"I would think it would be better just have a clean copy of the OS on the machine from the beginning..." Just wipe and reinstall, and you have a clean copy. Waiting to buy computers (unless you current machine is already sufficient) is futile. They are constantly changing, there is no "future proofing". "No rush, in fact I was thinking of getting a new machine without any OS installed. No matter how many people told I am crazy, I want to get a copy of ME or 98SE to install on it!" They were correct. Unless there is specific software you want to run that requires those obsolete OSs, doing so is a waste of time. A modern computer could also run them using VMWare or Virtual PC, so you could still play with them and easily reload the image when expedient.

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dw33b Yep, sooner or later we all have to move up (if only to be able to change hardware and get software for it). I don't deny that XP is a better system technically (those fiddling W9x resources are a joke for starters) but as XP is often put on much later machines then the improved hardware also has some bearing on the overall performance advantage that some folk see. In my case (so far) W98SE does everything I want and also gives me the waning luxury of being able to tailor it much more readily than later systems. Being stuck with even more that MS foist upon us is the one negative I have about moving on. It's horses for courses. Maybe Linux might have been better for me, if I'd have had the courage. DerekW

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"Maybe Linux might have been better for me, if I'd have had the courage." Courage no longer required! Installing Linux is now easier than installing Win9x, and there is ample help on the web. A very easy to sample Linux without worrying about screwing it up is to download and burn a Kanotix live CD. (Very nice for rescuing broken Windows and Linux systems too.)You can easily install from that same CD, and surf the web while doing it! http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/computing/installing-linux/ I'm not an OS evangelist, I'll run whatever does the job. I reload lots of Win98 boxes for people, and understand that it is still a useful basic OS. Trouble being, it isn't especially stable and although driverguide.com is a huge help, driver hunts aren't great fun, nor is adding drivers so it sees your modern hardware when installing. Even with XP I need to slipstream SATA drivers, but with any recent Linux distro I'm covered. I suggest trying every OS you can get your hands on. The experience is useful.

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dw33b Managed to get this W98SE box ultra stable over the years (still on Nov99 format) so that kinda reduces the incentive to get off my backside and venture further while it does the job. However, you made some good points, which I shall certainly bear in mind when I hit the next cross road. Thx for the insight. DerekW

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Of course they will psuh Vista that is where they are counting on their money stream . This pushes a whole new round of hardware upgrades too so the pc makers will psush that because to run this OS it is reccomended to have at least a gig of ram which is ridiculous just for a OS along with high graphics cards if you want to have all the GUI bells and whistles . I'll hold out with my ME until I can get browsers that will work with ME anymore or stuff like open office won't work or the spyware and AV programs won't run on ME . My other option is to upgrade my ram to 512 and get XP which may be my direction .

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