123a23b08771
tech



Hello Paul - 

CA>> Reasons to update to a newer versions of Windows might be
CA>> to get use of more than 256 meg of memory, support larger
CA>> hard drives, avoid the major fragmentation of FAT32,
CA>> support for USB 2.0 and other newer hardware that W98 does
CA>> not support. DOOM III, for instance, won't work on W98
CA>> machines. :-) 

PW> Much of what I said was intended tongue in cheek, but I
PW> still use win98 on my other machine. 

PW> Your objections seem to indicate hardwware limitations
PW> rather than a fault of the operating system. The only one I
PW> take seriously is being unable to play Doom III, but I did
PW> mention games. 

Not really. Without support for more memory, larger drives, and
new hardware (software support) it is a limitation of the OS
(and supporting drivers) not hardware. 

PW> I will have to check about the ram as I was planning to get
PW> more, but I have had no problem with win98 at 256 meg. USB2
PW> is supported and bootable, and 40 gig drives run without
PW> complaint. 

I don't recall which version, possibly WinME, was first to
_fully_ support USB 2. The larger drives I was referring to are
120 gig+ drives, not 40 gig. 

PW> Last week I installed a 120 gig drive on a friends win98
PW> system. I used slackware to partition the disk, after which
PW> windows had no problem formating the partitions and
PW> installing. It was not bootable though until I added the
PW> helper softwear to the mbr, but that was a bios problem (as
PW> was ms fdisk, it uses the bios). 

Using other OS to augment W98 does not mean W98 is capable of
anything. MS released a new (free download) FDISK to handle
larger hard drives. 

PW> Fragmentation is not such a big problem if looked after
PW> regularly. 

Punctures in automobile tires are not such a big problem if
looked after regularly either but it's a pain. 

PW> I do not trust XP with a file system, it can't write a
PW> clean partition. If you don't have a stable partition, you
PW> have nothing and may as well be using floppies. This, if
PW> nothing else will keep me from ever installing XP. 

I prefer W2K myself but use XP and see no such problems with
the partitions that you refer to. Can you expand on this
partition problem that I am unaware of? 

PW> 98 will support all but the very oldest hardware, XP will
PW> not, and I have yet to see very much in the way of new
PW> hardware without drivers for win98. 

I don't buy new hardware but I read many complaints of no
drivers for older versions of Windows. 

PW> In other words, win98 will run more hardware than XP. 

From that perspective you are probably correct. 

PW> Eventually I will defenestrate both of my systems, but all
PW> in good time ;) 

No rush, it will be there waiting for you. :-) 

PW> It could be worse ... Paul 

Yes, it could be OBERON. 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

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