Windows 98 2nd Edition v's XP

Well i had xp on my old computer before, but i went back to 98se after i found that xp had really slowed everything down on my computer....damn xp is a ram hog or something....

but xp looks soo much nicer than 98. it has all these user friendly tools like system restore and it makes networking soo much easier..

But have you ever thought of win2k?

If you can afford XP by all means upgrade, You will be glad you did. Don't worry about the learning curve, everything is very intuitive, you will be up and running in no time. I would never use win9x ever again.

For newer systems especially the Sager 5660 and 8886, I would go XP all the way. It's true XP requires more resources, but it can do more with them. I've noticed by far the least problems on these systems using XP. I don't believe Microsoft even supports 98 anymore. The CD with drivers does have 98 drivers on them so give it a try if you're needing to save the money and you may have no problems. Let us know how it goes.

98SE vs XP

Wanted to jump in here because I'm in the same boat as bama. I just ordered a 8886-V with no operating system. I was planning on putting 98SE on it because I've had no problems with it. I have a wireless network with 2 desktop and 2 laptops on it and it works perfectly. I've heard several things about XP that made me wary about switching everything over. Lately I've heard that a single XP computer wouldn't work in a 98 SE network - everything has to be XP.

I'd like to go XP because I've heard it is a great OS, but I also learned a long time ago (and painfully so) that if your computer is working the way you want it to, leave it alone!

Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks!

Re: 98SE vs XP

well i hope thats wrong because i got windows 98 se on one machine and xp on the other and 95 on the other and they work perfectly together.... i think you just need the same protocols running on the network..

XP networking does work with 98, ME, 2000, etc. You may have to change some of the defaults to get it to work, but it does work great if you set things up correctly.

A couple of tips, install the NetBUI protocol off the XP cd. Turn off simple file sharing on the XP machine. Create user accounts on the XP machine with the same names as the 98 user logins otherwise those machines with 98/98SE/ME can't connect to the XP shares.

As a final word, go with XP when you can afford it. It will be worth the learning curve and like has been said, MS will be dropping 98 support very soon.

Martin Parrott

XP the way to go...

I've used win95 and Win98 for more than 4 years. But after trying out win2k and XP, I can't think of going back again. And the main reason is............

OS Stability

Microsoft got its bad name mainly because of Win95 and Win98. There were times when i used to reboot my system more than 10 times on single day . It used to crash a lot, but now blue screen of deaths are things of past. Win2k and XP are built on NT OS base which is very stable. I can't remember any single instance when I had to reboot my comp when any application crashed. I can easily end task any problematic app.

Yes I agree that XP consumes more resource than 98, but hey... you are now using Sager, the fastest PC in the town . You won't notice the difference. The only thing I miss in win2k/XP is the option to boot in Dos Mode. Many of my old Dos games( like Aladdin , Prince ) won't play on these OSs. Incase you really want this option along with XP, then you can dual boot your system with 98 and XP. This way you'll have best of both the worlds ;-).

Moreover after switching over to XP you'll be amazed by the time it takes to boot . If you are like me and don't like the bells and whistles that MS has added to XP UI and you prefer the classic Windows look. You can choose that from the themes dialog.

Try out XP, it worth the money and you'll never want to go back .

98 SE vs XP

Wow! Great, intelligent comments and answers in 15-20 minutes. I guess I will put XP on my new Sager! A friend gave me his original copy of XP Professional - he bought a new computer with XP Home on it. I assume that the comments that were made apply to Home and/or Professional.

Thanks for all the help, folks. It's very much appreciated!

Whoa whoa wait a minute...i think windows xp requires a product key and once it is installed in its first machine, it takes a picture of the contents of the computer, and doesnt allow you to install it on any other computer but that first one. maybe he gave you a new one tho

Yeah, it's new and sealed! He bought it and had it for awhile because he was hesitant to install it. Then he got the new computer and had no need for it. I should be OK on installing it, right?

whaT! aah! lucky! yea ur good to go!

Heh, yeah well I use 98 SE and it hasn't crashed since i upgraded its ram to 192. From 64. XP wouldn't run smoothly at all on my computer, as it reccomends 256, and on my parents' computer, they use XP Pro with 512 RAMBUS mem, and I gotta say I don't feel any difference. I can have a multitude of programs on on my 98 SE and it runs fine.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If it came down to a choice, though, between XP, 2k, and 98 SE and each were of equal pricing, i'd get the XP.

I don't like the whole product key thing, but they gotta do what they gotta do. Although, within minutes of its release, XP code was cracked. Heck, illegal XPs were out before XP was even released.

Well as far as the UPS question, I imagine it's the same as when you fly to a certain small place you might fly in the opposite direction first because that's the only place flights are available from, lol

As far as the OS thing... XP tears up, and even if XP has been opened and used once, you can still install it somewhere else, you just have to call Microsoft and read them this long number and have them read one back and tell them that you don't have it installed on any other computers (assuming you don't). There's no way it can "take a picture of your hard drive" because there would be no where to write the picture to... you can't write to a cdrom (lol, it stands for compact disk READ ONLY memory :-)). Just thought I'd clear that up... but I love XP, and it won't be sluggish at all if you have at least 128 ram... it runs as fast as or faster than all previous OSs if you have that much ram or more and you're running near the GHz range. If you have trouble with it, you can turn down certain graphics things that will speed it up. It has features like system recovery and so much is automated... yet you can still get access to those things and configure them manually. Great OS IMHO. Best of luck to you!

Yes, beeb and I have talked about this before.

http://sagerforums.com/forums/showth...=&threadid=504 (You'll see it after a few posts)

Anyway, I'm not sure Microsoft would trust you, but there are a multitude of hacks if you wish to use them. You didn't hear it from me...