Seriously cosidering reverting back to Win98

[IG-88]

OK, maybe not real serious but there is a pretty cool community out there that is still keeping it alive and I'm fricken sick of Vista64!

Actually most all the apps I use could prolly run under 98 and my computer(s) would definitely speed up!

I was even considering ditching cable TV and getting my TV fix over the internet. Wonder if I could setup a media center with 98? 

[Dexter]

Just make sure there are win98 hardware drivers for EVERYTHING in your machine before you install it. Better still, install windows 98 inside a VM on your box and get the best of both worlds.

[Epyx]

I wasn't a big fan of Vista64 either...just moved to Windows 7 64 and all the complaints I had with Vista64 are gone...and of course XP would still be ok

[daywane]

dual boot system

[protokatie]

I would take the suggestions of the two posters above me:
Dual Boot and WinXP

There is no reason to go back to pre-NT based windows...

[IG-88]

Just make sure there are win98 hardware drivers for EVERYTHING in your machine before you install it. Better still, install windows 98 inside a VM on your box and get the best of both worlds.

I got myself an "improved" version of win98 sometime back that has driverpacks that install with the O/S. Has alot of other niftys too. I have been using it to test older computers that I like to put emus or dos games or whatever on. Works like a champ and is rock solid stable. Kinda the reason I've been thinking about using it full time. Silly probably. 

@ protokatie: Why don't you like pre-NT?

[protokatie]

I didn't say I didn't like pre-NT, just that there is little or no reason to go back that far. XP is very efficient and still has new drivers coming out for it for new hardware. I use TinyXP on some of my machines and it has a similar footprint as win98, but with better services, better support, and much better multitasking. The only down side to using NT based OS's is that you lose full DOS support, so some DOS only games won't work right.

[shmokes]

The task bar in Windows 7 is lovely.  If an operating system's raison d'etre is to help a user interface with his computer hardware (and other software, I suppose), it immediately becomes clear that the OS's user interface is really really really important.  Windows 7's taskbar is reason enough for the switch, let alone all the other things it does well.

[SavannahLion]

There is no reason to go back to pre-NT based windows...

Uh... NT was in parallel development with 9x run since about 93 or so. It became an interesting OS in 95 or thereabouts.

[protokatie]

There is no reason to go back to pre-NT based windows...

Uh... NT was in parallel development with 9x run since about 93 or so. It became an interesting OS in 95 or thereabouts.

NT was in development even before that. Maybe we could consider the winNT line to have started with windows 3.11 for workgroups?

[SavannahLion]

There is no reason to go back to pre-NT based windows...

Uh... NT was in parallel development with 9x run since about 93 or so. It became an interesting OS in 95 or thereabouts.

NT was in development even before that. Maybe we could consider the winNT line to have started with windows 3.11 for workgroups?

Sorry, I meant to say it was released in '93. Parallel development with 9x/3x side. I was paying attention to a grumpy baby during my edit.

IIRC, NT was in development sometime in the mid 80's and was supposed to be an entirely different OS. IOW, I believe it predates 3.11.

In any case, I don't consider NT getting interesting until 4 or 5 or so. Windows 3.11 was great, but things didn't get fun until 98. As far as I'm concerned MS probably should've been better off never releasing some of their cancerous releases like 95, ME, and so on and so forth.

[SavannahLion]

I haven't had to recall much Microsoft history since college so a quick check on my facts confirms what I can recall.

NT development started sometime in '88 and was meant to be released as OS/2 3.0. A classic story of Company A telling Company B to ---fudgesicle--- off. (Nintendo/Sony come to mind). It was ultimately released in '93 (I remember encountering it while in High School).

Technically 3.11 isn't NT, it's still a precurser for 95, not for NT.

I think it's interesting that a company has been consistently hit and miss with their OS since the 3x days.

[protokatie]

I completely forgot about OS/2 (AND I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!)

As per Sony/Nintendo, well thats what you get when you go to two different companies to make your CD-Rom drive and end up falling away from both. BTW I still have my PS, the original box.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Win98? I think there's a clue in the name as to why there may be better OS choices.. 

+1 for Dexters VM idea.

[Level42]

I'm seriously thinking about ditching my 2008 Skoda and buy a horse instead.

[IG-88]

I'm seriously thinking about ditching my 2008 Skoda and buy a horse instead.

Is Skoda one of those British terms for a woman?

Win98? I think there's a clue in the name as to why there may be better OS choices.. 

+1 for Dexters VM idea.

Well I hate Linux even more so I have to stick with windows. (or were you referring to the 98 part?)   

[HaRuMaN]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

[IG-88]

In all honesty I haven't. The only one that caught my fancy was DSL back about 3 years ago. I just wasn't up to the task of learning a whole new O/S.

[SavannahLion]

I completely forgot about OS/2 (AND I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!)

Yeah, same here. I keep thinking OS/2 started with Warp. Now that it is effectively dead, I'm actually curious to see what it's like.

