Win2K, some like it but worth $300 retail? Problems?
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EvilHorace
- Life Member
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- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 7:14 am
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Sorry if all this has been answered before and I missed it, but I'm running Win98SE and it's just fine IMHO BUT some people tell me that Win2K is far better yet needs 256mb of ram (not a problem) but how is it now with most software drivers and games (and yes, I mean older games too). Is Win2K now an OS for everyone or is it more of a business type OS like NT4.0 is? I use WinNT 4.0 at work and it doesn't impress me, I wouldn't want it at home.
<img src="http://www.pcabusers.org/images/evil2.gif">
take the stabilty of NT4, add in the functionality of win98se, and you have win2k. I'm not running it at home becasue I watch lots of DVD's (one of the only weak points I've seen in w2k). The only hardware troubles I've had were related to the drivers. Win2k, just like NT doesn't support the V5 or ATI's MAXX cards. Not a big loss for most people. As far as paying $300... I think that's a bit over priced. If you need a legit copy of it, LMK and I can get you one for a far more reasonable price. I might also have an evaluation copy of it too (120day trial).
I am able to run everything just fine. The Win2k version of WinDVD 2000 works flawlessly. If you are concerned about which games/aps will work check the compatibility list at http://www.ntcompatible.com
Check out that site that solstice gave you. Ltos of great info there.
I've always told people that if you don't know what Win2k is/does, than you don't need it. You sound like you are doing just fine with Win98se and you aren't too sure about what Win2k means for you. Iwould advise you to stay with what you have.
I've always told people that if you don't know what Win2k is/does, than you don't need it. You sound like you are doing just fine with Win98se and you aren't too sure about what Win2k means for you. Iwould advise you to stay with what you have.
On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
Now, more than ever, Win2k is truly the OS of choice in my opinion. I say this, because with the release of DX8, a lot of the games that wouldn't work at all/ work properly, are functioning fine. I was able to finally blow away my win98se partition and run Win2k Server.
As for DVD, WinDVD is indeed a great solution for win2k. I use the Hollywood plus DVD decoder, so I can enjoy DVD on my television in all it's dolby digital glory. In other words, the DVD thing is a non-issue for me as well.
Most important is stability, as others have mentioned. win98 is a great OS, regardless of what others may say, but I hate the constant BSODs and the errors where I have no idea why they are happening. Win2k is simply smooth. If you upgrade you won't be dissapointed.
[Edited by guste on 12-11-2000 at 02:44 AM]
As for DVD, WinDVD is indeed a great solution for win2k. I use the Hollywood plus DVD decoder, so I can enjoy DVD on my television in all it's dolby digital glory. In other words, the DVD thing is a non-issue for me as well.
Most important is stability, as others have mentioned. win98 is a great OS, regardless of what others may say, but I hate the constant BSODs and the errors where I have no idea why they are happening. Win2k is simply smooth. If you upgrade you won't be dissapointed.
[Edited by guste on 12-11-2000 at 02:44 AM]
Damn pie thieves...
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Raymond Kim
- Posts: 126
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 4:22 am
Win2k is the shit.
What else is there to say? I mean, really... Once you get a taste of Win2k you wouldn't want to go back to the choppy operation of Win98 again. Your workflow is totally smooth, all day and all week... Even my father noticed Win2k's smoothness and he's completely computer illiterate. He only knows how to operate IE and nothing else. He doesn't know how to turn on/off the computer, start programs, etc.
If my dad prefers Win2k over Win98, I think it would be safe to say that Win2k is an OS for everyone.
What else is there to say? I mean, really... Once you get a taste of Win2k you wouldn't want to go back to the choppy operation of Win98 again. Your workflow is totally smooth, all day and all week... Even my father noticed Win2k's smoothness and he's completely computer illiterate. He only knows how to operate IE and nothing else. He doesn't know how to turn on/off the computer, start programs, etc.
If my dad prefers Win2k over Win98, I think it would be safe to say that Win2k is an OS for everyone.
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Twisted Evil
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- Location: NY
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The only flaws I have seen with Win 2000 are:
I only get 500kBYTE downloads with my cable modem and 60kBYTES uploads. Compared to 650kBYTES/120kBYTES with Win 98SE. It must/might/could be something with Win 2000, I tried a whole bunch of RWIN speeds, no change. RWIN is the main culprit in download releated speed problems. As for the upload, not sure why it's slower under 2000.
I had to install Service Pack 1 because coming out of Hibernate mode it wouldn't see my network connection. (SP1 fixed this perfectly).
USB support is a bit flacky, I notice no matter what I do - if I run my mouse via USB the cursor isn't "liquid" smooth like it was in 98. PS2 @ 200hz fixes that though.
DOS based games will not work.
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Win 2000 pros:
It would take to long to type them all out
, other then those small issues, Win 2000 is top notch.
