What os should i use

Posted by Cold-Variation4697@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 11 comments

I have a pc with pentium 3 ram 256 mb and sis 6326 VGA 40gigs of ram What should i select between windows 98 and 2000

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rpocc@reddit

For work and internet: 2000 or even XP with turned off themes. For old games: 98.

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frsbrzgti@reddit

Puppy Dog Linux or Similar low effort Linux if you want to just do something unique

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pinko_zinko@reddit

WinMe and Won2K dual boot. Just install the 9x based OS first and leave space for a larger 2K position.

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BoltLayman@reddit

Windows98 has the best diversity and variety :-)

Actually despite it being somewhat single user and not adapted for multiprocessing/tasking - it was the mainstream.

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OpeningLetterhead343@reddit

This. I was running a p3 800 in 2001 with win2k pro. Also ran it on a k6-2 400 I think.

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Maeglin75@reddit

If you mostly want to play DOS-Games, then Win98 is the OS of choice. It has the option to directly boot into a real DOS-Mode, that later versions of Windows lack.

If you don't care that much about DOS, the dreaded Windows Millennium may be actually worth a consideration.

It's still part of the Win9x family and has good compatibility with most (Windows) software of the time.

Compared with Win98, ME offers, for example, better USB-support, protection of system files and a system recovery function.

The file protection and recovery functions help with the problem of older Windows versions, that all software can meddle with important system files, while lacking proper uninstall features that would restore the Windows installation to the former state. Because of this, it is basically required to do a clean reinstall of Windows relatively frequently, to get it back into a fast and stable condition.

A Windows ME installation can work for many years without degrading, like modern Windows versions. I have an original ME installation on my retro PC that is now over 20 years old and runs like on its first day.

How good the experience with ME is, depends mostly on the quality of drivers for the components of the system. If there are proper ME drivers available, the stability problems that got ME such a bad reputation back then shouldn't occur. The more common the components were, the better are the chances for good drivers.

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