Windows ME vs. Windows 98 SE and Tbird

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Ducky
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Post by Ducky »

Just recently upgraded to a Tbird 1GHZ and MSI K7T Pro2-A mother board. Went and got some ATA 100 7200rpm drives to go with as the board has ATA 100 on it now.

So, I did a clean install of Windows ME. Problem was performance was CRAP! Yes I did install the 4N1 drivers and did the usual tweeks. I have two Micron 256mb sticks of pc133 and Hercules Geforce 2 64MB, so this really should not have been the case. Even doing regular windows stuff (loading, min and max windows, ect) was sluggish. I got bummed and redid everything with WIndows 98 SE. Everything is VERY snappy now. Has anyone had or heard of such a problem?

Ducky
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Post by Golar »

Nope, but with MS, anything is possible. However, I haven't heard too many good things bout Me.
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FlyingPenguin
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

This is a known issue. WinME is substantially slower in all benchmarks than Win98.

WinME is a code bloated OS designed for computer newbies - it is NOT the ideal OS for serious gamers or power users.

Although Microsoft would like you to think WinME is an upgrade so everyone will go out and buy it, it is not. It is a seperate product, targeted at the growing non-computer literate computer purchasing community who need a more Mac-like OS that's relatively idiot proof. It's a lot more difficult, for instance, to delete critical system files in WinME than it is in 98. WinME also has a very sophisticated backup system that allows it to repair itself automatically if some fool does manage to delete the wrong files or trash the registry.

The price for all this is performance.

90% of the "improvements" in WinME are available for 98 if you install all the latest Windows Updates and the latest version of Media Player (and most people can't stand the new media player anyway except for the built-in support for portable MP-3 players). There's two exceptions: one is that WinME uses Win2K's advanced networking engine, which while nice is not necessary for most comsumers. The other is the built-in video editor in WinME (which is garbage anyway and any vid card that includes video input hardware always includes the "light" version of some video editor which does a better job.

Stick with 98. If you want something that runs stabler and has better performance in the desktop, try Win2K, but keep in mind that Win2K is a much more sophisticated OS than 98 and thus requires more hard drive space, more ram (for serious gaming I'd consider 256 Mb the minimum) and is more complex to setup. Win2K also has issues with some D3D games, although OpenGL support is excellent (all quake engine games, UT and Lithtech games run fine on it). More details on Win2K software compatibility here: http://www.ntcompatible.com/
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blade
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Post by blade »

Yo! Welcome Ducky! :)

Haven't seen you in 10 years, but I still have your pic..
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Ducky
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Post by Ducky »

WOW! ... forgot bout that! How ya been btw?
Cloud-X
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Post by Cloud-X »

Ya win2k kicks arse, you would like it. And plus the more advanced architecture of the Athlon is more loving towards the NT oses. So I've heard and I believe, Win2k seems to runn better on a t-Bird 800 than on a p3 800. I like the way it feels stable, i dunno maybe i've used computers too much eheh. Also on the gaming issue its not as bad as people say, sure some games won't work which to me is annoying (BoarderZone will not run at all) but many other games especially under OpenGl Run fine. That ntcompatible.com site is very good, you should check it out.
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Post by blade »

Been fine Ducky, hope you have too?
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Executioner
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Post by Executioner »

Hey Ducky. How's it going? Glad you found us here.
Ducky
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Post by Ducky »

Ya, didn't really know where everyone went to. Had to email Rad and ask. I been over on the 3dfiles board some as well.


WIN 2K does sound interesting but I kinda do alot of gaming, so the compatibility issue with some games would be something of an issue for me. What version of DirectX (D3D) does WIN 2K support. Does it go up to atleast DX7? Most games now that is the minimum needed.
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Post by VidmanII »

I'm using the T-Bird rig you see below using win98se and it's a SWEET combo. Lose that POS winMe.

Just my .02 ( which is worth about $.01) :)

Vid_2001
AMD Ph II X4 955 BE 3.2 @ 3.8 GHz | Scythe SCSMZ-2000 | ASRock 880GMH/USB3 | 8 GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 | Radeon HD5670 | Kingston 128GB SSD
Ducky
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Post by Ducky »

Radeon?? ahhh too bad =P
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