I’m wondering whether I should upgrade my two windows 98 boxes to XP home edition. Here’s the scoop:
these boxes will be used by the family for web-surfing (we’re gonna get roadrunner), homework (star office 6.0), imaging & scanning (paint-shop pro7 & photoshop elements 2), and some kids stuff (kid pix, games). I’ve got 2 ink jets.
My system is windows2000 sp2, and all will be networked together.
Will XP give me added stability…thats mostly what I’m looking for.
XP is the most stable OS i’ve ever seen. I hasn’t crached once in the three months I have it. Can’t say that about win 95, 98 , ME and 2000.
UPGRADE TO WinXP unless you want win98 to crash every ¼ seconds. 
xp is definately a very stable windows os,…
Guess you haven’t seen much 
Guess you haven’t seen much :P[/quote]
To be honest no, not really. I only have seen 6 different versions of windows (3.11, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) and it’s very clear to me that XP is the most stable one. For me the upgrade was all worth it!
Guess you haven’t seen much :P[/quote]
To be honest no, not really. I only have seen 6 different versions of windows (3.11, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) and it’s very clear to me that XP is the most stable one. For me the upgrade was all worth it![/quote]
Yeah, I can really recomend XP over the other suckers too. But I was more relating to other OS:s than just M$ based 
XP is definitely the most stable OS I’ve used from MS (out of 3.11, 95, 98, 98se, ME, and limited exp. with 2k). I think the most stable I’ve ever used was OS/2, as I don’t recall it ever crashing on me, and I’ve had problems with Linux, though that may have been more hardware/driver problems.
XP has crashed a few times on me. I often got the blue screen of death with my old 3dfx card. Once I got a GeForce 2, that almost went away. I have had IE and other programs crash on me, but usually it didn’t crash the whole system, just the individual programs.
Another advantage of XP… since it appears that your system will be used by more than 1-2 people, XP has a bit more multi-user capability than other home Windows versions. Each of your family members can have their own user ID, get their own “My Documents” folder, and their own desktop. Also, if you need to jump on and do something, you can just log out of them, and into your desktop easily, their stuff stays in the background, and they can pickup where they left off when you’re done… I haven’t needed this though, since I’m the only user of my 3 PCs, and I never use the “family” pc. 
This is more cosmetic and for ease of use than for security… but if you can’t trust your family, who can you trust? hehe
Imp
I am useing XP and it is ok, but I am also useing mandrake linux. Since you already have 2 boxes, why don’t you wait for man 9.0 final to be released? Or if you can’t wait, man 9.0 rc2 is out, but I have a hard time recommending beta to a first timer. I have been running the 9.0 since beta 1 and it was pretty good then! 9.0 just might be the most user friendly, easy to come over from MS linux distro to be released!
Then keep one box the way it is, and try linux on the other for a while! You never know, you might like it! 
Windows XP may not be the most stable OS ever (I had some problems, not major though…), but they are the most stable MS operating system so far…
I recommend the upgrade…
Just make sure you get all the necessary xp drivers for all the peripherals you have, because I had some problems when I installed them first time (allthough some Win2000 drivers seem to do the job pretty well…). Also make sure you get all the necessary XP patches for all the programs you are using (there are some few compatibillity issues, allthough Microsoft claims the opposite…)
I would also like to say that it would be a good idea not to do a clean installation first time, but rather upgrade your existing Win98 installation (there is such a choice during installation procedure…) to XP and avoid changing your file system to NTFS. This way: a) you will keep your existing settings and b) in case you decide that you don’t want them (which is unlikely!!!), it will be easier to return…
Once you feel more comfortable with them, you can always perform a clean installation later.
Anyway I wish you good luck…
skontar.
Thanks to everyone!!!
Guess you haven’t seen much :P[/quote]
To be honest no, not really. I only have seen 6 different versions of windows (3.11, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) and it’s very clear to me that XP is the most stable one. For me the upgrade was all worth it![/quote]
Yeah, I can really recomend XP over the other suckers too. But I was more relating to other OS:s than just M$ based :D[/quote]
The bigest problem with linux and other non MS OSes is that you cann’t walk in to Walmart or what ever dept store is in your town and buy whatever software you want. It’s closer with linux but I still cann’t get any title I want with it. Until this happens I stuck with windows no matter how much I think Microcrap suxs
Mandrake Linux PCs
Mandrake Linux is a powerful operating system that includes many graphical administration assistants & wizards that make it intuitive and fun to use while providing all the power & robustness of the Linux operating system. Mandrake 8.2 can be used either as a full-featured & powerful Linux server, or as a highly productive personal workstation.
Not available in stores…yet.
[quote=“sofort99”]
Mandrake Linux PCs
Mandrake Linux is a powerful operating system that includes many graphical administration assistants & wizards that make it intuitive and fun to use while providing all the power & robustness of the Linux operating system. Mandrake 8.2 can be used either as a full-featured & powerful Linux server, or as a highly productive personal workstation.
Not available in stores…yet.[/quote]
I was not refering to the OS itself. I can pick up half a dozen flavors of linux at every dept store in town. An OS without software to run on it is a very boring thing.
The Lurker:
Most Linux distros come with tons of apps (SuSE has 7 CDs full). So you are not just getting an OS like with Windows. I use Mandrake 8.2 and when I installed and ran it, I had so many programs I didn’t know what to first.
Of course you won’t find very many commercial linux apps in stores. And many big software companies don’t make linux versions of their product. Go to the internet and I bet you can find a linux equivalent.
I still would go with windows because of my comments in another thread (OS of choice in Elysiun chat).
I just wanted to point out that when you buy/get a linux distro, you aren’t getting a barebones OS. You are getting a complete workstation or server that has almost everthing you could need for productive computing.
I’m aware of this but you still can’t go down to Walmart and pick up Baldor’s Gate or ( insert fav Game/app title here ). Intil this happens I’ll stick with Winblows. btw I have the SuSE distro.
This isn’t just Linux’s fault. I particularlly do not like this aspect, because it is what mainly prevent me from attacking the local home market here with Linux based systems. The biggest problem with this, is not that the games won’t run on Linux, but that the majoriy use software such as DirectX, in which Microsoft controls. And they know that this is a key weapon in the prevention of the spread of Linux and open source, which Steve Balmer has openly reffered to open source as a cancer eating away at America.
It is not an example of the shortfalls of Linux, but that of the monopolistic control of a certain software company.
( I’m not suggesting these are your thoughts, merely pointing out soemthing 
)