Ascii text file 4979 characters, 2 pages.
From the Las Vegas PC User Group.
A review of
Windows 98
by George Yocum
I'm usually scared to use Beta Software but figuring Win98 should have been here
a long time ago. I figured it must be in good shape about now. Thankfully it is.
The Install went great and for the last month and half no crashes. Now for me that
is a huge accomplishment. It is about time Microsoft delivers what they promised
for Win95. At first glance it looks about the same especially if you have installed
Internet Explorer 4.0 on your system.
Now I have been reading that you can basically install IE 4.0 on your system and
other small additions on your system and you will basically have Win98----Wrong.
While I am not too happy about the EST price for Win98 ($90-$100 for upgrade). I'll
pay it to keep my system from crashing. What real chose do we have??
The feature I like most is the System File Checker. This is a small program that
will check all of the Windows System files to insure that everything is working..
How many times have you installed a new program and then had mysterious problems
and of course it was Windows fault. Well I have run this program after installing
new software several time and it is scary the files that they overwrite in Windows.
With the File checker it noted each of these files and gave me the chance to put
back only these files back on and keep win98 running smoothly. I know when I have
had problems in the past and had to reinstall windows it was extremely aggravating.
Now it just a file or two, what an improvement!
Ok the Details
Installing - The install was a breeze. The Program used my present configuration
and only installed the upgrades for those items. Don't worry you can easily install
additional items later. The Install only asked for the CD key number and took off.
It took about 55 min. There was a little box that tracked the time it EST it would
take but I didn't find that to be accurate. Several times it did seem as if the computer
would freeze. Causing me to get worried but it kept going. The system rebooted itself
several times (3-4) thru-out the process. After Install it ran a Tune up program
using its improved Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter. This took about an additional
10-min.
IE 4.0 - Not sure if the Department of Justice stops Microsoft but IE 4.0
installed automatically and showed up even when I had Netscape as my default browser.
There is now a neat Web site called Windows Update that you will see on your Desktop.
Clicking on this took me to the Web site and a Wizard where it ran a Active X scan
on my system determined their were several Updates For Win98 (already), and provide
an easy way to update Win98.
Disk Defragmenter - One of the selling points was the new Disk Defragmenter
and the ability to optimized the placement of file allowing programs to open up faster.
This does more this time then it did when I installed Win98 well let me tell you
to run this program late at night and go to sleep. It took 4 hours the first time
and 3 hours the second time. I did notice a small improvement in loading the programs
but nothing to justify taking 3-4 hours to run a full Disk Defragmenter. I'm hoping
Microsoft improves this before they release the final product.
The Registry Checker - This application makes automatic Backups of the registry
and you can set up how ever many backups you want to save. I think the default is
5, I changed it to make 14 on my system thinking as often as I mess up I needed the
extra protection. In addition you can use this program to optimize your Registry
to make it smaller and faster.
Fat32 converter - If you have an older system that is still using Fat16 you
may like this. I ran this on my hard drives and " saved" 341 Megs of space.
I was warned several times that using this may cause some older programs not to work.
I have had no problems but still be careful.
Real Help - It seems as if Microsoft heard about all of the problems people
have been having and have improved the help screens and have provided a easy way
to get additional help form the Web whenever you need it.
Startup and Shutdown- I was disappointed that it seems to take a little longer
to boot up in Win98 then it did in Win95. Now Shutdown is quick, real quick. Nothing
like Win95. It usually took about 5-10 sec's.
As to speed of the overall system despite it being a " Beta Product" it
was a little faster than Win95 and I would expect that advantage to continue to improve
with the final Product.
Misc- the Startup disk you make at install now has a CD-ROM driver built in to make
it easier in the future. This is a huge program it will need about 100-125 Megs of
space. By the way there is a built in system to improve repairs if you crash. Old
Dr. Watson has improved. Again I never needed it but looking around I found it and
looked at the different options and it was cool.
OK the bottom line continues to be this is a much improved product over Win95 I just
wish they had produced this in the first place.
This review was originally published in the newsletter for the Las Vegas PC User
Group
Ev Quinnett, Editor/Program Director
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