Windows 95/98/ME Slightly OT - W98 or NT?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter in New Zealand
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P

Peter in New Zealand

My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
I think from anyone who has used it.

I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
easily if I want to.

On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
it and my other machine without difficulty.
--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Peter in New Zealand wrote:
> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
> I think from anyone who has used it.
>
> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98, I
> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of?

NT4 is less stable than Win98?

> I will be imaging
> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
> easily if I want to.
>
> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
> it and my other machine without difficulty.
> --
> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
> compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Oh boy, aaahhm, your likely not going to like NT4 on that limited memory,
disk space, and processor computer. Also, NT4 wasn't exactly the friendliest
environment for most home users. If you're thinking that it would be much
better with your XP [and VISTA if you have it] computers, personally I don't
think you would like it very much. Let me modify that a bit by this: if you
were interested in how *old NT* is compared to 2000, XP and above, then it
would certainly be useful as a learning tool.
Note though, that NTFS, file sharing, and a lot other are different, and
you would need to get some files to connect it properly to your XP machines.

You may also have difficulties finding drivers, and applications.

Not a choice we can make for you of course.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
| My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
| this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
| on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
| experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
| Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
| I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
| quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
| I think from anyone who has used it.
|
| I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
| and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
| know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
| the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
| easily if I want to.
|
| On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
| in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
| it and my other machine without difficulty.
| --
| Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
| Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
| compulsive computer fiddler.
 
He said it's MORE stable. Read the sentence again.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:uioY2fE0IHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Peter in New Zealand wrote:
>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
>> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
>> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
>> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
>> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
>> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
>> I think from anyone who has used it.
>>
>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98, I
>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of?
>
> NT4 is less stable than Win98?
>
>> I will be imaging
>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
>> easily if I want to.
>>
>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
>> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
>> it and my other machine without difficulty.
>> --
>> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
>> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
>> compulsive computer fiddler.
>
>
 
"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:uioY2fE0IHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Peter in New Zealand wrote:
> > My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
> > this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
> > on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
> > experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
> > Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
> > I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
> > quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
> > I think from anyone who has used it.
> >
> > I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> > and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98, I
> > know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of?
>
> NT4 is less stable than Win98?
>
Ach! Silly me - and I really *did* read through my post before hitting the
send button. Of course what I *meant* was, "I would gain stability from
switching from 98 to NT4. . . ."

My question about possible down sides still stands though (grin) Thanks for
pointing out my typo.

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
"MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uIZ8uhE0IHA.1768@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> Oh boy, aaahhm, your likely not going to like NT4 on that limited memory,
> disk space, and processor computer. Also, NT4 wasn't exactly the
friendliest
> environment for most home users. If you're thinking that it would be much
> better with your XP [and VISTA if you have it] computers, personally I
don't
> think you would like it very much. Let me modify that a bit by this: if
you
> were interested in how *old NT* is compared to 2000, XP and above, then it
> would certainly be useful as a learning tool.

Would NT4 not be pretty comfortable in 128 Mbytes of RAM with a 366 Mhz CPU?
I take your point about drivers, but there are drivers for NT4 provided on
the CD that came with the machine. I have had quite a lot of experience
using Windoes 2000 which is the next one up, but it's a bit sluggush on the
laptop, hence my query re NT4. Thank you for your thoughts.

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Peter in New Zealand wrote:
> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:uioY2fE0IHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Peter in New Zealand wrote:
>>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>>> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
>>> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
>>> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
>>> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
>>> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
>>> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
>>> I think from anyone who has used it.
>>>
>>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98, I
>>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of?
>>
>> NT4 is less stable than Win98?
>>
> Ach! Silly me - and I really *did* read through my post before hitting the
> send button. Of course what I *meant* was, "I would gain stability from
> switching from 98 to NT4. . . ."
>
> My question about possible down sides still stands though (grin) Thanks
> for
> pointing out my typo.

