http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20020930/

This ofcourse IMHO only applies to newer systems. I still recommend 98se for PRE 1 gig machines (yes .. 1 GIG).

XP is very resource intensive and requires a powerhouse to reap the gaming performance other than just stability. Newer hardware is also built w/ XP in mind. <<Good luck finding solid XP compatibility with some older peripherals>>

so .. in short:

new system .. go with Windows XP

older system - Win98se

(WinME sux unless tweaked right ... disable system restore)