Windows XP/2000 versus Windows ME/9x

[Icicle]

Hi guys, Im an Apple user who wishes to try his hand at building a PC (that will probably use linux more than Windows) and other than using windows at work, I am not very knowledgeable about windows, and have a question

I read nothing about XP other than issues about its lack of stability and constant patches from microsoft, that said........

can someone please give me a comparison between xp/2000 and me/9x?

Does most PC software run on all of the above?

What about differences between XP and 2000, is XP necessary? seems like a lot of money for something I wont use that often.

What are the pros and cons to all of these choices?

thanks guys, Ive been reading search hits for an hour and havent come up with much, probably because its a reletively simple question, something a Mac user on a PC forum might ask

[RJ]

I read nothing about XP other than issues about its lack of stability and constant patches from microsoft, that said........

Where did you read that ? It's completely wrong. Windows 2000 and XP are the most stable versions of Windows ever made.

Windows 98/ME, that's where you will find the instability. These old OS are based on DOS, only support FAT32 (it has a 4 GB file size limit), and have issues with today's powerful CPUs. Also, they don't support multiprocessors, but today's CPUs with HT or dual core are in fact multiprocessors, even though they come as one CPU in a single casing.

For today's PC, there's only 2000 and XP. Both are similar, both are based on NT instead of DOS, thus they are extremely stable. Both use the file system "NTFS", which has no file size limit at all.
The difference between 2K and XP: Well, XP is newer, but is also more demanding on the hardware. But some software will only run in XP, so I'd say go with XP.

RJ

[Icicle]

Awesome, thats exactly the kind of information and comparison I was interested in.

Information about Hard drive format is particularily valuable.....

thanks again

[trulad]

Boot with the bios set to boot from CD first, boot with the XP cd in and it will format & partition for you. TIP: get XP oem from somewhere like Newegg and save a bundle. Only difference is you don't get a fancy box and MS support. The support here is better anyway.
trulad

[Icicle]

Originally Posted by trulad TIP: get XP oem from somewhere like Newegg and save a bundle. Only difference is you don't get a fancy box and MS support. The support here is better anyway. trulad

Thanks for the tip, tips that equate to $ in my wallet are cool

thanks again guys for your time

[xiankai]

i find that xp is quite unstable becos its still in its early stages.

the service pack 2 has brought along a whole new pack of incompatibility issues, as opposed to win 2k.

overall, win 2k & win xp > win 98/ME, but win 2k> win xp in terms of general stability.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by xiankai i find that xp is quite unstable becos its still in its early stages. the service pack 2 has brought along a whole new pack of incompatibility issues, as opposed to win 2k. overall, win 2k & win xp > win 98/ME, but win 2k> win xp in terms of general stability.

I'd have to disagree on multiple counts. Firstly, XP is hardly in its early stages. 2 service packs on an OS means that it is quite mature. SP2's incompatibilities should have been updated by the software that is given you issues. Check with the programs that you are having trouble with for updates to make them compatible with SP2. If you are still having issues of stability with XP, I would strongly recommend that you not chalk it up to Microsoft's issues, but diagnose the problem on your computer. It could be something that might be related to your build.

XP by all averages is the most stable OS out there, for the newer hardware and software that's out there. There is now more to XP than just a pretty UI that warrants going for it over 2000.