Well actually, (as Gary just pointed out), I think it's my bad, as I misread
it! You did say gain stability from switching *to* NT4, so, my bad.
Sorry. :-)
 
Right. My bad. Sorry!

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> He said it's MORE stable. Read the sentence again.
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com
>
> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:uioY2fE0IHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Peter in New Zealand wrote:
>>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>>> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
>>> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
>>> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
>>> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
>>> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
>>> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
>>> I think from anyone who has used it.
>>>
>>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98, I
>>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of?
>>
>> NT4 is less stable than Win98?
>>
>>> I will be imaging
>>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
>>> easily if I want to.
>>>
>>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
>>> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
>>> it and my other machine without difficulty.
>>> --
>>> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
>>> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
>>> compulsive computer fiddler.
 
"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
> I think from anyone who has used it.
>
> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
> easily if I want to.
>
> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
> it and my other machine without difficulty.


I have used NT4 and as a matter of fact still use it from time to time
and it is definitely more stable than Win98...but of course it does not have
USB support.

OTOH: If your win98 is working just fine...I'd leave it alone.


Also, if you simply just like to fool around with operating systems etc...
you may want to try Linux on that machine. Office 97 should run Ok under
WINE...
 
philo wrote:
> "Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
> news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
>> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
>> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
>> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
>> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
>> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
>> I think from anyone who has used it.
>>
>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
>> easily if I want to.
>>
>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
>> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
>> it and my other machine without difficulty.
>
>
> I have used NT4 and as a matter of fact still use it from time to time
> and it is definitely more stable than Win98...but of course it does not have
> USB support.
>
> OTOH: If your win98 is working just fine...I'd leave it alone.
>
>
> Also, if you simply just like to fool around with operating systems etc...
> you may want to try Linux on that machine. Office 97 should run Ok under
> WINE...
>
>
Good thought. Yes, I DO enjoy fiddling about with operating systems, but
I am really trying to work out the best OS for the laptop. I would use
Win 2000 which I also have a license for but it's a bit sluggish, though
workable. But there's a couple of strange issues with it - one being
that it seems to always think it is on AC power and fully charged,
regardless of whether it's on power or battery, and the touchpad seems
to be a bit flakey. Also for some reason I have no hibernate with 2K.

But, as you so rightly point out, if 98 is running OK then perhaps I
should just leave well alone. Trouble is, after fiddling with computers
since the Sinclair ZX80 came out I find it hard to stop trying to get
just that extra teensy weensy little improvement. But perhaps I'm
getting too old for this sort of geeky fiddling, and need to, as you so
rightly say, just learn to flippin' leave well alone.

Thanks for the comments, which I appreciate. I must say that 98 IS
ticking along pretty well on the whole.

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Peter in New Zealand wrote:

> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4
> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if
> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly
> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
> I think from anyone who has used it.
>
> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
> easily if I want to.
>
> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
> it and my other machine without difficulty.

NT4 doesn't have a device manager, and has no plug&play, which can make it
hard to get your hardware working. It doesn't support fat32, which can be a
problem on multi-boot systems.
 
"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213695080.506395@ftpsrv1...
> philo wrote:
> > "Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
> > news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
> >> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
> >> this. The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4
> >> on it. I have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and
> >> experience of this group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for
NT4
> >> Workstation he hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me
if
> >> I want it. Apart from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are
fairly
> >> quiet now-a-days I think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here
> >> I think from anyone who has used it.
> >>
> >> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> >> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
> >> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
> >> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
> >> easily if I want to.
> >>
> >> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
> >> in a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between
> >> it and my other machine without difficulty.
> >
> >
> > I have used NT4 and as a matter of fact still use it from time to time
> > and it is definitely more stable than Win98...but of course it does not
have
> > USB support.
> >
> > OTOH: If your win98 is working just fine...I'd leave it alone.
> >
> >
> > Also, if you simply just like to fool around with operating systems
etc...
> > you may want to try Linux on that machine. Office 97 should run Ok under
> > WINE...
> >
> >
> Good thought. Yes, I DO enjoy fiddling about with operating systems, but
> I am really trying to work out the best OS for the laptop. I would use
> Win 2000 which I also have a license for but it's a bit sluggish, though

