i need the downright truth.....upgrade to XP or stay with win98?

[cRaZe]

ok...so im sitting here with an windows xp disc ...all i do basically is gaming and internet stuff.....

is the upgrade worth it for more stability in the OS ....

or am i better of with win98

[doctorgonzo]

If you already have XP, then upgrade. Yes, the stability and better resource management is worth it.

[cRaZe]

its winxp home edition

[trulad]

Hi cRaZe: If you already purchased the disc you have already answered your own question. Personally,I couldn't wait 'till XP was on the market because I've never developed a fondness for that blue screen of death. Try it,if you don't like it,reformat and go back to 98. I love it.
Trudy

[cRaZe]

i didnt purchase..a friend let me borrow this disc

[doctorgonzo]

Originally posted by cRaZe i didnt purchase..a friend let me borrow this disc

Then not only is that illegal, it isn't going to work. XP has an activation feature that keeps people from doing what you are trying to do.

Discussions of piracy are not allowed on these forums. We like to keep things around here on the level.

[RJ]

Well, then it's illegal what you're doing. Stay with 98 or buy XP.

RJ

[Doobie]

The only reason i like XP is because it handles resources better and I don’t have to reboot just to get my system back up to par.

Even though all my games don’t work, I believe I rather have stability over game play..

[keifir]

well, u could make your win98 handle the memory a bit better with the proggy called FreeMem Pro. Nice little thing - let's me run my antique w98 lappy for weeks without reboot. And also i got CPUIdle on it to keep it cool.
This machine does the email/internet stuff for me just fine - i don't see how XPhome would be any better at that.

this just my hugely biased opinion.

[ktkendall]

One thing to consider though if you are considering getting a logal copy of winxp is first what kind of hardware are you running?? Check the MIN requirements and make sure you have at least that!! Also there is a compatibility check before you start loading the OS, for instance winxp does not like my HP printer, and it wasn't that old, even after HP came out with winXP drivers for it, it worked but not well at all!!

[Pimpmaster]

It all depends on what kind of games you run. If you run newer games then buy a copy of XP, it's alot more stable then 98. However if you run older DOS games or have older hardware, I would stick with 98

[DarkRav]

XP has crap for games compatibility. Almost every game I own, new or old, has a performance issue related to XP. And of course, XP nearly forgets what DOS is, and things don't run on DOS anymore. Most pure-dos games can just be run without windows, but thats a hassle.

XP is prettier, more stable, and an overall better OS, but not without sacrafices. I have 288 mb RAM and my system grandma's its way around. If you have enough hard drive space, I suggest installing it on a different partition, and leaving Win98 intact, in case you want to run back to it (without uninstalling xp)

As far as the illegal, blah blah blah. Sure, illegal is one thing, but poor old Bill Gates losing money makes me sick. Yeah, even if everyone pirated XP, he'd only lose the money on paper, not out of his pocket. The activation can be bypassed if you want it badly enough. Cracks are all over the net. Don't look at me though...

[Nuclear Krusader]

Check these threads gaming fellows:

Running games on WinXP

Who said WinXP doesn't like DOS games

[Tuf]

Where exactly do you think Bill got his "pocket money" if it wasn't from selling software? Stealing is Stealing, it doesn't matter who it was stolen from. On the other side of that coin, one who steals is a Thief. Whether they feel justified or not they are still a Thief.

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by DarkRav As far as the illegal, blah blah blah. Sure, illegal is one thing, but poor old Bill Gates losing money makes me sick. Yeah, even if everyone pirated XP, he'd only lose the money on paper, not out of his pocket. The activation can be bypassed if you want it badly enough. Cracks are all over the net. Don't look at me though...

DarkRav, it was already mentioned by another member that such discussions are not tolerated around here. I point you to our FAQ. Please refrain from further discussion or deal with the consequences.

[bailey]

I have found that xp-home installed on a good hardware baised system will run flawlessly with most everything you want to throw at it, I will recommend you buying a copy of it at your lacal computer store, or even wal-mart, and install it, I am sure that you will enjoy all its features, and the support you will get here should you need any help, or questions answered.

[DarkRav]

Sigh... I'm being helpful.. sorry for trying.. sheesh

[blinker]

i'd go with xp coz its really stable compared to 98. i did have a hard time installing it (due to hardware problems) but i feel its well worth it. plus almost all of the new games are compatible with xp and i really like the presentation of win xp. its a lot good looking than win 98.
just my opinion

[mairving]

It also depends upon the specs of your machine. XP needs 256M RAM to run well. 98 can run fine on 64M.

[Statica]

Originally posted by DarkRav Sigh... I'm being helpful.. sorry for trying.. sheesh

Help can be given, while respecting the rules of this place, and its requirements of legalities. Please dont start with the attitude that the rest of us who abide by the rules arent helpful. I am sure there are lots of other places where you would be the champion of the masses with rules about circumventing legal procedures .. this is not one of them.

---

Regarding the question at hand .. given a choice between 98 and XP .. XP hands down.

[bosco]

Are you having issues with 98? I wouldn't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. If 98 is serving you well, keep using it.
From what I understand, 98se is still the best gaming OS. I could be wrong.

If you want cheap/free software, go with linux. Mandrake has a gaming edition but I assume It doesn't run many games just yet. But Im sure it will in time..

[TwoRails]

Hi cRaZe,

I personally would, and do / did stay with Win 98 even though I legally own a copy of ME and XP. Did you ever notice how commonplace 98 still is, but you never see ME?? Even Costco still sells Win 98 SE.

One main reason for me is the compatibility issues. Hardware and softeware. Before even considering XP, you should verify that every piece of hardware can specifically run on XP and not just "try" to.

