Windows ME worth getting?

[SuperHappyFunMan]

Now that ME is out, are there any major differences between it and SE that make it worth the 50 bucks? From what I have heard, most of the changes are purely cosmetic: the game speed is about the same, the stability is about the same, the only big difference is the bootspeed.

[daveleau]

The OS as a whole was a noticably faster on my system and it seems a bit more stable. I don't have any benchmarks to back that up but... I had no conflicts. It seems like a nice OS but I must agree that while it is slightly faster, it is mostly cosmetic.
Dave


[This message has been edited by daveleau (edited 09-21-2000).]

[Entragian ][]

I have not upgraded or actually seen ME itself. From what I have read in clippings/articles. The upgrade is not needed if your using 98SE. If you are starting from scratch it is a better choice.

Upgrade = No
Start/scratch = Yes

I myself am happy with 98SE.

Ent

[bobcat]

I'm running WME and W98SE on several machines. The boot speed rocks. Have not had the opportunity to try out the restore capability of it. You really don't need to spend the $$$ if you are happy with 98SE.

[Warthog]

In the latest Max PC, they say the same as you guys: not much faster, is much more "crash proof" and the "go back" software is nice.

Warthog

[djurom]

In most cases people will say that WinME rocks, but it's just OK. In my opinion a lot of bragging for "nothing". New System Restore is the best thing Microsoft included with Windows because it can prevent your system from losing important files.I've used it in many cases and always successfully.
Better Home networking support, integrated support for digital cameras, scanners & FireWire devices added and many other little things with security.Also added new Internet Explorer 5.5 http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Boot time is improved but when you first time load Windows Explorer after that it needs little bit more time than usual.

[cyclone2]

Its OK, but nothing special. I agree with the other posts if you want to spend $50 for a slightly newer look, faster defrag, System restore, little better networking features and (never tried it) better support for video editing or whatever than go ahead.
I find its no more stable than a properly set up 98se, and IE and some games will still crash it.

[RobRich]

I generally like the WinMe, and have migrated all of my Win9x systems to it.

I also did an article on the final OEM release. One question, did MS add the DOS command prompt box back to the accessory start menu under the retail version? My OEM copy did not include this option, which was extremely strange.
http://sysopt.earthweb.com/reviews/winme/index.html

Later,
Robert Richmond

[thekingofpain]

I like it so far...I only paid 30$ and cant complain...yet

[RalphArch]

I also got it and installed yesterday. It seems fine - only problem I'm aware of to date is that Partition Magic 5 no longer works. Me gives a message to contact the vendors web page to see if they've fixed it yet so obviously MS knew this program wouldn't work.

Well worth the $50 for me because of all the freebies I got along with it when purchased at Staples. (such as usb camera - photosuiteIII, Checkit, a set of nice Logitech speakers, ejay mp3 player, postage stamp program, video editing program. Amazing giveaway.

[jad1097]

Get the upgrade to bring it up to 5.01 and you could use the 2 boot disks to use Patition magic. Version 5.01 uses DR.DOS now.

[saimyc]

I'm, running 98se, I got IE 5.5, all the tools and extras, free, from microsoft, media player7, again free. I paid for norton system works2000, that can restore my system,
I went to msconfig/setup and have the only the necessary things loading when I boot. so my boot time is not bad, aside from the photo/video editor, and nice look I have "ME"
Unless you geta new system that comes with ME
or build one I don't think it's worth buying,
then again I'm a man of little money.
oh yeah there is no DOS, it does have virtual DOS for games and other programs that need DOS.
IMHO tweak 98se

[BBA]

Let me put in a vote for 98SE.

I just subjected myself to ME hell for pretty much nothing but a complete waste of time...

If you do, Good Luck. It really has issues with ICS from a W2K server though.

[Amarok]

WIN ME all the way.... the restore feature works great... Boot speed ROCKS!!!

[GroundZero3]

hey saimyc

since im gonna be installing win98 what kind of tweak progs do you recommond??

JaYsin

[Warthog]

I bought a Dell comp not long ago and recieved a free upgrade coupon for ME with it (I bought comp a week before they started packaging it with their systems http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif).

Soooo...about two seconds ago I put in my order for a FREE copy of WinME. It may not be worth $50 or whatever it sells for, but it sure is worth it if it's FREE http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Does it really boot a lot faster? That would sure help me in certain situations (rushing to print out homework one minute before I have to leave for school http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif).

Warthog

[BFlurie]

Well, just how fast DOES it boot up? I wager I can beat ya'll on that w/my ancient W95. Time fer Windoz to finish loading from a hard restart (reset button) -- 55 seconds.

Note -- If you're gonna fib, don't bother replying.

Drn, a "quick" or "soft" reboot (no BIOS or DOS) on mine takes 23 seconds. 33 seconds for a hard reboot is impressive. 'Course, a faster system (CPU, mobo,etc.) also aids this.

