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Hello, i have the chance to get windows XP(for cheep). Can anyone think why i should switch from ME to XP. Is it that much better? Thanks to you guys-girls my Me has run very well,am i'm very happy with it. Is their that much more with XP or should i just save my money?.............Thanks
Jim H
If your happy, save your money. XP is great but not so great as to go spend money for no reason when you have no problems. Besides, older computers run faster on previous versions.
Dave.
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and so the can of worms has been opened. expect some strong opinions on this question. Yes, XP is worth the change and will run fine on an 850Mhz PC if configured properly. ME has always been a delicate OS with virtually no troublshooting features built in. Xp on the other hand being a NT OS is as stable as they come and if you do have an issue, you have the ability to find out with the problem is via the admin utilities. Others may say stick with ME and if you dont use the PC much that may be valid BUT, if you want a better multimedia/gaming/stable/secure/just solid OS then XP (prefereably pro and not home but home is still better than ME)
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XP requires much more RAM than does ME to run smoothly (256+ seems to be the consensus, 128 a starting point) - you don't mention how much is installed on your system.
"i'm very happy with it."
That is an important consideration - it is possible to install XP (space permitting) as well as ME and use XP's boot manager to start in either one
Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid. -John Wayne
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Since you're one of a relative few that is happy with ME, there's your answer.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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I was a happy Me user for years...when I installed XP Pro, I did it as a dual boot in case Bill had stuck it to me again.
To make a long story short, all my machines are dual boot. 3.11/98se, 3.11/NT4.0, 95b/NT4.0, 98se/2000, Me/2000, and 98se/XP.
I like having the advantages of DOS base and NT base OS's on each machine.
Personally, I'd go for it. More and more programs, utilities, multimedia software, applications, games and so forth just won't work on anything less than XP.
Skip
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Hi SkipCox,
I'm still waitin' for the app I need that won't run without XP.
I spent several years doing computer support for the University of Md Asian Division. Plenty of PhDs, so not much common sense.
About once a quarter they'd go through this thrash of, "We gotta upgrade hardware."
The following quarter it was "We gotta upgradw software".
You cab guess the rest.
What they never quite "got" was that they were caught in a feeding frenzy.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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M2,
Talkin' about new stuff written only for XP.
Most is no more functional than versions that will run on 95b and much of it has MS behind to do the pushing.Media Player 10, latest video card drivers, assorted utilities, Acrobat 7, blah blah blah.
Latest games are falling in line behind XP too.
I responded to a thread in the Win3.x forum the other day essentially saying that XP and XP Office Pro don't work any better than an 8088/6.22/Works2/2400 baud modem does to get work done.
"so not much common sense."
Bullshirt...I don't want to hear that again! We both know better.
WMP 10 won't do much more than WMP 7, but WMP 10 only runs on XP. Omega dropped development of ATI drivers for patforms like 98se, a bunch of well written utilities won't run on 98 or Me and much of it won't have anything to do with 2000 SP4 either. It's certainy a shame and it doesn't cripple folks like us either. Sad part is that folks like us take a back seat to sales, profits, and the bucket full of crap that goes with it.
"so not much common sense."
...can't get over that one.
Cheers, hope the Thai weather is nice.
Skip
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Hi James
I hesitate to enter into this one. I really don't want to lock horns with Mike again! But:-
If you are gaming, you will NOT get the same performance from an 850MHz machine on any version of XP that you will on Me.
Sorry Mike, but from your list of XP advantages i.e. MultiMedia, Gaming, Stability, "Just Solid" and Security, the only one I can give you the benefit of the doubt on is Security, though I have never had any security problems myself.
But then one out of five ain't bad! (Apologies to Meatloaf).
So to James I would say "Stick with Me"
To Mike I would say, please don't use too much of your energy on rebutting this one. I need your "Windows" expertise on a new post I am about to submit under "Stupidity"
Regards to you all.
Stuart
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Dont sweat it Stuart, it aint my money so I dont care what he uses. You like ME, I use XP/2K/NT O/S's. As for the gaming, if you set XP up correctly, it'll game just fine. I've seen it run great on a P3 450 w/256MB. At that point it depends more on video card....
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I'm tempted to reply Mike but this isn't really the place.
As I've said before, helping other people is what these forums are really for, not airing our own prejudices.
Even if we opened our own forum on this subject it would only become partisan depending on what people use their PC's for.
So I'll just close by wishing James all the best, whatever he decides to do.
Regards to all.
Stuart
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Stuart - you took what I said in a way that I didnt mean it. I wasnt trying to argue, just saying that XP can run great on lower spec'd PC's. The number of people that slam ME are normally ones that have never actually used it (and base it on 'what they have heard fromn a friend') and I understand completely your frustration on that level. Actaully a few years back when ME came out and there were tons of flame posts about ME being garbage I defended the hell out of it as the issue was the new AMD chipset and no one knew they needed to update and install new VIA 4in1 chipset drivers. I used it/tested it for about 6 month's and my main complaints were from a NW/NT Domain/Security standpoint but, that really isnt what it was made for. I was just trying to convey that Xp (or 2KPro for that matter) has its benefits and can run well on a lower spec'd system assuming you know how to configure it. Really not trying to argue as I respect your opinions and knowledge as you have proven yourself to know what you are talking about. We got off on the wrong foot and for that I apologize. ME isn't a bad OS, I just think XP is better. But my opinion is based on my needs, not yours. Cool?
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I love me some XP -vs- ME thread...
I have an old p3 box with 512 ram. Clean installs of ME and XP on seperate same model drives selected with a trios hd selector. I have ran this rig for many many years. It came with 98se on it i upgraded the week ME came out. Thats how i landed a this forum way back when.
The pros of XP.. more toys.. more drivers.. newer/compatible with new software.. etc etc.
The pros of windows me.. quicker.. XP is sluggish compared to it. I dont care what anyone says.. i myself have used both operating systems for over 5 years on the same machine and windows me is faster.. loading up.. gaming.. shutdown.. burning media.. you name it. The cursor never sticks.. windows never lock up.. it runs perfectly. XP runs great also.. just has some speed issues.. software lags while loading.. startup is a longer wait etc etc.
Security and stability are relative terms.. show me any rock solid OS and ill show you a million users who can muck it up with horoscope software and the likes.
Software compatibility.. works both ways.. I have seen new software that wont operate or even install on winme. I recently upgraded a clients win95 pc that ran his home automation system. About a week in XP's security blocked the ipx/spx protocol for some reason. Im not a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination but i went over and poked around making sure to appear as if i knew what i was doing and i decided to uninstall and reinstall the protocol and it communicated again. That was over a year ago and last month XP blocked it again. When i get back out there im giving him win2k whether he likes it or not :).
Point is.. as many have said over and over.. best to figure out what your needs are because there is absolutely no BEST operating system. For best results cleanly install a full version of the operating system you choose and for god sakes dont let anyone download horoscope software.
I had a bad experience i dont care to share involving horoscope software. If your a horoscope software vendor please dont hate me.
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I am just expecting a new machine with XP Pro and from what I've read here, I think I will have 2 partitions one for ME and one for XP, I'll have 756 RAM. I have started to design websites for clients.
Any suggestions will be fully appreciated folks. Do you think it will be better to add a new HD only with ME? Do you have any utility to switch from one to another not having to go to the BIOS at start up?
Thanks
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I wouldn't use ME or XP.
I would install 98se, then w2k, which will set up a dual boot for you.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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