I've never seen such incompatibilty in prior vereions of Windows. XP is a different bread... it's internal timing and such is not the same as in prior version.

HTH,

TwoRails

[melloman]

Having done software QA on desktops and laptops, it really depends on the hardware and driver compatibility. I have seen many different issues with peripherals and drivers, where a fully functioning piece of gear becomes as good as a doorstop. First, Find out if all the drivers for your gear are XP compatible (there is a utility that's available to check the machine, on the XP disk) then programs (earlier version of adaptec cd burning? XP could be a problem, but the updated versions work) Most microsoft software will work on XP as well as other OS's (except maybe some really old win95 or 3.11 programs).
Usabilty wise, XP is very good , pro is certainly the one to get. I have XP on the laptop I'm using right now. I use it for email, playing windows media (more handy than a CD folio full of over 200 CD's and a player!) and surfing away from home or on the couch. If you travel and use your laptop on different networks, XP can switch some things pretty easily. (xp pro, that is) XP is good for drivers on some older computers.

Win98 is certainly not dead! It is in many times a better choice than ME, although if you have an older computer with unknown hardware, ME will load the windows drivers and usually be ready to go without having to load the manufacturers drivers.

The legality issues I won't touch. However, I will say this: the service packs for XP are going to be , or already, rigged to weed out the pirated copies by not allowing continued updates. You may have trouble if you need to update any circumvented copies.

Rutsa Ruck!

[DarkRav]

I could go on for hours about this. But whats the point? Let's drop it now before it gets out of hand....

I hate Linux, in my opinon, no one should base an OS off Unix.

Companies like Compaq and Dell still use Windows ME on machines that aren't powerful enough for XP. 98 SE is far more stable than ME, but ME is newer, and therefore better in the companies eyes. Besides, the first time computer buyer will frown upon purchasing a new computer with a 4 year old OS on it.

Adaptec (Roxio) Easy CD Creator 4 and before will not work on XP. Microsoft tells you to visit roxio.com for an update. Roxio doesn't have an update. They tell you to purchase EZCD 5. Even after purchasing, you still need to download an XP patch, and that doesn't work half the time. (Don't believe me? just check the discussion groups on Roxio.com) I only struggled with it because I needed DirectCD.

[Nuclear Krusader]

While my distributors still carry Win98SE I'm not loading it in my new systems anymore. Just XP Home for the low budget users and Pro for the gamers and powerful users.

I've never loaded ME in a system. I avoid it like the crap it really is.

[mairving]

Originally posted by DarkRav I hate Linux, in my opinon, no one should base an OS off Unix.

Well over half of the Internet runs on 'Nix based systems. Just curious if you have ever used it.

So far I have upgraded 5 notebooks at work from 98 to XP. Never once did I ever have to download a driver or get one off of a disk. I also never heard a complaint from the user either. Just make sure you have at least a 500Mhz PIII and 256M RAM.

[Blakhart]

Did I pipe in here yet?
I rule 2k/xp this way:
If you have a gig or faster cpu, and use ddr or rdram mem, use 2k/xp.
If you have less than a gig cpu and use sdram, use ME/98 for best speed in a game situation. If you care not for speed but desire stability, use 2k or xp by all means in any system. I have a p2 450 server that uses 2k quite well and fast too. I must admit that I use 2k in the server as it is far more secure/stable and it will shortly be a dual system with another p2 450 installed. ME/98 has no dual support. Plus it is very unstable in comparison.
Have fun!

To anyone who has an issue with linux, you should try the most polished distro there is, Redmond/Lycoris.
None is easier to use or set up. Give it a shot.

And yeah Im crazy, I think ME is the best of the 95/98/98SE series. Turn off auto updates and system restore, and set the folder options to open each folder in a new window for best stability. This way a bad (web) page will not lock up the system as easy.

[casey]

Blakhart,
No I don't think you are crazy (about ME, totally agree with you) All my Company PC's run ME (16) and are networked, they were all running 98SE, all stand alone units, running ME for about 18 months now and all my staff tell me it is MUCH, MUCH, BETTER than 98.

[DarkRav]

According to Microsoft, XP requires 128 mb of ram, and can run off 64 if needed, although not recommended.

I like XP, its really nice. Its got its pluses. But I have 288 mb sdram and I can barely play a cd.. wait.. no... i cant play one... it skips every 3 seconds.

I know most of the internet is based off Unix, and thats great. Its earned its reputation, but jeez, leave it on the internet. I tried using RedHat 7 for quite some time, and after awhile, I asked myself "Why am I stupid enough to go through this? Linux isn't for me... back to Windows..." Most Linux users love the OS and wouldn't trade it for anything, I however, tossed it quicker than I could say its name.

Wish I knew how stable ME could be.... maybe 3/4 of my games would still work....

[Blakhart]

As far as needed amount of ram in xp goes, I saw a test that showed 256 was one fps slower in q3 than 512. Same sys, just different mem. 512 had no more to offer than 256. After 512 you would only see the diff if you do photo/video editing and server work. Needless to say, I run 512 in the race box.
I use xp for 3 reasons. It has a HAL, it has a native firewall, and it uses NTFS. This beats all the previous ms offerings.
For a truth, I would use linux exclusively if it only was as fast playing games as xp. When I add the dual cpu mobo to my game server, I will use the small case it is in now for my linux machine, wich will then do all my web stuff. Then the xp box will only run when I wanna play...
Thanks for the backup, casey
ps
darkrav, no offense, but, do you have crap for system specs or are you just mis configuring your rig?
Let me guess, it has a via chipset..... a creative card..... and usb is on.

Did I say you need a refresh rate fix to game with 2k/xp? You do.
I use NVRefresh Tool. There are others.