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Alternatives to Win98


waywyrd

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Hi,

To quote Tamiga:

These are my thoughts to Win9x. It is good for older machines and will do its job for another two or three years. Actual software is (still) available, drivers are becoming a little problem now. But there is one thing I am sure for now: I will never use Vista because of its built in "protection" against the user. I don't know why to use a os which controls my machine in that way, that I am only the owner, no longer the boss of it. It is some kind of a communistic os as I am only allowed to use hardware, software and media which is "officially" recognized and approved my MS$ and its related industry (Didn't we have that already?).

This brings me to linux for example opensuse and ubuntu. WXP is supported until 2009, and I am working in parallel with linux. And then, somewhere in 2008, I will make the final move...Good bye windows.

Has anybody got any valid ideas to an alternative to Win98, ready for when it's no longer practical to run this O/S anymore?

I've personally had a brief 'play' with Ubuntu. While I was very impressed with the speed with which it installed and updated it's self (without frequent reboots), I couldn't get my Canon printer to work and had several problems with various media file formats. I would basically like an O/S that is straight forward to install and use and has good hardware driver support, plus media files support.

For the reasons Tamiga gave above, plus all the 'bloat', I've no desire or intention to use Vista and I don't have the funds for a MAC!

I have no desire or intention to start a 'flame' war as to the best alternative to Win98, I'm hoping for constructive discussion to alternatives that work as well, as far as possible, as Win98 did. If that's possible?

Waywrd :)

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Windows 2000 is a good OS, but only with Service Pack 4, and preferably with IE ripped out.

I don't know about Linux as an alternative. They always seem to want to throw as much crap on you as possible, and the main window managers, KDE and Gnome, are designed for high-end PCs, so they are kind of a hog.

A small Linux distribution like DamnSmallLinux with the FVWM95 window manager would be a good alternative, I think.

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Yeah, Windows 98 will become pretty impractical in the near future, in which case, I'd recommend windows 2000, fully updated, properly installed and SP4'd. Here's my theory on the whole Windows>Linux migration thing. Windows is like cigarettes...its bad for your computer experience, it controls your computer, and the worst part, you get used to it. I've tried the Linux migration several times, and I've gotten thrown back to Windows every time. Linux, I guess is like Nicorette--it looks like a good plan, but it just doesn't work out. BTW, I've tried to quit smoking many times to.

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IMO: There are no alternatives to Windows if you like Gaming. Windows98SE is compatible with Hardware till 2005 and Games till 2005.

Windows 2000 is very good option, but it requires 256 MB to start going. All operating systems following Windows98SE are slower but they have new features.

I will stick to Windows98SE for few more years.

Edited by myelin
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Hi,

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=87883

I think we've had enough of these threads...

My apologies if this post is 'off target' or considered as repetition.

But, with all due respect I wasn't looking for reasons to continue to run Win98 now. My question was intended as to what the options would be now or in the next couple of years. When there's a likelihood of buying a new PC, even a low spec one, where the manafacturer doesn't provide Win98 drivers. Or am I wrong, will you still be able to buy a 'blank' PC (with no O/S) with Win98 drivers?

Regards,

Waywyrd :(

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waywyrd,

Have you heard of reactos?

http://www.reactos.org

It seeks to build an NT compatible system, but under GPL, or a variant of that.

However, it is still in beta 0.3.0. :(

They say that when it reaches 0.5, it may be usable on a day-to-day basis.

I am sure you know about Gape's unofficial windows 98 SE Service Pack - works a treat! :thumbup

By the time you "need" to give up win98, linux will be even better than it is now & there are so many distros -

one will fit the bill, I'm sure. :)

Wild Weasel

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Hi,

Thanks very much to 'wild weasel' and 'BenoitRen'. You guys have "hit-the-nail-on-the-head". This was the sort of answer I was looking for when I posted my original question.

