OS recommendations for Celeron 366 w/128 mb's of RAM

[Salvador]

Hi,

I bought one of those cheapie E-machines systems off of the Hot Deals forum and wanted advice on an OS.

I have Win98SE on a current machine and plan to run Win2K on a machine that I plan to build in a month or so.

I have access to WinME and was thinking that I'd like to try it out on this computer, but if I'm going to run into problems, I'd rather not.

I'm curious about ME because that's the only Windows OS that I haven't used other than Win2K (yet). Oh yeah.. And XP.

Believe it or not, some of the people that picked this thing up are using Win2k. I have no idea how it would run on a Celeron 366.

Side question.. What is the difference between Win2k and Win2k Pro?

TIA,

Sal

I wanted to add that I'm going to run a total of 160 mb's of RAM on this machine; 128 mb's of PC133 and the 32 mb stick of PC100 that comes with this Emachines. Dunno if this makes much difference towards running Win2k if I wanted.

 

[Davegod75]

i'd put win98se on there.

 

[cirrus1]

Win98SE especially when looking at your ram.

The normal version of Windows 2000 for desktop use is called "Professional" and would be the OS of your choice

 

[Shuja]

Hi
I have intalled WIN2K on my Cyrix MIII, which is in every aspect lower than Celeron in performance. I don not facing any problem. So you can opt for WIN 2K Pro. WIn Me is not so encouraging. WIndows 2000 actually has three version. 1. WINDOWS 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advance Server all based on Windows NT Technology. (As such there is no WIN 2000). So best of luck and go for WIN2K Pro

 

[Hullboy]

Salvador

Don't do it! I recently wiped W2K off my crappy "other" machine, which has a Celeron 300 @ around 350. I plan to give this to my sister, but even I wouldn't let her suffer with W2K on such a slow processor. I've put W98 on it now and it seems lightening quick compared to before.

Go with W98 and have more time to actually work/play.

Enjoy

 

[DainBrammage]

What do you plant on using the system for? IF you intend to game with it install Win98SE, If you are going to run buiss apps and such use the Win2kPro Some game will run in 2kPro although not many. Microsoft reccommends 98SE for gaming. I like Me also depending on your HDD space you have available you might also consider dual booting.

Word to the wise upgrade your RAM, espeacially if you intend on using 2kPro. It almost always occupies at least 62MB of RAM at all times.

WIndows 2000 actually has three version. 1. WINDOWS 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advance Server all based on Windows NT Technology. There are four editions of Win2k not three, you left out the Enterprise Edition

 

[Chatterjee]

datacenter server

-S

 

[Shuja]

I gain repeat my words.. WIN 2K is quite OK on Celeron Processor if you have 128MB RAM or more. Dual booting is offcourse best option. I had opted earlier four OS (20 GB HDD). But know have three OS cf. WINNT, WIN98 and WIN 2000 Pro,because Cyrix do not supported by LINUX.

 

[Colt45]

i have a celeron 366 with 96mb ram, and i run NT 4.0. it works great!

 

[OggyDoggy]

I have a 366 Celeron with 128megs.. Win2k works fine on it, even Advanced Server. Of course it doesn't compare to my AMD T-Bird 1000 mhz. .. But the 366 is still ok. If you don't need any of the features of 2000, and it sounds you don't, then go with 98se.

I've tested 98, ME, and Win2k on both machines and like win2k for my 1000 and 98 for my 366.

 

[Hullboy]

Suja

Good point with the RAM. My celeron 300 @ 350 has only 64MB memory, which means the pagefiling is insane.

Salvador - why not try both. Try W2k first, as it's so quick to install. If it's getting on your nerves, switch once and for all to W98, which will certainly be faster.

 

[mackstann]

you forgot win2k datacenter version

 

[Dyngoe]

Hi Y'all,

I, like everyone else have an a$$hole, I mean oppinion. Win2K will work OK on some systems with a C366 and 128mb of ram, but noone has addressed the ONBOARD sound and video. I run 2K on a PII 400 with 128mb of Ram, but I also have an AX6BC mobo and separate video and sound. You will see different results from the resy of us who have separate components. If you are doing mainly business or simple home use, then Win2K. Gaming will not be great no matter what you do, but you will see a significant increase if you use 98se because of the integrated sound and video. I always suggest picking up a copy of 98Lite from 98lite.net. This will give you the cleanest, smallest, most stable 98 OS available. Just use trial and error. If win2K is too slow, use 98 or dual boot. Best of luck.
As Always,
D

 

[Chatterjee]

you could really try using mandrake 8 with blackbox as your window manager. It'll be really zippy and you'll feel like you're on a gigahertz machine. I'm on a pII 233 and the window manager is fast as hell. It's just the programs that are kinda pokey.

-S

 

[Salvador]

Thanks for all the replies!

Just to let you know.. This is basically going to be a second "all around" computer. I plan to surf the internet, play a few fairly simple games on it and maybe run a few business apps in Office.

This thing doesn't have much of a hdd (3.2), but I plan on upgrading to a couple of 4 gb scsi's that my sister's husband can get me from his work.

The only reason why I wanted to run ME is because I haven't tried it yet. I fully plan on using Win2K (the only MS OS according to some) when I build my new Athlon machine later this summer. I'm currently running Win98SE on a work machine because that's what came with it. I've been running Windows 3.1 and 95, even Dos.. Just wanted to try ME out, but if it's going to give me problems, I will forget about it.

Thanks again for the replies!

Sal

 

[OggyDoggy]

ME will not give you problems. It just has a bunch of useless features that most people won't use. (In my opinion). And it's such a hog compared to 98. I will admit that it is a LITTLE more stable than 98.. Just a LITTLE.

 

[Compuguru]

Win98se.

 

[aircooled]

RAM is dirt cheap right now. How about upping it to 256? Win 2k runs sweet on wy wifes machine with PII 333 & 256mb RAM.