Guest Smith Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 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 Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 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 Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 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> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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. >
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