I only get 500kBYTE downloads with my cable modem and 60kBYTES uploads. Compared to 650kBYTES/120kBYTES with Win 98SE. It must/might/could be something with Win 2000, I tried a whole bunch of RWIN speeds, no change. RWIN is the main culprit in download releated speed problems. As for the upload, not sure why it's slower under 2000.
I had to install Service Pack 1 because coming out of Hibernate mode it wouldn't see my network connection. (SP1 fixed this perfectly).
USB support is a bit flacky, I notice no matter what I do - if I run my mouse via USB the cursor isn't "liquid" smooth like it was in 98. PS2 @ 200hz fixes that though.
DOS based games will not work.
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Win 2000 pros:
It would take to long to type them all out
, other then those small issues, Win 2000 is top notch.-
EvilHorace
- Life Member
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- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 7:14 am
- Location: Greenfield, WI
I don't have a PC DVD player (just one for the TV) but the cable speed and USB problems would bother me. I wouldn't want to lose USB functions as my mouse and photo film reader are USB. I also don't want to lose cable speed. Have others here had similar problems with those two issues?
<img src="http://www.pcabusers.org/images/evil2.gif">
Evil, make a list of your hardware/games/software, go to above mentioned NTCompatible, see what runs and what not.
Get the 120day eval version (it is free but they ran out of CD's I think) and set up a dualboot to see how it handles your needs.
When you find that you spend 90% under Win2000 and the only time you boot to Win98 to play DOOM or other DOS games .... maybe time to settle for Win2000 and put them old games to rest.
Is Win2000 the real thing ? Aye, SP1, the compatibility updates and DX8 plus matured Win2000 drivers helped to make it a choice even for gamers.
The more RAM you have the more stuff you can run. I always have lotsa sh!t running, currently I have 260MB memoryload but I can still play Alice @1024x32 high details on my (slow) PII504 and CLAP, though my memory usage peaked at 427MB doing so (ahhh, sweet having 512MB RAM).
256MB should be fine for most purposes, including gaming, the OS hovers around 80-100MB after bootup, depending on background apps and current games peak at around 160MB top memory usage for themself. Pages like http://www.tweak3d.net have guides to tweak Win2000 for best performance. Others like http://www.speedguide.net should have info for cablemodem tweaks under Win2000 and don't forget the forums on NTCompatible.
Conclusion:
When you're still unsure, dualboot with the 120 day eval version, otherwise just do it and finally enjoy a stable system.
I've been testing the Win2000 beta since April last year and switched to a single OS Win2000 retail installation on my PC march of this year and I'm still very happy.
Get the 120day eval version (it is free but they ran out of CD's I think) and set up a dualboot to see how it handles your needs.
When you find that you spend 90% under Win2000 and the only time you boot to Win98 to play DOOM or other DOS games .... maybe time to settle for Win2000 and put them old games to rest.
Is Win2000 the real thing ? Aye, SP1, the compatibility updates and DX8 plus matured Win2000 drivers helped to make it a choice even for gamers.
The more RAM you have the more stuff you can run. I always have lotsa sh!t running, currently I have 260MB memoryload but I can still play Alice @1024x32 high details on my (slow) PII504 and CLAP, though my memory usage peaked at 427MB doing so (ahhh, sweet having 512MB RAM).
256MB should be fine for most purposes, including gaming, the OS hovers around 80-100MB after bootup, depending on background apps and current games peak at around 160MB top memory usage for themself. Pages like http://www.tweak3d.net have guides to tweak Win2000 for best performance. Others like http://www.speedguide.net should have info for cablemodem tweaks under Win2000 and don't forget the forums on NTCompatible.
Conclusion:
When you're still unsure, dualboot with the 120 day eval version, otherwise just do it and finally enjoy a stable system.
I've been testing the Win2000 beta since April last year and switched to a single OS Win2000 retail installation on my PC march of this year and I'm still very happy.
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Twisted Evil
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 6:48 am
- Location: NY
- Contact:
Hardware:
Dual Celeron 366@550 w/ BP6 (NJ beta BIOS)
256mb Generic PC-100 RAM
20 GIG Maxtor 7200rpm ATA100 (running at ATA66)
4x4x24 Mistumi CD-RW
Creative GF 1 SDR (det 6.31 for win2k)
Sb Live Value (liveware for 2000)
D-Link 10/100 NIC (drivers from their page)
Diamond Supra Express 56k Int (win2k drivers)
Logitech MouseMan Wheel (mouseware 9.0)
Logitech K-mart special USB Web Cam (drivers/program on their page worked fine)
Everything installed fine, no problems.
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Games:
Quake 2
Quake 3
Unreal
UT
Half Life
Alice Demo
*Sacrifice
All games run great, although if you have a video card that is not made from nvidia I would stick with Win 98, since their performance seems to stink. All Open GL games are pretty dark, for Q3 you will need to add a few commands to fix it.
* = I had to turn fog off to see textures, although it seems this problem happens in 9X too.