> workable. But there's a couple of strange issues with it - one being
> that it seems to always think it is on AC power and fully charged,
> regardless of whether it's on power or battery, and the touchpad seems
> to be a bit flakey. Also for some reason I have no hibernate with 2K.
>
> But, as you so rightly point out, if 98 is running OK then perhaps I
> should just leave well alone. Trouble is, after fiddling with computers
> since the Sinclair ZX80 came out I find it hard to stop trying to get
> just that extra teensy weensy little improvement. But perhaps I'm
> getting too old for this sort of geeky fiddling, and need to, as you so
> rightly say, just learn to flippin' leave well alone.
>
> Thanks for the comments, which I appreciate. I must say that 98 IS
> ticking along pretty well on the whole.
>
>

Yes...I'd probably just keep things as they are but if you really want to
fool around a bit
you can always try Damn Small Linux

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

a 50 meg download and it will run right from a bootable cd
if you want to perform a HD installation that's an option.
I recently setup a few P1's with it and it worked great, though to run WINE
you'd have to add that package.
it's not included on the 50 meg download
 
"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213686899.822099@ftpsrv1...
|
| "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message
| news:uIZ8uhE0IHA.1768@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
| >
| > Oh boy, aaahhm, your likely not going to like NT4 on that limited
memory,
| > disk space, and processor computer. Also, NT4 wasn't exactly the
| friendliest
| > environment for most home users. If you're thinking that it would be
much
| > better with your XP [and VISTA if you have it] computers, personally I
| don't
| > think you would like it very much. Let me modify that a bit by this: if
| you
| > were interested in how *old NT* is compared to 2000, XP and above, then
it
| > would certainly be useful as a learning tool.
|
| Would NT4 not be pretty comfortable in 128 Mbytes of RAM with a 366 Mhz
CPU?
| I take your point about drivers, but there are drivers for NT4 provided on
| the CD that came with the machine. I have had quite a lot of experience
| using Windoes 2000 which is the next one up, but it's a bit sluggush on
the
| laptop, hence my query re NT4. Thank you for your thoughts.
|
| --
| Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
| Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
| compulsive computer fiddler.
|
|

Well, your query concerned opinions on that usage. My thoughts were that
unless you wished to play around with the old format NT which required much
more *hands on* techniques rather than GUI, and its limited capabilities
[work station] verses 2000 or SE.
Of course it would run on 128megs just as SE will or XP for that matter,
but limited memory and its handling or mishandling is generally what gives
users the most headaches.
Now if you were setting up a NT4 server on a desktop or tower, then
maybe.... others have pointed out some of NT4 workstation's limitations and
list is quite long should you care to search around.

IF, as you indicate elsewhere, what you really what is something to *keep
the mental juices flowing* then try Linux. Recent versions are quite nice,
give you the *hands on* aspect if you want it, and have capabilities that
far exceed NT4..

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________
 
> Well, your query concerned opinions on that usage. My thoughts were that
> unless you wished to play around with the old format NT which required much
> more *hands on* techniques rather than GUI, and its limited capabilities
> [work station] verses 2000 or SE.
> Of course it would run on 128megs just as SE will or XP for that matter,
> but limited memory and its handling or mishandling is generally what gives
> users the most headaches.
> Now if you were setting up a NT4 server on a desktop or tower, then
> maybe.... others have pointed out some of NT4 workstation's limitations and
> list is quite long should you care to search around.
>
> IF, as you indicate elsewhere, what you really what is something to *keep
> the mental juices flowing* then try Linux. Recent versions are quite nice,
> give you the *hands on* aspect if you want it, and have capabilities that
> far exceed NT4..
>
Keeping the mental juices flowing sounds so much better than "foolin'
around". Yes, there is quite a bit of that in me I must confess. I
appreciate your thoughts on NT4, and Linux. Thanks for taking the time
to respond. I have experimented with Linux a couple of years ago on a
spare partition on my main desktop machine. (Mandriva and then Ubuntu).
I quite liked what I saw but the killer for me was the investment I have
in Windows apps. I might look at WINE sometime and see what it can do
for me. (Yay! Something new to play with!)