[This message has been edited by BFlurie (edited 09-19-2000).]

[drn]

i can boot up in about 33 seconds with win me cold boot it is alot more stable than 98 for sure i have put it on all 7 sys now the fastest booting o/s made now even faster than 95 my 95 sys takes about a min to boot

[thekingofpain]

Could they subltey be eliminating the people that can upgrade to the NEW? Windows of the future? Are they forcing upgrades? ME creates probs (mine went fine) with older components it seems, and some people consequently say it sucks accordingly,...it happened in my Mac environment, my 4 year old system WILL NOT run the newest OS...at least they told me (2 years ago) it wouldnt, rather then sell it to me to find out on my own...

[BBA]

Hmmm...may W2K can boot from hibernate in about 15 seconds...

Actually, I guess ME is faster booting than W2K...but I don't have to boot very often, except when I shutdown to carry my system to Fraglan (http://www.fraglan.com) to do lan gaming.


Here's my take:

ME could not keep up the framerates in Q3 as well as dualees in W2K can...which is another reason I switched back. ( 4x FSAA is pretty hard for a single cpu machine...got about 27fps in ME at 866MHz, and I get over 80FPS with 4xFSAA, and all the same settings, in W2K with 728MHz Dualees...and thats with r_smp 0 setting in Q3. )

Also, internet browsing just plain sucks with Win9x/ME...way too slow browsing and downloading. TCP/IP is all new in W2K and it averages about twice as fast as ME/9x TCP/IP, even with tweaks!

[jpeppers]

I think I'm going back to W98. Win ME is not that stable to me. Too many problems with lock ups. I'm glad I didn't waste the money to buy WIN ME. The final version form tech net was okay, but it is basically W98, except for a few differences.

[AuraEdge]

Couple things....
Boot times WAY faster than even a tweaked out 98SE, or Win2k
Dos programs still run (I've only tried Warcraft and Warcraft II, but they do work, fully)
Also..something no one's ever mentioned...WinME comes with an integrated unzipper.
That takes one of the things that Ive always thought should come with Windows..the others are an Antivirus program, the Professional Office suite (yeah, they're just juicin ALOT more money. Office is such an integral part of a computer), a Sisoft Sandra-like diagnostic program, a Soft-DVD player, and a CD-writing program. It should also have RegClean preinstalled as an system tool. Only then, Windows would be worth the 100+ bucks they charge for full versions. I got my ME because my mouse broke, and If i pushed the $150 mark, I got 30 bucks off..so basically got it for 20 beans.

A cool extra that they have in Win2k that they put in, besides the GUI, is that if you have a shortcut to the start menu of a folder, or of my computer, itll be expandible right from the start menu...something I find very useful.

What else should they have put in? That fading menu thing from win2k...and Cursor shadows...Why the heck didn't they put them in?

Overall, I'm dissapponted, but its a babystep in the right direction. The boottime is the huge thing, The unzipper is the thing that should have been, and the Win2k GUI is the added bonus. A win2k with better D3D and "old stuff" support would rock the house. Will that ever happen tho?
Not until they kill the Win9x line of OS's, and force companys to integrate Win2k Support in EVERYTHING.

Also, BBA, are you sure that the 4xFSAA didnt shut itself off because the card couldnt handle it? The Win2k Drivers and Win9x drivers for videocards arent always identical..The W2k Drivers may have shut off the FSAA4x, while the W9x drivers went ahead and did it anyways.

[RataToo]

all i can say is, when I installed winme, it actually found my home network, located my network printer, downloaded the software and drivers from another computer and installed it BY ITSELF! I am very impressed.

[MadMatt]

Upgrade went pretty well. The only thing it didn't like was my TV tuner card. I reinstalled it after the upgrade and it's working fine now.

I whole heartedly agree about the boot speed! Woohooo! Smokin!

Besides that, the GUI enhancements are nice, I guess.

[saimyc]

Hello everyone
Ground zero, well tweaking 98se, I have Norton system works helps with stability, a better defrag program than windows itself,
registry editor,crash guard, and other things
uses a lot of system resoures so I manully run most of the programs instead of letting them run in the background.
X-setup is good and free can't find URL, but go to ZDnet down loads, you will find a lot of free and shareware utilities there
Oh the norton system works 2000 has the imageing for restoring, clean sweep for moving or deleteing programs that may muck up your registry and are not in the add/remove part of the control panel
I sound like a salesman for Norton LOL

[This message has been edited by saimyc (edited 09-19-2000).]

[bhess]

RobRich: Yes I do have the dos-prompt line in accessories.
As for boot time is seems faster but I don't have much installed on it yet.
BBA I would like to try win2k for the stability, but that is just too much money for a OS.

