Is it worth it?

[MIK3]

Ive been debating a while on whether i should keep my OS on my computer for now (win98) or move up a level to win2000 pro ...there are 2 options that i am considering. I recently added another hdd to the machine for more availible space. This way i could be running 98 and 2000 at the same time, although i feel it will only make things more complicated. My second option is that i am going to get a job soon. In this case i would rid of my computer, and buy a laptop. Then i would either put win2000pro or XP home on it. Should i wait it out a couple months and save up for the laptop, or just go with what i got? Thx for the help

[Grinnin Reaper]

I have used both laptop's and standard PC's a lot. It's hard to use laptop's a lot if you have big hands and a real pain if you use the keypad for anything at all. If your on the go Laptop's rock. It depends on your needs. Windows 2000 in my experince is slow and not a great gaming platform. But XP has issues with older games as well. Right now my choice system is fast home computer with 98. Laptop's can stick you with limited options. Drivers have to come from the manufacture. Dell no longer builds 98 drivers for their laptops. You go to ATI's homepage and they specifically tell you to not use generic drivers for your laptop. Home systems it's okay but laptops' it is more particular as they are more integrated into the motherboard.

[Ryon]

the choice of laptop versus box really depends on what you want to do. I honestly wouldnt get one unless you REALLY have a need for one as they are a pain in the ass. As far as OS i would say windows XP. I use pro not home but i have had no problems with it. IMO its is tons more stable than win 98. sure it does have some probs but the seem to be less than that of any other MS OS. Im also a big fan of NTFS though it like XP has its faults.

[Mac_forever]

It all depends on what u will use it for. If u are thinking of getting it for college or something like that and want to have it with u all the time then get a notebook/laptop. If u are considering playing the latest games on it, you might as well get a desktop. Another point is, do you want to upgrade the comp at a later point. Laptops for the most part can't be upgraded, you can change the HD, add more ram, use PC cards. Desktops are very much upgradable.
Now Win 2k or XP, both have their probs. 2k isn't that good for gaming and it is not as compatible. XP is ok for playing newer games, forget about DOS or Win 3.1 games. Even some newer games won't run on it either. I tried to Install a game that is about 4-5 years old and it says that it can't run NT based OS. XP is more compatible though.

[BobyJo]

Remember this, you can install the W2KPro on the desktop, then when you get the laptop, just install the same OS in the Laptop. Win2KPro is a very good OS. Is a very stable OS.

[eviltechie]

the ONLY problem with win2k is some older games dont run on there even with compatibility updates and the Application Compatibility Tool from the win2k Support Tools

such as Rogue Spears...

but ive been using win2k for my athlon rig for more than a year now, it has been secure and stable

although i still like Red Hat Linux on my old P2-300

[BobyJo]

I have not tried that particular game. I do have quite a collection of first person shooter games, and have not found any that would not play just fine with Win2k. I have upgraded to sp3 already and I don't really see any difference in the OS of any kind. I like it for the managment of all recources etc. Win98se was the worst mgr for memory and recources I have ever used. Other than that I liked W98se just fine. My system is the server and therefore has all the network stuff running on it, as well as all the stuff I have hanging onto it. There are quite a large # of appliances running off this system. So it has to be there. If it goes down, I have to move the wifes system over here and install all the USB stuff running off my system.

[Bear]

My friend has XP pro and win98 on the same machine, works just fine no problems at all.

XP can "see" win98 but w98 cannot see the XP drive.

Funny thing though he has Leadfoot installed in w98 and
if he starts it from XP it will run better from XP than from
w98 !!!

[BobyJo]

XP and W98se coexists well together.
XP and W2k is a different story. A lot of persons cannot get these two to work together. Some do get these to run side by side. I have not tried XP and W2k, the most dual boot systems I have are Linux and Windows. Linux and W2k does not ride very smooth together. Linux does not like NTFS at all. If you have the drive formatted fat32 everything seems OK.
I feel that if you run W2k, NTFS is part of the OS. The OS is very stable when using NTFS, but not so much when installed over Fat32.
This has been my expierence.

[accurateimage]

I have yet to see a performance difference in games between xp and W2K, I am personally running W2K on all of my machines and love it, buddy has xp pro with a near clone system to mine and there was no performance difference in games at all that I saw. I am running 2000 pro just for info, and I have actually encountered odd errors and strange crap after installing the 3rd update pack for W2K. Also the updates made no difference in performance, just makes your comp safer, but with a hardware and software firewall I am good for now :)

[BobyJo]

I run W2kPro w/sp3 and have no errors at all, nor any problems w/any games.

[accurateimage]

Was not probs with games, was software issues and internet issues, will be sure to write them down again if I ever download it again.

[BobyJo]

Have you upgraded to IE v6.0, this is the version I am using and have no problems on the web. I really like this version.

[accurateimage]

I did before and had many problems for I do tons of online work / cutting pasting ect.... also posting photo's blahblahblah, anyways I encountered tons of probs so went back to the original and also have to use netscape for it has some features IE does not have that I have to have and vis versa.

[BobyJo]

Why don't you use a FTP Client to upload all this stuff, and download the stuff also. Much more secure and works better also.

[pr0metheus]

NO DO NOT UPGRADE TO 2k

IT CRASHES TOOO MUCH

either have 98 or xp


trust me on this

i had a "expierience" with 2k

[eviltechie]

not
really

a clean install of win2k on NTFS is really stable as far as my experience goes

but feel free to share your experiences

[BobyJo]

Prometheus::Win 2K never crashes.
"NEVER" you can crash a program that is not writtin for W2K if you force the install of such. You can cause the OS to stop if you force any driver to install that is not written for W2k.
W2k and XP is written to use NT file system, that means if the OS is installed correctly and setup correctly, it will not crash.
This is why most off the large business with big servers use W2k as thier OS.
It is almost like Linux, will run 24x7 and never crash.
We have been using W2k on our server for quite some time. No problems at all.
IMHO
You do need to have a brain and know how to use it for this OS to work.

[eviltechie]

bobyjo, its not nice to say such thing even though he is wrong...

[BobyJo]

I'm sorry, sometimes people say things that just set me off. Guess I had better read what I write and read it over again before posting it.