Which OS to use for cabinet?

[happy69]

I want to know which version of windows I should run for the fastest and most reliable running of mame. How much ram should I have on my pc?

[Slice]

Depends on what you are doing!
DOS will run MAME with a suitable frontend(ArcadeOS) for output on an Arcade Screen.
Win98 will run fine with a suitable Video card on a SVGA (Normal Monitor) or on a TV (With TV out).
It can also be configured to run faster, programmes like
x-setup will allow you to tweak various settings.
I ran a program called 98Lite which removed Internet Explorer (I didn't need it) and replaced the regular Windows explorer with the Win95 explorer (Speeds up the system!)
I think I'm going to put windowsME on my new cab, and I'll see how this works out. I run Win2000Pro in work but really don't see any need for running this in a Cabinet.
On RAM - again depends what you're running (The more the better!) But aim for at least 128Mb!

[Howard_Casto]

Ok let me give you some words of experience.  In the most basic of setups 98 lite might do, however it directx and usb support is very bad so I wouldn't reccomend it.  Windows Me! is pure crap.  Never use it on anything!!!!  Windows 2000 is not designed to run games on.  Once again don't use it for your setup.  Xp and 98se are both good choices.  Dos is starting to go away, but it's a good choice for systems with very low resources.  

I hope that helps.

[happy69]

Thanks for the recommendations. Think I'll try 98se