[BBA]

No...I'm pretty sure 4X FSAA is working fine in W2K. The reason for the performance boost is it totally uses both processors, regardless of whether the particular game supports MPS or not. Thats devoting one whole cpu to antialiasing while the other handles the game...pretty slick I think.

Only with nvidia Quadro cards! ( Mine is a GeForce DDR converted to a quadro.)

As for a DVD, W2K has it ( So does 98SE ). As for ZIP compression, W2K has it. As for SYSOFT, nope, but has other diagnostic apps. As for sfc, W2K has it also. The only thing lacking is CD-R software.

BTW: I found a version of Adaptec EasyCD creator 3.5c that works fine in W2K, as previously thought not too. ( it shiped with a few HP CD-RW drives ).

[RedTopJay]

Over one year ago I deleted a NTFS partition and expanded the FAT32 partition to fill the second hard drive. After installing WinME, Norton's Speed Disk (disk defrager) would lock up but Window's disk defragmenter worked. BUT, after restarting the computer Window's no longer sees the second hard drive but fdisk does as "non-DOS". HELP!

[richwood]

The new issue of Consumer Reports has a very good article in it's Tech section regarding Windows me. They said me did boot up faster on a very fast machine, over all it ran about 10% slower!

[BFlurie]

RedTop, sounds like that partition will have to be repartitioned as a Primary DOS partition. Fdisk will wipe it clean doing that. Partition Magic -- not sure, but believe it would too.

[MadMatt]

Just an update on my ME experience so far:

I wound up having to uninstall and reinstall my NIC and all the protocols. Not a big deal. Also had to reinstall a few other (minor) progs.

System speed seems about the same and my 3D Mark max benches are up, but just a little.

Also, I have noticed that the system is more stable. Not a single crash since installation 7 days ago.

[pipedoctor]

Just finished installing Windows ME on one of my machines. There are a few problems with the OS itself. First, it does not like Enternet 300. Will not let you even install. the fix is to uninstall Enternet 300, go into the registry and remove the entry there. After ME is installed, Re-install Enternet 300, but it has to be version 1.4. RASSPPPoE and WinPoet will also work. Second, ME is a terrible memory hog. Maybe one of the memory managers listed in the news letter would be worth looking into. If you have 98se, stay with it. ME is slower overall.

[beller6]

Ok went from 98 to SE and saw no real differences. SE was a bit faster but Still had crash and freeze up. Last week put ME upgrade on. These are some of the features I liked and didn't like.
I find it is no faster than se but it is a lot more stable then it's 2 ancestors. I have not had any of the problems associated with 98 or se.
My system has not had a freeze or crash since I installed it.
I have not tried my vidcapture card with it, but that should be soon with in the next month or so.
Getting used to windows everyday day telling me that there is a another update is annoying to say the least, the new icons are nifty, but on the whole I have to say Microsoft may have gotten it right (bout time). And I do believe that this OS has less problems, less bugs, and for the first time I am not freezing up on the internet.
Bottom line .Get it

[Wilan Wong]

May I ask.. what is the big deal of fast booting?? I mean you only have to wait a couple more seconds.. it's not like the world's gonna end.. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
I would rather prefer Win98 SE than WinME. WinME is more of a memory hog than Win98, and WinME is just full of updated things...

[Ygor]

Good info here.
It might be tedious, but what would likely be the most informative is to have system specs (mobo, processor, ram info) to see if there is a pattern to the good and bad results.

[NavyDood_ F/A18_Mech]

I thought one of the biggest advantages to ME, was that it would manage the memory A LOT better than 98. I guess MS screwed that up.

Jim

[BFlurie]

Memory management isn't the problem, it's RESOURCE management.

[Win_98]

ME actually require more memory then win98 and so win98 also require more memory then win95. With 95 minimum is 16, with 98 it is 32, with ME it is 64. I wouldn't buy ME because I already payed 90 buck for 98 for why put more money into bill gate pocket where it don't belong. I expect this to be a free upgrade for 95/98 user. I find it silly havin to pay everytime they update 98 to say 2nd edition, ME etc.

[mots2]

what about if upgrading from win95 OSR2?

i didn't bother upgrading to win98 cos everyone said it was mostly cosmetic, and it seemed it would probably run slower on the same system.
but now i want to add a big hard drive and also people seem to be stopping supporting win95.

what would you guys recommend upgrading to? the upgrade to ME from win95 costs about 75 i think.
or should i go with an upgrade to win98 or win98SE?

with win95 the upgrade version became pretty useless, as only the OSR2 version supported a lot of features that were fairly essential (like my processor). are teh upgrade versions for 98/me similarly useless?

tom

ps/ i have a k6-2 350 and 64mb at the moment,but i am thinking of going for a 500mhz k6-2+ and another 64mb.