Poll: Why upgrade to WIN2000????? Why not stay at WIN 98 SE?

[Noriaki]

lol Win98SE can't do anything useful with that much RAM Win2k can though.

Anyhow, I just wanted to add something that I forgot...

Win9x is not an optimized gaming platform. Win9x is the OS that most home users use (and most gamers are home users), so games were optimized to Win9x, Win9x is not optimzed to them. The other alternative until recently was NT4, which is not much of a home OS, it's business only and not much used for gaming.

Well now NT5 is out, and games are still optimized for Win9x because they already were. I promise you as new games start to come out that are optimized for NT5 (becuase of XP Personal), Win2k/XP will perform as well as Win9x for gaming. Professional 3D applications all run under Windows NT...if it's good enough for the 3D Professionals, I think it's good enough for 3D Gamers.

Also we need more effort put into NT5 drivers, nVidia is working well in that area. Several games run just as well if not better on nVidia cards under Win2k as they do in Win98. And that will become the standard for the future.

 

[Verygreedy]

cool.. UPS guy is here. I see the truck .. Ill be busy for a while.. later.!

 

[Verygreedy]

BUMPITY

 

[Innoka]

Windows 98 will do for many people but I think the crafty ME which copes with dubious installations attempting to replace core system files is wiser. It's quaint how ME is a 16/32 system but won't let you restart in DOS, as if DOS is some alien devil when its a closer relation to it than neanderthals are to homo sapiens.
I like Windows 2000. I cann't play old games, but who else does now?

 

[polar]

can someone clarify this for me?

while lots of you are saying that most games work well on win2k, i've seen most EA games have "NT/2000 not supportted" on their boxes. this is the main reason holding me back from win2k despite all the possitive reviews about it.

so for those of you who are running win2k, have you been able to play NHL2000, shogun-total war, and etc. with it? and exactly how bad those radeon drivers are? (since i'm getting one)

 

[Mr. Burns]

There are tons of guides out there for setting up dual-boot configurations. They all say pretty much the same thing as it is a relatively straight-forward procedure. Here are a few one at random in no particular order..

Zdnet dual boot guide
another dual boot guide
Another frickin dual boot guide

As for win2k tweaking in general, check out this thread for many links..

EDIT: deleted misbehaving link

 

[OliverP]

i decided to go to win2k last week on my gaming system... big mistake... sorta...

for all other uses, win2k is great (networking, surfing, etc), but for gaming, it's just pointless... im back to win98se for gaming...

stick to 98se for gaming bro. simple.

until XP comes out which is supposed to be the multimedia-friendly version of the 2k kernel (win2k is a damn fine OS overall considering it's MS! it shows promise for microsloth)...

or, be like me, build 5 systems... linux * 2, bsd, win2k, 98se...

 

[lesch2k]

microsoft has a tool you can download that scans your system for potential problems (driver conflicts etc), in going from 98 to 2k. i used this and it was helpful. Win2k has given me increased stability, it is worth installing.

 

[Noriaki]

polar: The EA games are bad for some reason. I don't personally play any of those. But those are the only games I've heard of more than one person having issues with.

And Win2k isn't superior to Win98SE with current games, because they are designed to Win98. But inherently just on the qualities of the OS, Win2k is a better gaming OS than Win98 is. But since game designers optimize and design to suit Win98, Win2k loses that edge.

In current games Win98SE is the best choice for a gaming OS.
In most cases the difference between Win2k and Win98SE in gaming is fairly negligible. But for future games, Win2k will own Win98SE.




<< until XP comes out which is supposed to be the multimedia-friendly version of the 2k kernel >>

Is that what they are calling it now?
WinXP is Win2k with IE6, WMP8, System Restore, a fancier login screen, skins and MS Authorized Activation. IE6 and WMP8 can be downloaded if you really want them (they are still beta now, but you will be able to download them eventually). If you like the skins or the colourful login screen well you are SOL with Win2k, but you don't have to ask MS to Activate your OS for you. I've used the Beta...don't be fooled.

WinXP adds Skins and System Restore (maybe you want one or both if you do that's great) but that's really the only difference of importance.

WinXP is just a frontend overhaul of Win2k. The Kernel is the same.

 

[nortexoid]

i was led to believe that WinXP was NOT using a kernel similar to win2k's...in fact, it was seen as more an upgrade for win98SE than win2k was..

win2k was intended for business, professionals, etc...not consumer home users, where as winXP is...

 

[badguy]

Very simple, I have two processors.

 

[Noriaki]

<< i was led to believe that WinXP was NOT using a kernel similar to win2k's... >>

Then you were lead astray, Win2k = NT5.0, WinXP = NT5.1 they are as similar as Win98 and WinME are.



<< in fact, it was seen as more an upgrade for win98SE than win2k was.. >>

That's true, there is WinXP Personal that is intended to replace Win98 and WinME. Win2000 Pro was as step in the direction, but wasn't meant to completely replace Win9x in the home market. WinXP is finally bringing NT to the home market.



<< win2k was intended for business, professionals, etc...not consumer home users, where as winXP is... >>

Win2k Pro is being replaced with WinXP Pro and Win98SE/ME are being replaced with Win XP Personal. Win XP Personal is a stripped down Pro, but the Kernel is the same.