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Apps:
EZ CD Creator 4 Deluxe
Photoshop 6
mIRC 5.8
ICQ 99b
Netscape 4.75 and NS 6
Visual Basic 6
Adobe Acrobat 4
Download Accelerator (pos btw)
Fruity Loops 2 (great sound sampling/creating program)
Ulead Photoimpact 5 w/ GIF animator 3
Cute FTP
Napster
Winamp
Audio Cataylst (cd ripping / encoding)
Microsoft Office 2000
All those apps work perfectly. I tried Nero 5 to burn some CDs but it always crashed, my friend uses it, it's fine - so it could be my picky cd-r.
/me takes a deep breath
EDIT:
I just realized he was talking about the OTHER Evil, not me...either way I'm not clearing everything I wrote heh, took a quite a bit of time.
[Edited by Twisted Evil on 12-12-2000 at 12:45 AM]
Dual Celeron 366@550 w/ BP6 (NJ beta BIOS)
256mb Generic PC-100 RAM
20 GIG Maxtor 7200rpm ATA100 (running at ATA66)
4x4x24 Mistumi CD-RW
Creative GF 1 SDR (det 6.31 for win2k)
Sb Live Value (liveware for 2000)
D-Link 10/100 NIC (drivers from their page)
Diamond Supra Express 56k Int (win2k drivers)
Logitech MouseMan Wheel (mouseware 9.0)
Logitech K-mart special USB Web Cam (drivers/program on their page worked fine)
Everything installed fine, no problems.
-----
Games:
Quake 2
Quake 3
Unreal
UT
Half Life
Alice Demo
*Sacrifice
All games run great, although if you have a video card that is not made from nvidia I would stick with Win 98, since their performance seems to stink. All Open GL games are pretty dark, for Q3 you will need to add a few commands to fix it.
* = I had to turn fog off to see textures, although it seems this problem happens in 9X too.
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Apps:
EZ CD Creator 4 Deluxe
Photoshop 6
mIRC 5.8
ICQ 99b
Netscape 4.75 and NS 6
Visual Basic 6
Adobe Acrobat 4
Download Accelerator (pos btw)
Fruity Loops 2 (great sound sampling/creating program)
Ulead Photoimpact 5 w/ GIF animator 3
Cute FTP
Napster
Winamp
Audio Cataylst (cd ripping / encoding)
Microsoft Office 2000
All those apps work perfectly. I tried Nero 5 to burn some CDs but it always crashed, my friend uses it, it's fine - so it could be my picky cd-r.
/me takes a deep breath
EDIT:
I just realized he was talking about the OTHER Evil, not me...either way I'm not clearing everything I wrote heh, took a quite a bit of time.
[Edited by Twisted Evil on 12-12-2000 at 12:45 AM]
Just one other point to note if you use a modem (and I have to 
UK) then you will see your pings skyrocket (or I certainly did and I tried 4 different modems). The internet connectvity in Win2K just seem to suck as far as games go. I also had some problems with booting with SCSI devices even though all my stuff was compatible I kept getting STOP errors on boot.
These two factors eventually made me uninstall 2K from both my work and my home computers. Win 2K may work really well for some but it sucked for me. I'm using ME now and not wild about ME either it I have got some increased pings and occasionally get Windows Protection Errors on shutdown because I've disabled some of the autoloading crap from ME. Also Windows Media player 7 is terrible stupid player takes 2 minutes to load on an Athlon 800 with 256Mb of RAM. Winamp loads in 2-3 seconds or less.
Darkheart
UK) then you will see your pings skyrocket (or I certainly did and I tried 4 different modems). The internet connectvity in Win2K just seem to suck as far as games go. I also had some problems with booting with SCSI devices even though all my stuff was compatible I kept getting STOP errors on boot.These two factors eventually made me uninstall 2K from both my work and my home computers. Win 2K may work really well for some but it sucked for me. I'm using ME now and not wild about ME either it I have got some increased pings and occasionally get Windows Protection Errors on shutdown because I've disabled some of the autoloading crap from ME. Also Windows Media player 7 is terrible stupid player takes 2 minutes to load on an Athlon 800 with 256Mb of RAM. Winamp loads in 2-3 seconds or less.
Darkheart
I dont understand the problems some people are having with networking and internet connectivity. Win2k is optimized for high speed internet connections and does networking lightyears beyond what Win98/Me could ever do. I've had absolutly no problems what so ever. I've had ICS running for a year with Win2k and never had it hicup.
Win2k just rocks..that is all there is to say. I love using it all day and night. IF something ever crashes, just hit control alt del! You can individual close down applications and it wont affect the OS OR your other programs! You really cant go wrong with that. For as much flack as Microsoft gets, they actually did Win2k just about perfect and that should be realized.
Who plays dos games anyway? =)
Win2k just rocks..that is all there is to say. I love using it all day and night. IF something ever crashes, just hit control alt del! You can individual close down applications and it wont affect the OS OR your other programs! You really cant go wrong with that. For as much flack as Microsoft gets, they actually did Win2k just about perfect and that should be realized.
Who plays dos games anyway? =)
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Twisted Evil
- Posts: 80
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- Location: NY
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