Why some people still use 98.

[Guest Smith]

From http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/06/20/towards-9-

51?startidx=200

 

Originally posted by = illiad:

 

well first I would say... WHY are you using ME when XP (inc.

SP2!) is available for £50????

 

Maybe not everyone can afford it, if you live in UK or USA...you

can make those £50 in a few hours but most of the people in Asia,

Latin America and Africa must work really hard for entire weeks

to get JUST £50...that's a lot of money down here.

[Guest Peter in New Zealand]

Re: Why some people still use 98.

 

Smith <smith@smith.com> wrote in news:OR7lzfq1IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:

> From http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/06/20/towards-9-

> 51?startidx=200

>

> Originally posted by = illiad:

>

> well first I would say... WHY are you using ME when XP (inc.

> SP2!) is available for £50????

>

> Maybe not everyone can afford it, if you live in UK or USA...you

> can make those £50 in a few hours but most of the people in Asia,

> Latin America and Africa must work really hard for entire weeks

> to get JUST £50...that's a lot of money down here.

>

For my part I have a rather elderly laptop that still gives faithful

service. It's too old for XP or Vista, and W2K is quite sluggish on it. But

with 98SE it zips along just fine and I don't often have any trouble with

it.

 

 

--

Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)

Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and

compulsive computer fiddler.

[Guest Dan]

Re: Why some people still use 98.

 

Here we go again with a super long post on my thoughts:

 

Windows 98 and especially 98SE is indeed popular because it works so well.

Sure, I admit that it does not have the stability of the NT source code but

it was fun because the 9x consumer source code allowed the user to execute

powerful commands that could completely destroy your machine and/or give you

a true feeling of power and ownership over your pc. I like how you can

easily use DOS to execute commands such as del *.* to allow you to remove all

the files in a directory. Cls being short for clear screen was nice.

 

Sure, I know that XP has a command prompt and you can also execute commands

within the text box but the default interface is GUI like 98SE but you do not

see the familiar and comforting at least to me --- reboot into MS-DOS mode

which allows for needed gameplay and the ability to get work done without the

confines and limations imposed by a GUI interface.

 

Microsoft has been very nice to allow the Classic Mode to be used within XP

and given the ability to run many older programs and even some older games

within the compatibility mode if the user can install the program to the hard

drive. XP is nice for many mainstream consumers but I liked seeing the text

based interface and thinking what can I do now. I have become used to XP but

having only a single line of code allows for hackers to more effectively

break into PC's. The remote access is nice when needed but users need to

become educated to the dangers of the Internet and make sure remote access is

not on unless being used. In addition, some of the settings within the

Internet Explorer default are just plain dumb like the ability to allow less

priveleged content to move from one zone to another. I think that setting

should be disabled by default instead of enabled by default because why would

a user want potentially dangerous files moving from a restrictive zone into a

less restrictive zone and then potentially wrecking havoc on the user's pc.

Hopefully, Chris Quirke, mvp will see and comment on this post because he is

very knowledgeable.

 

The modern Windows Vista machine seems much less personnel to me and I also

liked how 9x machines were built to stand on their own and not reliant on the

Internet. The modern Vista computer seems to be turning into a toy but it is

not really a toy. My reasoning is that with all the flashy interface of a

modern Windows Vista Aero-based computer compared to a standard 98 Second

Edition computer you can see a big difference. Sure, I like the Aero

interface and the amazing effects of the graphics displayed within these

machines but at least to me the novelty wears off after a while and then my

thinking goes --- okay it is time to get down to work --- and then I find

that a piece of hardware cannot work because it is no longer supported by the

company that made the hardware because it is too old and the company has

decided not to allow the device to support Windows Vista. Unfortunately,

that creates problems because although the hardware device may work fine in

XP and be even still supported there -- the hardware company does not want to

fund Vista Development for the device.

 

Fortunately, on my current desktop computer I have tried to get the best

hardware technology that will work for 98 Second Edition and be currently

supported in Windows XP Professional. This has pushed 98 Second Edition to

its limits but allowed for me to still have the 98 SE experience, the

backward compatibility of 98 SE to allow for gaming that cannot run on XP,

the fondness of feeling the computer is my own, etc.

 

Finally, I have a Windows Vista machine which is a Toshiba laptop for travel

which is nice but also frustrating because Vista still has issues to be

worked out. It is indeed much better and much more stable since Windows

Vista Service Pack 1 has been released but I still do not like User Account

Control which I have just turned off even though I let Microsoft know that it

should be able to be fully customized to allow for the administrator to make

the level of prompts when installing a program from three or four to just

one. The security of Windows Vista is indeed impressive and makes a strong

selling point for those who need high security like the United States Air

Force. The amount of hardware needed to run Vista is also disappointing but

I can see the necessity too because of the added levels of complexity and

security.

 

My dream is for Microsoft to create another Windows 9x consumer operating

system as a successor to Windows 98 Second Edition that does not have all the

extra services that consumers do not need and starts again the old line of

code or even starts a totally new line of consumer code to allow for more

safety for consumers on their home pcs. I know the expense for Microsoft

would be great but it would help consumers by not having all the features

that businesses need and provide another surface area that hackers would have

to learn about in order to specifically go after consumer's pcs and the

financial rewards would probably make them continue to be more interested in

business pcs again. I feel that it has gotten completely out of hand the

amount of add on programs that consumers are supposed to get to help protect

their modern home pcs.

 

resources for those wanting to learn more:

 

http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Firefox3/PRD (note 98 support with secunia

mentioned is wriiten by me)

 

http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/

 

http://cquirke.blogspot.com/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_98

 

http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1139

 

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2004/10/microsoft_should_release_windo.html

 

<someone else's thoughts on the issue>

 

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"Peter in New Zealand" wrote:

> Smith <smith@smith.com> wrote in news:OR7lzfq1IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:

>

> > From http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/06/20/towards-9-

> > 51?startidx=200

> >

> > Originally posted by = illiad:

> >

> > well first I would say... WHY are you using ME when XP (inc.

> > SP2!) is available for £50????

> >

> > Maybe not everyone can afford it, if you live in UK or USA...you

> > can make those £50 in a few hours but most of the people in Asia,

> > Latin America and Africa must work really hard for entire weeks

> > to get JUST £50...that's a lot of money down here.

> >

> For my part I have a rather elderly laptop that still gives faithful

> service. It's too old for XP or Vista, and W2K is quite sluggish on it. But

> with 98SE it zips along just fine and I don't often have any trouble with

> it.

>

>

> --

> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)

> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and

> compulsive computer fiddler.

>