In all honesty I haven't. The only one that caught my fancy was DSL back about 3 years ago. I just wasn't up to the task of learning a whole new O/S.

I've always wanted to try my hand at CP/M and see what that was like. Never could find one that I could use though.

[Hoopz]

I completely forgot about OS/2 (AND I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!)

Yeah, same here. I keep thinking OS/2 started with Warp. Now that it is effectively dead, I'm actually curious to see what it's like.

Now that it's dead,  you're curious to see what it's like?  That's probably the reason that it is dead at all.   
They probably needed people to try it out so that it wouldn't die off.  I certainly understand you're point though.   

[SavannahLion]

I completely forgot about OS/2 (AND I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!)

Yeah, same here. I keep thinking OS/2 started with Warp. Now that it is effectively dead, I'm actually curious to see what it's like.

Now that it's dead,  you're curious to see what it's like?  That's probably the reason that it is dead at all.   
They probably needed people to try it out so that it wouldn't die off.  I certainly understand you're point though.   

OS/2 predates my disposable income era. Even if I thought to get a hold of OS/2 back then, it would've died a horrible death anyways.

[EwJ]

I'm seriously thinking about ditching my 2008 Skoda and buy a horse instead.

Is Skoda one of those British terms for a woman?

lol

[Thenasty]

Just go bak to DOS 6.22 and Window 3.11 for Workgroup.
No problems there EVER. Just make sure you use old proggies with it.

Wonder if MAME can run in Windows 3.11 ?

[Ed_McCarron]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

Linux?  User friendly?  When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.  My wifes EEEPc is gonna be the end of me.

[HaRuMaN]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.

Umm... you can do this in ubuntu.

[Ed_McCarron]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.

Umm... you can do this in ubuntu.

Nope.  Refuse to believe it.  Those damn penguins are behind this.

[SavannahLion]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.

Umm... you can do this in ubuntu.

Yeah, but try compiling something that's not in the repository. I tried that Perl and ImageMagick and I would've rather have had my dick pulled out by a Dodge pickup on I-80 while riding a Burro naked.....

Oh wait... that was on Windows trying to install Strawberry and ImageMagick. I had zero problems installing Perl and ImageMagick on Ubuntu. Nevermind.

[HaRuMaN]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.

Umm... you can do this in ubuntu.

Nope.  Refuse to believe it.  Those damn penguins are behind this.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Have you tried Linux lately?

The latest build of Kubuntu is really nice, user friendly, etc...

When I can install a program by clicking on it, we'll call it user friendly.

Umm... you can do this in ubuntu.

Yeah, but try compiling something that's not in the repository. I tried that Perl and ImageMagick and I would've rather have had my dick pulled out by a Dodge pickup on I-80 while riding a Burro naked.....

Oh wait... that was on Windows trying to install Strawberry and ImageMagick. I had zero problems installing Perl and ImageMagick on Ubuntu. Nevermind.

Is 'Dodge Pickup' an American term for a woman? 

Seriously though... following this thread makes me wonder what awful Linux distros of yesteryear some of these poor people have been using? My wife runs Ubuntu on a netbook. She wouldn't even know how to find a terminal let alone install an application from it. She's been a linux convert for years after discovering the misery of Vista and the never ending "click. Do you want to do that? Click. Are you sure? Click. Enter a password. Click. Are you sure? Click" followed by "Installing update 1 of 20 billion. Do not turn off your computer"

Linux has been 'click to install' for sooooo long I think you would be amazed. What are you after?

Mame > click to install
A front end like Wah!cade or GMAMEUI > click to install
DVD ripping, DVD burning, MP3 software, Office software, graphics software (including vector editors) > click to install
Future Pinball > click to install

The list goes on and on, and its all for FREE!

And think of all those precious CPU cycles Windows wastes that could be given over to Mortal Kombat wasted on VIRUS SOFTWARE!!! 

[Ed_McCarron]

OK, I tried to install VLC on my wifes EEEPc.  It was kinda painful.  Editing text files, updating repositories, and I -still- have to open a terminal to run it, because Asus decided 'easy' mode means 'you can't change jack' mode.

Oh, and getting firefox to open files in VLC instead of whatever media player it came with that won't play AVI files?  Still painful.

What am I doing wrong?  I've obviously pissed off the wrong penguin.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

What am I doing wrong?  I've obviously pissed off the wrong penguin.

What flavour of Linux are you using? Sounds way too painful to me. Reminds me of a HP netbook my wife owned for about 4 hours running SUSE Enterprise Edition that went back to be swapped for a Mini9 running Ubuntu.

[Ed_McCarron]

I - think- its some flavor of Xandros, but couldn't find the /etc/lsb.release file.  I suspect they customized the heck out of it.

I'm tempted to do an OS reinstall, but I fear ending up with a brick.

[SavannahLion]

I - think- its some flavor of Xandros, but couldn't find the /etc/lsb.release file.  I suspect they customized the heck out of it.

I'm tempted to do an OS reinstall, but I fear ending up with a brick.

I don't have a /etc/lsb.release

cat /proc/version