Customer Reviews

Windows 98: Second Edition

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I don't buy 'bleeding-edge' operating systems and softwares anymore unless they've been out on the market for at least 3 months. Historically Microsoft has been so eager to make sales that most of their products have been released half-baked & the customer winds up risking invaluable data by installing them, wasting hours of time diagnosing problems that can't be fixed by an end user, and investing a significant amount of money in hemorroidal ointments. The 2nd Edition of Win98 is what the 1st Edition of Win98 should have been (in fact, it's what the 1st Edition of Win95 should have been). The 1st Edition of Win98 was garbage; a lot of hype, a lot of stuff most people remove once installed, and a total pig on system resources. This 2nd Edition is stable enough to risk upgrading from Win95 for production and home stations and has enough fixes in it to warrant its price. One recommendation: if you can avoid it, don't buy the Win98 2nd Edition Upgrade as it's buggier than Win98 1st Edition. Install Win98 2nd Edition from scratch. I know the Win98 2nd Edition 'Upgrade' is cheaper. There's a reason for it, people.

Windows 98 Second Edition is as perfect a balance between stability and compatibility as Microsoft has so far achieved. The Milenium Edition (ME) Upgrade only curbed the compatibility a bit and slowed things down, and Windows 2000 is stable as a rock but lacks support for lots of software and hardware.

Oddly enough, Windows 98 (the first edition) was the worst version of Windows in a long time, but Second Edition put things back in perspective quite nicely.

Ever since Win 3.1 became obsolete, I've been complaining bitterly about how '95 and the first version of '98 have been so unstable, have more lock-ups, software conflicts, blue-screens of death and many other problems. Win 98 second edition seems to have plugged most of the holes in that particular dam, and I've had a lot less headaches. It also offers a few new features that enable password/text memory and some other little goodies that made the second edition a better deal. Between this O/S and Microsoft Office 2000, my world has been pretty stable, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief!

Windows 98 Is a huge improvement over Win 95 and compared to what's out there it's the best. Linux is getting better but still not user friendly, OS/2 is dead, and the MAC OS just does not have any software so compare to the rest it's the best. If you are going to install it on a server or workstation I would recommend Windows NT, or Windows 2000, if you know what you are doing linux. One thing about Windows 98 if you play with it too much trying to tweak it, it will crash so buyer be ware. Windows 98 will fill your HD will full of junk, but once again compared to what's out there it's the best. User friendly, has allot of support and allot of software.

After reading just some of the 'horror stories' of Windows 98SE written here, I have to say BUNK! I've used Windows 98 since it was introduced, upgrading from Windows 95. I upgraded to Win98SE when the Second Edition became available. I Still use Windows 98SE today.

I have used this OS on countless laptops/notebooks, and Desktop and Tower PCs in various makes and models: IBM, Toshiba, Compaq, and even generic self-built systems using a plethora of hardware.

It isn't that I haven't used other Windows systems such as 2000 ME, XP and XP Professional, because I have. It is my standard practice, that unless I am selling a system to a client that wants a later operating system, I will re-partition the Hard Drives and reformat it and then install Windows 98SE in its place. It is the most widely acceptable OS that I know of today that runs almost all current software programs on the market today. I use Windows 98SE to create DVD videos, to run blue tooth networking devices between various computers (also running the WIN98SE platform), and almost 365 days out of every year, the system works flawlessly. I have also used the WIN98SE network support to create 10/100 wired networks -- although I prefer Blue Tooth's wireless capability.

Again, I simply cannot believe some of the horror stories bantered around here by so-called reviews of Windows 98SE. While it is still available, I highly recommend that if you are looking for a great, stable operating system for a used or new computer, that you consider the many advantages of Windows 98SE. Frank Reichert (frank.reichert@excite.com)

Like all products released by Microsoft, Windows 98 has its fair share of bugs. But even the Second edition is so buggy and unstable that it is insane to use in any type of production environment. Unless your only concern is for cool desktops and extra toys that have no real meaning to actually working on the PC, don't bother with upgrading to Windows 98. If you are looking for a full install go ahead and move to NT, the full version install of 98 isn't any better than the upgrade. So either save your money and stick with Windows 95 or make the jump to NT, because Windows 98 is a bust no matter what edition it is.

I am 54 yrs old and have avoided computers all my life because I didn't think I could ever learn to use one. I had an opportunity to play witha friends PC which had Windows 98 on it. It was wonderfully easy. In a few minutes I was clicking right along. It couldn't have been more user friendly. This PC has since been updated to Windows 98 SE and then fun and ease of use is even better. It's an old PC and hasn't crashed once since this program was put on. I highly recommend it to everyone for ease of installation and smoothness of running. Lots of sofware available to shake hands with it too. Keep computing.

Stable for general use and dual booting a PC, if you need to run programs that need DOS but also want Windows, try this.

Be aware that if you ever wish to try out Linux, or if Windows XP is no longer recognized, your Windows XP upgrade will not work. So do you go out and buy the full version? Well, I am not in favor of paying Bill (Gates) three times for the same thing. So I bought a second hand Windows 98 Second Edition. I Installed 98. I was then able to install my XP upgrade. Well, actually you don't need to install 98. You can boot off the XP disk, and when it asks you, swap it with your 98 disk, to verify your upgrade. Swap back the XP disk and it will install.

This is by far the best operating system that Microsoft has ever created. I don't know why some of these reviews are complaining of problems. I use this operating system on most of my computers; as soon as I buy a system I immediately format the hard drive and load Windows 98 SE. In 10 years I have never had a problem. Most of the problems that I read are attributed to manufacturer hard coding for a particular operating system, and simple hardware problems.
Windows 98SE stopped problems that occurred in Win95 where a program could freeze your system. Even that Win95 later became available in Fat32, the first versions were in Fat16. Win98 started out using Fat32.
Also, the reason why it is touted as the best gaming system still out there is simple. It takes up less memory and hard drive space to operate. All later operating systems produced by Microsoft are extremely resource intensive. One last note, all modern viruses are being created for the new operating systems. Therefore, Windows 98 SE is safer, faster, and more reliable than ever. Good luck.