Personal lacks Dual monitor support, Dual CPU support, it can't join domains, and it has far fewer services, and fewer remote users allowed as compared to Win2k/XP Pro. But the kernel is the same.

Microsoft has made several attempts to bring home users to the NT level. Win2000 is a step in that direction. There was also projects called Neptune and Oddessy that never made it to retail (though much of the R&amp;D and technology is used in both Win2000 and WinXP). They are finally doing it with WinXP.

WinXP is a full 32bit OS based around Win2000 you can even see that tag line on MS's winXP website. WinXP Personal is going to replace Win9x, but it's not based on it.

 

[Howard]

My friend gained an ~5 FPS more in games, and never had less of a frame rate the from 98SE. Stable as heck, MUCH cleaner interface, more tweakability (just have to know where to look), etc.

 

[Tib]

Win2k supports multiple processors
Win98 does not

support for files over 2 gigs

there is an option to combine multiple hard disks to one single drive letter - a GREAT feature for a 1/3 terabyte mp3 collection. 4 80's 320 gigs total 1 drive letter, can't do that w/ win98, can you?

I don't play games, so I wouldn't notice

I leave 2k on for 2-3 weeks, sometimes a month, don't even notice that the computer is on. It's the fileserver for my house. It HAS to stay on all day and stable, win98 not good enough.

More tweaks, just have to know how (and I don't )...BTW, someone said that already, I think.

Server tools! And IIS included (it's in nt4 server I think, but definately not in win98, unless you can get it separately, maybe?)

dualboot, woohoo!

Win98 can't handle more than 768 MB of RAM. I saw a thread with a link on that here before. Win2k can use 2 gigs' worth and even more if you motherboard can take it. Why do you have a motherboard that can take 2 gigs of RAM, but use win98 which can only use 768?

That's all I can think of now...but I know that there are tons of other reasons to upgrade to win2k. It handles IRQ's better as well, at least that's what I've noticed from my experiences.

Tibor

 

[datalink7]

does Win2k work well with Litestep? I currently use it, and like the layout enough to want to keep it.

 

[skace]

I use litestep sometimes with win2k. Make sure you know how to change the shell manually before hand or else you could get stuck in a poorly configured litestep shell and be stuck. It is in the Registry, I have the path at home.

I will reiterate from before, 2k is just plain sexy. I use 2k as a gaming machine. The problems I've had so far? Had a problem with Diablo2, but decided to run it in windowed mode to fix this, some refresh rate issue. Ran nice in windowed mode anyways. The only EA game I have is Clive Barker's Undying, runs great in win2k. I _think_ when I was at college I ran Police Quest 1 on my 2k box, can't remember if it was before or after I installed 2k though.

Anyways, the problems with games in 2k are about as consistent as they are in 9x (except more stable). When a new game comes out go to it's website and check the forums, both people in 9x and 2k will have some problems...

 

[bigbootydaddy]

I Wanna switch to 2k this weekend, as long as the following work: Broodwar, CS, diablo 2, and baulders gate. maybe red alert 2 also.

but yeah, the radeon in my system scares me to upgrade. gonna have to when ups sends my dual setup.

 

[skace]

I play Diablo2 and CS in windowed mode. Although, CS works fine at full screen. Broodwar,Baldurs Gate, and RA2 work perfectly fine. You shouldn't have any trouble playing these games, just make sure you get the right drivers for your video and audio cards.

 

[Mustanggt]

I have a Radeon and am using dual boot WinME/2K and the 2K is faster surfing the web and launching apps but Games are a no go because of ATIs lack of drivers. The only reason I have dual boot is so i can swith back and forth to see the differences in OSs. What home user really needs dual boot not me. I managed to get 2k tweaked enough to get 4000s 3d mark scores but the frame rates are still really choppy not something to play multiplayer game on. If ATI gets there act together and makes better drivers Im going with 2K.

 

[Doggiedog]

Actually, Mustanggt I think it is a good idea for everyone to have dual-boot. The main reason I have it is in case one OS gets trashed, I can recover the data on the HDD through my other OS.

A couple months ago, my system got trashed by a virus but I was able to recover all the jpgs of my baby using the other OS and was able to burn them onto a CD.

 

[Raincity]

Electronic Arts has a no Win2k support policy. This only applies to tech support since there staff has not been trained to handle issues in Win2k. EA has alot of titles that will run in Win2k right out of the box Like &quot;American Mcgee's Alice&quot; Some of the EA sportsd titles had some issues in Win2k and I believe the Febuary release of the Win2k compatibility updates adressed these EA sports titles.

Rain

 

[gcliv]

bigbootydaddy:

I have a Radeon and I play Broodwar, Diablo2 and Red Alert 2 just fine on 2k. I dont know about CS and baldurs.

 

[Verygreedy]

BUMPA

 

[tyski]

anybody who says 98 is better than 2k is missing what is probably a law of nature, old technology cannot be superior to new technology, we don't seem to be degenerating technologically (at least i hope not )

 

[Gorgonzola]

am i the only person that has better performance in games under win2k than win98 ?