I have just been using the laptop with 98SE for the past two hours
running Word 2000, e-Sword BIble software, and a couple of other little
utilities, all percolating away at once, and jumping between them
frequently, and never a hiccup. That did surprise me a little - my
memories of 98 when it was the latest greatest was that you could
generally expect to have to reboot at least a couple of times a day if
you worked it hard. Now all I need is the network card I have ordered to
arrive and I'll plug into my broadband router and life will be complete!

But I maybe still ought to look at Linux again - after all, I'm sure it
will have got even better since I last played with it. Or maybe I just
need to damn well leave things alone when they are running so well (grin).

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on this.
> The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4 on it. I
> have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and experience of this
> group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4 Workstation he
> hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if I want it. Apart
> from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly quiet now-a-days I
> think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here I think from anyone
> who has used it.
>
> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty easily
> if I want to.
>
> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing in
> a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between it and
> my other machine without difficulty.
> --
> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
> compulsive computer fiddler.

Ran NT w/SP4 for awhile on one machine I had, and still have. Ingelborg
mentions some common gotchas. You're stuck with original FAT, no USB out of
the box. What's going to be real interesting is finding drivers for the
hardware for NT. Once going properly, NT is a rock as far as stability. In
fact I used that PC for a software firewall primary with ISP network sharing
with 98SE and ME PC. I called the PC "brick".

The now, am not sure what the intrusion ramificatios are for internet access
with an NT PC, nevermind the dated IE that comes with it. Wouldn't attempt
here.
--
Dave
 
Lil' Dave wrote:
> "Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
> news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on this.
>> The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4 on it. I
>> have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and experience of this
>> group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4 Workstation he
>> hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if I want it. Apart
>> from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly quiet now-a-days I
>> think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here I think from anyone
>> who has used it.
>>
>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty easily
>> if I want to.
>>
>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing in
>> a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between it and
>> my other machine without difficulty.
>> --
>> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
>> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
>> compulsive computer fiddler.
>
> Ran NT w/SP4 for awhile on one machine I had, and still have. Ingelborg
> mentions some common gotchas. You're stuck with original FAT, no USB out of
> the box. What's going to be real interesting is finding drivers for the
> hardware for NT. Once going properly, NT is a rock as far as stability. In
> fact I used that PC for a software firewall primary with ISP network sharing
> with 98SE and ME PC. I called the PC "brick".
>
> The now, am not sure what the intrusion ramificatios are for internet access
> with an NT PC, nevermind the dated IE that comes with it. Wouldn't attempt
> here.
Thanks for the thoughts. Drivers for the laptop for NT4 are on the
recovery CD, although the CD only "recovers" the machine to 98. So I am
tempted to image the drive (currently 98SE) and try NT4 just for fun. As
you point out it's getting pretty old now and might not be practical.
Interesting though I was in our local branch of the bank I use earlier
today and found their entire network is running on NT4. The lady's
comment was - It's solid and never misses a beat. For our work it's
perfect. Why on earth would we want to upgrade? On a similar OT note the
Oncology Dept of the hospital in the nearest main centre is running all
it's stuff on Windows 2K. So I guess having the latest and greatest is
pointless if the oldest and leastist does what you need. (smile)

Got a feeling I'll end up back with 98SE for practical purposes on the
laptop, but in the meantime I'm gonna have a bit of fun with NT4.

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Yep, difficult decisions to make. But then I gather the laptop is the *toy*
aspect of your system now, so play away..

