Re:

Neon · December 27, 2001, 19:12 hrs

scrivener,

Merry Christmas and welcome to Poasters. Thanks for the kind words.

I'll offer a 2 cent overview, and let you respond with more specific questions.

For OS, the general concensus is that Win2000 and WinXP are much more stable than Win95/98/ME with respect to blue screens of death and other crashes. Potential caveats: Win2000 is somewhat less compatible with games; WinXP is still new, and some people have experienced incompatibilities with older software. If you are (or have access to someone who is) technically savvy, then consider Linux. It has made great strides in a few years, and some of the distributions are really quite good.

For alternative browser, have a look at Netscape 6, Mozilla, and Opera. All are very good.

Of course, all of this is for naught if you have a poorly configured computer, or corrupt software installs, etc. that might be causing the errors you have been getting.

http://neon.home.texas.net/neonsm.gif" border=0>

Ben · December 29, 2001, 13:27 hrs

Scrivener,

There are many other OS alternatives to WIN98 which are not Microsoft products, for the pc there are such OS's as Linux. Linux would be my main alternative to Windows, its code is not as bloated as some of Windows is (!) so this helps stability. There are also other OS`s which are not fully released yet which look like they could be good... such as Qube and AmigaDE.

Powered by Amiga

Joanie · December 29, 2001, 16:06 hrs

Hi Ben,

Welcome to the Poasters Forum and Thanks for your contribution. We appreciate your suggestions and interest in helping others.

Hurry back.

Joanie

http://www.poasters.com/images/rahrahsm.gif " border=0>

darksilence · December 29, 2001, 20:33 hrs

What are you system specs?

If you have enough RAM and such ... try using Win2000. I've heard great stuff about it (compared to Win98/ME).

WinXP is too new to draw any full conclusions, but it seems promising.

scrivener · December 30, 2001, 08:53 hrs

Thanks, friends, for your advice on alternatives to Win98SE. Neon, your info re Win2000 appeals, and I think I've read this before, possibly from Alex, when I had my last freakout. So I think it's time I got off the dime. A question: I'm going to have to buy the full load on Win2000pro, but in the box it costs a lot, while as an OEM it costs 40% less. Have OEM purchases been troublesome? If not, that's the way I'd go.

Scrivener

scuzzy · December 30, 2001, 11:42 hrs

scrivener,

About the only difference between the OEM version and the retail version is that the OEM will not have free support from Microsoft. The operating systems are indentical, as far as I know.

Windows 2000 Pro isn't perfect, but it's far better than Win98 as far as I'm concerned. I switched to Win2k a long time ago, and I have no regrets. As a matter of fact, you could never talk me into going back to Win98.

http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

John · December 30, 2001, 15:29 hrs

scrivener, right now Newegg has Microsoft Windows 2000pro with Service pack2 OEM full install for $140.00 It is the best deal around as it already has the service pack with it. Win2000 w/sp2 is the best choice.

http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John

pat · December 30, 2001, 17:32 hrs

So do you think Win2K is the better choice right now than XP?

I have done some looking into both of them and am trying to make up my mind which one to get. With Win xp you get that whole flying through the air, where do you want to go today thing. Win 2k seems to be more stable and more of the bugs worked out. I think I would rather have a stable OS. Yet there is the lure of what is suposed to MS's best thing yet.

I was also thinking about trying an install of linux, just to see what that is all about. Anyone trying that now? There sure are a lot of different Distributions

Have to do some reading up on it to see which one to try.

Edited by - patman on Dec 30 2001 6:51:25 PM

scuzzy · December 30, 2001, 19:23 hrs

patman,

I think it depends on what you have for a system, peripherals, and software. Unless most of what you have is very new and up to date, you're probably better off with Windows 2000. I have Win2k on my Dell, and it has performed with excellence, although not quite flawlessly.