The 'reactos' system sounds like a very good idea. Particularly for those of us who would to use a pc O/S without having to go through hoops finding the right hardware drivers and software to run it. I was lucky when I tried Ubuntu, it found all my hardware and installed the relevant drivers. Even so I still had problems in other areas with different file types and applications.

waywyrd,

Have you heard of reactos?

http://www.reactos.org

It seeks to build an NT compatible system, but under GPL, or a variant of that.

However, it is still in beta 0.3.0. :(

They say that when it reaches 0.5, it may be usable on a day-to-day basis.

I am sure you know about Gape's unofficial windows 98 SE Service Pack - works a treat! :thumbup

By the time you "need" to give up win98, linux will be even better than it is now & there are so many distros -

one will fit the bill, I'm sure. :)

Wild Weasel

That's Linux' biggest problem. There are so many distributions that you don't know what to choose. There are so many window managers you don't know what to choose. Standardisation is a big problem.

Regards,

Waywyrd :hello:

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I've used all kinds of different OS's, ranging from Linux (DSL, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Frugal ware, Dream Linux, and others) over to Windows 95 and up (all versions, 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP) and I have never really be comfortable with any version other than Windows XP.

Its purely a matter of personal preference though, you may like Windows 98, you may like Windows XP. It's all based on who you are. I have been using a lot of laptops lately, not necessarily super fast machines, (ie, less than 500MHz) and I have run XP on all of them. They all have run well.

If you want to use Windows 2000/XP, I highly recommend nLite to remove some of the things you don't like. Using nLite, I have gotten machines that are 6 years and older running a very up to date machine with full wireless capabilities, and all kinds of new software working on them.

It's true, Windows 98 is much better for older systems, but because of advancing hardware and software, your going to need to update soon. Web browsers are already beginning to not support the 9X core. So, if you wish to use a lightweight system into the near future, your going to have to use at least Windows 2000 or higher. Or a Linux distribution of equal capabilities.

Now, these different topics about "Which OS is better" and stuff, aren't the same as this topic. This topic was a question simply asking what the alternatives were to this older OS. Its a very simple question, which I hope I answered helpfully. Other people who look at a thread like this and figure "This is a hit at me" or something like that, shouldn't bother answering just to avoid further conflict. If you don't like what you see, just simply look the other way.

I'll be the first to admit not to like Windows 98 because of the experiences I have had in the past. But others may have had great luck in getting it to work properly and running well. But I still to this day don't see it as being a viable OS for purposes that need to be quite reliable. However, I'm not saying its a terrible OS that should be banished from the Earth, I'm simply saying that from my own experience I'm not crazy about it. It's the same thing that happened with Windows ME. Everyone seems to hate it, but I myself have never had any problems with it.

It's all a matter of your own opinion, and don't hate other people over it. Simple as that.

Edited by prx984
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If you want to use Windows 2000/XP, I highly recommend nLite to remove some of the things you don't like. Using nLite, I have gotten machines that are 6 years and older running a very up to date machine with full wireless capabilities, and all kinds of new software working on them.

But if you use nLite, you're not really using 2000/XP anymore, but your custom-built Windows 2000/XP. When you recommend an OS to someone else, keep in mind that they may not want to bother with or not know of removing things they don't like. Defaults and setup options are important, and part of the OS.

Edited by BenoitRen
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Windows 2000 is a good OS, but only with Service Pack 4, and preferably with IE ripped out.

I don't know about Linux as an alternative. They always seem to want to throw as much crap on you as possible, and the main window managers, KDE and Gnome, are designed for high-end PCs, so they are kind of a hog.

A small Linux distribution like DamnSmallLinux with the FVWM95 window manager would be a good alternative, I think.

Here's a hint: Debian. Install the base system and then install X-Windows and a light window manager like IceWM, fluxbox, or Xfce. There's no need to install a bloated OS (like the newer Windows versions and many Linux distros) and then have to rip out what you don't want. You can have a very lean and fast Linux system from the start.

Phil

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That's Linux' biggest problem. There are so many distributions that you don't know what to choose. There are so many window managers you don't know what to choose. Standardisation is a big problem.

Choice is not a problem. Choice is good!

:)

Phil

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