Microsoft Windows 98 - complete package

Fixes fixes Fixes....
That is my description of Windows 98.
Reason being is...
It is simply Windows 95 in some new clothes.
If you dress a dog up in a dinner jacket and take it to a restaurant, feed it fine steak, give it champagne, its still a dog isnt it?
Same as Win 98.
A couple of housekeeping improvements to the operating system with cosmetic touches does not make a new piece of software.

What is different?
Menus that slide out of the start menu. They dont just appear. They slide out. It gives it a more fluid look but its not really rocket science is it?

Thats about it for surface changes. Well, its all you will notice.

The main difference were supposed to be underneath. Keeping your system stable and running smoothly was its main goal.

How it failed.

To have it running successfully when it wsa first released was impossible. The machines available then were not powerful enough to take the new technology.
32Mb of RAM were minimum. I had 64Mb and it used to fall over. I now have 384Mb and it STILL falls over. Thats running a P3 800 too!

Its a terrible system. It cant reallocate memory properly. It tries to reclaim with no success at all.
Instead, it runs out of memory and the graphics on the windows become big.
Then it crashes.
It should not be doing this. In fact, you can garauntee that after 2 or 3 hours, it needs shutting down and restarting.

I first thought it was a bad install. I tried reinstalling myself and trying again.
No Joy.

I tried the various fixes and patches from Microsoft.
No Joy.

It just goes to show you what a badly engineered piece of software it is if its had 3 releases.
Updates, yeah.
Not whole re-releases.
It was so bug ridden when it came out that people lost faith in Microsoft.
Basically, it was released too soon. To keep up with its competitors.
Not enough testing involved left them with Egg on their face.

For development for Frontpage, its fairly average.
True, it does come with a version of Personal Web Server. So you can actuate Web applications from your desktop. Its not as powerful as IIS but it makes headway into the home web building market.

Alternatives are upgrading to Windows 2000.
Much more stable but not as compatible for games.

The New system for the home market, Whistler, is meant to blow us all away.
Lets just hope it does not take 4 years to iron out the bugs.