven't used 98 SE in a long time and aren't as knowledgeable about it as people who use it every day.

FYI there are some really exciting things that certain MSFN users are developing for 98. Such as the unofficial SP, 98SE2ME (yields an amalgam of 98 SE and ME), and also an XP support layer (e.g. you can run Longhorn screensaver on 98 SE).

Your stories have holes all in them.

I'm sorry that you have that opinion.

[bullet]

If you say it works then show me a screen shot. Until then I believe Microsoft over you.

Office 2003 System Requirements

Yes they do