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1213760553.81479@ftpsrv1...
| > Well, your query concerned opinions on that usage. My thoughts were
that
| > unless you wished to play around with the old format NT which required
much
| > more *hands on* techniques rather than GUI, and its limited capabilities
| > [work station] verses 2000 or SE.
| > Of course it would run on 128megs just as SE will or XP for that
matter,
| > but limited memory and its handling or mishandling is generally what
gives
| > users the most headaches.
| > Now if you were setting up a NT4 server on a desktop or tower, then
| > maybe.... others have pointed out some of NT4 workstation's limitations
and
| > list is quite long should you care to search around.
| >
| > IF, as you indicate elsewhere, what you really what is something to
*keep
| > the mental juices flowing* then try Linux. Recent versions are quite
nice,
| > give you the *hands on* aspect if you want it, and have capabilities
that
| > far exceed NT4..
| >
| Keeping the mental juices flowing sounds so much better than "foolin'
| around". Yes, there is quite a bit of that in me I must confess. I
| appreciate your thoughts on NT4, and Linux. Thanks for taking the time
| to respond. I have experimented with Linux a couple of years ago on a
| spare partition on my main desktop machine. (Mandriva and then Ubuntu).
| I quite liked what I saw but the killer for me was the investment I have
| in Windows apps. I might look at WINE sometime and see what it can do
| for me. (Yay! Something new to play with!)
|
| I have just been using the laptop with 98SE for the past two hours
| running Word 2000, e-Sword BIble software, and a couple of other little
| utilities, all percolating away at once, and jumping between them
| frequently, and never a hiccup. That did surprise me a little - my
| memories of 98 when it was the latest greatest was that you could
| generally expect to have to reboot at least a couple of times a day if
| you worked it hard. Now all I need is the network card I have ordered to
| arrive and I'll plug into my broadband router and life will be complete!
|
| But I maybe still ought to look at Linux again - after all, I'm sure it
| will have got even better since I last played with it. Or maybe I just
| need to damn well leave things alone when they are running so well (grin).
|
| --
| Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
| Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
| compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Peter in New Zealand wrote:
> Lil' Dave wrote:
>> "Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
>> news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
>>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>>> this.
>>> The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4 on it.
>>> I
>>> have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and experience of
>>> this
>>> group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4 Workstation he
>>> hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if I want it.
>>> Apart
>>> from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly quiet now-a-days
>>> I
>>> think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here I think from anyone
>>> who has used it.
>>>
>>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
>>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
>>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
>>> easily
>>> if I want to.
>>>
>>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
>>> in
>>> a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between it
>>> and
>>> my other machine without difficulty.
>>> --
>>> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
>>> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
>>> compulsive computer fiddler.
>>
>> Ran NT w/SP4 for awhile on one machine I had, and still have. Ingelborg
>> mentions some common gotchas. You're stuck with original FAT, no USB out
>> of
>> the box. What's going to be real interesting is finding drivers for the
>> hardware for NT. Once going properly, NT is a rock as far as stability.
>> In
>> fact I used that PC for a software firewall primary with ISP network
>> sharing
>> with 98SE and ME PC. I called the PC "brick".
>>
>> The now, am not sure what the intrusion ramificatios are for internet
>> access
>> with an NT PC, nevermind the dated IE that comes with it. Wouldn't
>> attempt
>> here.
> Thanks for the thoughts. Drivers for the laptop for NT4 are on the
> recovery CD, although the CD only "recovers" the machine to 98. So I am
> tempted to image the drive (currently 98SE) and try NT4 just for fun. As
> you point out it's getting pretty old now and might not be practical.
> Interesting though I was in our local branch of the bank I use earlier
> today and found their entire network is running on NT4. The lady's
> comment was - It's solid and never misses a beat. For our work it's
> perfect. Why on earth would we want to upgrade? On a similar OT note the
> Oncology Dept of the hospital in the nearest main centre is running all
> it's stuff on Windows 2K. So I guess having the latest and greatest is
> pointless if the oldest and leastist does what you need. (smile)
>
> Got a feeling I'll end up back with 98SE for practical purposes on the
> laptop, but in the meantime I'm gonna have a bit of fun with NT4.