I also installed Windows XP Professional on the AMD system I built, and it too is performing well. But most of what is attached to my Dell won't play well with XP, so I'm sticking to Win2k for now.

http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

tucker · December 31, 2001, 04:12 hrs

Hi There

thought i'd share my thoughts on the Win2k/XP/98.... subject.

98/95/ME are based on the DOS kernal and are therefore very poor, mainly in memory management, and that is where most app problems will occur. I would highly recommened moving away from them (unless your a gamer).

I have been running win2K for some time now and I think it is superb. Networking is noticably quicker, the interface is familiar, driver support is all there - in fact, it has completely ironed out all the bugs of NT4.

I have used XP but not in ernest. My initial thoughts are it looks very pretty and I think if you are doing a lot of multimedia / video / music editing it would be a good choice as that seems to be the big selling point of it.

Linux will always be a more stable platform than and Microsoft OS, and it is also open source. However, as I found out there is a big learning curve when moving to a completly new operating system !!

anyway, I would suggest moving away from 98

Lee

pat · December 31, 2001, 07:22 hrs

I guess what I would like to see is an alternative OS equal to the choices now available in processors. Can Linux or another OS yet to be, give us the same level of excellence as AMD has? To me that is the big Question.

I have never considered myself a Microsoft basher and yet there is no doubt in my mind that they are a monopoly and will continue to do what is best for their bottom line. I?m sure they would like nothing better than to sell everything by subscription and make you pay to use their products yearly. Oh well perhaps some day a real choice will arrive and software developers will make products to support it.

I will be moving the new system to either Win2K or XP. I sure would like to think that XP would work since most of this system came out of boxes last week. I think I will spend a little time making sure the drivers and what not are available for all my hardware and if I want to go through the trouble of replacing software that would not work under XP.

Pat

n/a · December 31, 2001, 08:12 hrs

After all my trouble getting XP to work -- turned out to be a RAM compatability issue -- I still have to give it a thumbs up. Since removing the offending stick, XP has yet to crash, and the last compatability update has resolved many software issues. In fact, I'm running an old Windows 95 version of WS_FTP Pro that can't even handle post-2000 dates correctly, but it works fine on XP.

I've never used Win2k, but from what I've read, experienced users of both systems have found little difference beyond the cosmetics. Some installation and config options have been removed or hidden in XP, and for expert users that's an irritation. For novice users the simple XP setup is a blessing, and as usual there are tweaks and workarounds available.

As for Linux, I have a partition reserved. For those of us pre-conditioned by Windows, the major disadvantage with Linux has always been getting it installed and configured, then finding compatable apps. But some of the newer distributions have come a long way with installation and include many free-source apps. A new distribution I've been considering is BearOps, and not just because I like the name.

http://www.poasters.com/images/coldbear.JPG" border=0>

scrivener · December 31, 2001, 18:11 hrs

Thanks John,

It's ordered, from NewEgg. Should show up in ten-15 days, and then we'll see if we can make our special W98SE mess just a memory. NewEgg is an interesting vendor. And how about that Bear Ops! Holy Moly!

Scrivener

John · December 31, 2001, 18:39 hrs

scrivener, glad to hear your order went smoothly. I expected nothing less with Newegg. They do have exceptional deals on software and hardware. Good luuck and Happy NewYear,

http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John

scrivener · December 27, 2001, 18:42 hrs

Happy Holidays to everyone. You seem all to be as courteous and hospitable a group of experts as I have ever met. Now, there's no decent segue from that bonhomie to the anger I'm feeling over having continually to deal with W98's error messages. They show up in Word, Ole, and OE. For every productive hour we have to spend ten minutes bobbing and weaving around these stupid things. I've had Win98 + Office 2000 reinstalled twice by my ISP shop, and within two hours the error msgs begin to pile up again. So . . . can anyone recommend a more stable OS with an alternative browser? We're note much for games, but we do like to research and surf the net, and use Email, and work with spreadsheets. We'd appreciate any advice. Sorry to rant.

Scrivener

News:

Re:

n/a