Big Upgrade Decision

[fifi]

I have put off doing this for so long but, I have to do it before the weekend. I currently run Win 98 on an HP vectra with 256Meg. I had bought a Win Me upgrade long time ago which I never installed. I also bought a Win2000 upgrade (still in the box unwrap). The reason I had put off the upgrade is the fear that my programs will not run on WinMe or Win 2000. These are special technical programs that are very expensive to upgrade. They ran well currently on Win 98. Even though I have the software CD's, My greatest fear is that they may not work under WinME, Win2000 or WinXP. I dont really want to go dual boot but unless I have to. The question is, with my software considerations which one should I install WinMe, Win2000 or should I look into WinXP (home or pro)? What is the great benefit of one over the other? Pls. help.

[edge345]

Go to the internet site for those programs and see if they are compatable with win-me or win-2000....

[Iman74]

fifi
not trying to scare you but I am currently using XP pro for the first time and I am finding a lot of software and hardware that are not compatable with XP Pro. I just spent about a 100bucks on hardware upgrades, mouse, Sidewinder controller, and a few other things.

[fifi]

edge345, The programs came out before WinMe or XP. There is a chance that it may work with WinMe because most Win95 programs work in Win98. I'm sure the manufacturer will have newer versions of the programs but it will be too expensive to buy. The version I have have everything i need.

[TVANWINKLE]

Fifi,

If I am not mistaken ME was created on the 98 platform, I made the jump to ME from 98SE when it first came out and found that I had no problems with software/hardware compatibility. On another system I upgraded from ME to XP Home and 2000 and had serious trouble with hardware/software compatibility, needless to say I went back to ME.

[fifi]

Tvanwinkle, Thanks for your input. I about to decide to do the upgrade (98 to ME) tonight. I will backup all my files and go for it. The worst case will be a clean install and I will be prepared for that too. Does anybody know the big different / benefit of Xp over ME? Pls i'd like to know.

[reboot]

XP=Stability
ME=Possibly the biggest mistake MS ever made.

[TVANWINKLE]

Reboot......
What stability challenges have you experienced with ME?

[fifi]

I have hear a lot about ME stability but I sure my software will likely run under ME w/o upgrade than in Win2000 which I also have. My choices are limited?????
Thanks all

[RoyKelly]

fif,

Go to Check Hardware and Software Compatibility

or Windows Me Information

[Gimpy]

Hey

I'm sure you all know this, but in case you dont.....

If you install a prog in XP thats designed for an earlier OS, you can right click prog's icon, properties, compatibility, and choose an OS compatibility mode. I never tried it myself, but it sounds good.

[minsonngo]

I do not see why everyone says that ME is not a good operating system. I have used it since I was in 8th grade which is almost 5 years now and it has never given me any problems. I also have no problems with Wndows XP and compatibility problems. I installed XP Pro on a old system made in 1998 and it works fine so far. No problems at all with any of the original components. But I have "heard" there may be some problems so install XP at your own risk.

[Dan]

great link to win2k compatability RonKelly!
I think that edge 345 has the best suggestion yet.
Check the website for the software manufacturer...while a lot of programs get upgraded to newer versions, most software manufacturers offer free patches for win2000...just a small download usually. I would start by doing this, then checkout RonKelly's link to see what Microsoft has to offer.
What technical programs are you talking about? I found that apps like Autocad and Photoshop actually run better under win2k.....MathCad and Mathematica also run better....

[crow]

I purchased Me and found it very unstable. The restore feature kept screwing up & refusing to work so I'm back to Win 98fe.
-
Len

[Dan]

crow-
why not upgrade to 98SE??

[reboot]

As a full time technician, I have had a few customers with ME, and they're nice, frequent, repeat customers, always because of a software/operating system problem. Not only does this frustrate the customer, but me too, constantly patching, reinstalling, and otherwise fixing an OS that's supposed to work.
I have since upgraded (downgraded) those customers to XP or 98SE, and although I see them a lot less, we're both happier because of it.
I have since stopped service on any computer with ME, unless the customer is willing to change to an OS that I can work with.
I charge a nominal amount for the OS (OEM), and always include some hardware to keep it all legal.
I would rather have happy customers, than repeat business because of WindowsME. Their word of mouth goes a long ways, I'm as busy as ever, and I don't have to deal with ME.

[fifi]

Great link RoyKelly and thanks to all. Dan I suppose ME is a little better that 98SE. I hate upgrading and I limit myself to no more than one every 2 Years. I run 3 computers in my house. But my primary one is the one I am upgrading. I may go to XP but I will finish ME upgrade and run it for a while. As for the software, some are custome written to run on 98 code. Its a pain to go back and re-compile them in latest OS env. Others are analysis programs that I bought some for grad school etc. that came out before ME and I have no plan to upgrade them. Any thanks for all the help. I should be done with ME upgrade tonight and I will post the experience.

[TVANWINKLE]

Reboot,

That’s interesting, thanks for the info. I have a network that runs 25 workstations, 90% of those are e-machines running ME. I have noticed that ME seems to have challenges before installing all the updates. The other 10% are running XP, which seem to have more network issues (drop offs, connection issues, lockups) where as ME just seems to run smoother. Maybe I have just been lucky with these workstations running ME.

Fifi,

Keep us updated…

[reboot]

ME can be stable, and it can do it's job nicely, given a few conditions.
1.) You don't have semi-knowledgable users screwing with things all the time.
2.) You have a "set it and forget it" mentality when dealing with it. (see #1).
3.) You have a simple setup/network, using simple applications, not requiring large amounts of resources, that doesn't require changes often.
You mention E-Machines...I bet that ME was the OS included with those machines, so the hardware is designed to run with it. Change hardware (no, not just adding RAM), and you may find your stability is gone.
The machines I work with are not "big box", nor are they cheap. Most are Asus boards, with Intel CPU's (the odd Soyo or Gigabyte with AMD).
Quality hardware, and ME (stock) runs reasonably well...although I still don't think it runs as well as 98 or XP tweaked. But that's for another topic

[Dan]

I guess what this all comes down to is that even though it's called "computer science", it really is more like computer guesswork, or at the very least computer trial and error.
It would be my guess that if you did a survey of the posting here, you would find more trouble with ME than 98se ro 2000...hard to tell tho...I'm sure there were more 98se or 2k OS's sold...maybe a ratio would be a better way to tell.
I have 4 custom boxes networked together. 3 have 98se the other has 2k. I have little problem with either...but then again I've learned not to mess with something that is running well....
If you don't push the parameters, keep things cleaned up and defragged, these two OS run fairly trouble free...(note: I said FAIRLY WELL).

[TVANWINKLE]

Good points Reboot…
The standard suite of software used on these machines are Office 2000, Acrobat 5.0, Corel 9 and two have a CAD program. They are all pretty much identical. I am sure if I were to push one of these disposable PC’s I would have more issues. Your also correct that the operating systems were all factory installed.