Or maybe consider trying out Win2K instead of NT4. I would think it has
the benefits of NT4, PLUS some.
 
MEB wrote:
> Yep, difficult decisions to make. But then I gather the laptop is the *toy*
> aspect of your system now, so play away..
>
Weeeeeeeellll, (cough - blush) Ahem! Officially I don't admit that, but
really, (very small print here) - it sort of is.

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
Bill in Co. wrote:
> Peter in New Zealand wrote:
>> Lil' Dave wrote:
>>> "Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@extra.co.nz> wrote in message
>>> news:1213679624.971855@ftpsrv1...
>>>> My apologies for the OT post, but I am curious to ask an opinion on
>>>> this.
>>>> The machine I have originally came with your choice of 98 or NT4 on it.
>>>> I
>>>> have 98SE running pretty well thanks to the support and experience of
>>>> this
>>>> group. A friend of mine has a full install CD for NT4 Workstation he
>>>> hasn't used for years and he is happy to gift it to me if I want it.
>>>> Apart
>>>> from the fact that NT groups on the Internet are fairly quiet now-a-days
>>>> I
>>>> think am more likely to get an unbiased opinion here I think from anyone
>>>> who has used it.
>>>>
>>>> I don't use the machine for games - I run MS Office 97, and use Firefox
>>>> and Thunderbird. I would gain stability from switching to NT4 from 98 I
>>>> know, but are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I will be imaging
>>>> the drive before starting so I can return it to its 98 state pretty
>>>> easily
>>>> if I want to.
>>>>
>>>> On the USB issue I have decided to forget about it as I will be tossing
>>>> in
>>>> a network PC card when it arrives and then I can move stuff between it
>>>> and
>>>> my other machine without difficulty.
>>>> --
>>>> Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
>>>> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
>>>> compulsive computer fiddler.
>>> Ran NT w/SP4 for awhile on one machine I had, and still have. Ingelborg
>>> mentions some common gotchas. You're stuck with original FAT, no USB out
>>> of
>>> the box. What's going to be real interesting is finding drivers for the
>>> hardware for NT. Once going properly, NT is a rock as far as stability.
>>> In
>>> fact I used that PC for a software firewall primary with ISP network
>>> sharing
>>> with 98SE and ME PC. I called the PC "brick".
>>>
>>> The now, am not sure what the intrusion ramificatios are for internet
>>> access
>>> with an NT PC, nevermind the dated IE that comes with it. Wouldn't
>>> attempt
>>> here.
>> Thanks for the thoughts. Drivers for the laptop for NT4 are on the
>> recovery CD, although the CD only "recovers" the machine to 98. So I am
>> tempted to image the drive (currently 98SE) and try NT4 just for fun. As
>> you point out it's getting pretty old now and might not be practical.
>> Interesting though I was in our local branch of the bank I use earlier
>> today and found their entire network is running on NT4. The lady's
>> comment was - It's solid and never misses a beat. For our work it's
>> perfect. Why on earth would we want to upgrade? On a similar OT note the
>> Oncology Dept of the hospital in the nearest main centre is running all
>> it's stuff on Windows 2K. So I guess having the latest and greatest is
>> pointless if the oldest and leastist does what you need. (smile)
>>
>> Got a feeling I'll end up back with 98SE for practical purposes on the
>> laptop, but in the meantime I'm gonna have a bit of fun with NT4.
>
> Or maybe consider trying out Win2K instead of NT4. I would think it has
> the benefits of NT4, PLUS some.
>
>
Yes, 2K is a bit slower on it, but it also seems to have issues with the
power settings, the machine won't hibernate, and the touchpad drivers
won't with with it. OTOH 2K does give me full USB. Oh well, I've really
appreciated the interest and helpful comments offered here, and also the
helpful and gracious attitude in this group, which is a refreshing
change after some of the groups dealing with XP and Vista. The attitude
here might even persuade me to stay with W98 after all. How's that for
an emotional response - grin!

--
Peter in New Zealand. (Email address is fake)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.
 
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