Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent product. Very stable.
I installed Windows 98 as an upgrade from 3.1 What a difference! Win 98 found all of my hardware and installed the device drivers without any intervention on my part. After running it for a month, the system has not crashed once, although Internet Explorer 5.0 did hang up when the telephone connection was lost. Even then, I simply shut down the dead program and Win 98 kept going without so much as a blink. The interface is very intuitive and I can usually do what I need without consulting Help. If I like it so much, why not 5 stars? For one thing, I feel trapped into using the FAT16 file system and am therefore limited to drive sizes of 2GB each; splitting my hard drive into pieces. Microsoft provides a utility to convert to FAT32 which lets me have much larger drives. However, if after converting to FAT32 I want to repartition the drive, I will lose all of the data on my hard drive and will need to re-install everything. (I have seen a utility for $70 that will repartition the drive without losing the data.) Second, I have found several references to Frontpage Express in the online Help that is supposed to be included with the other Internet applications. However, Frontpage Express is nowhere to be found, either on the CD or as part of the install procedure. Microsoft's web site has been no help either. All in all, I am very happy with Windows 98. I would not switch to Linux if they gave it to me. Actually, they do give it away and I still will not change. (I had to get that in after reading all the Window-bashing reviews.)
Rating: - Pretty Good Upgrade.
This software package is supposed to be the improved version of Windows 95, true it is reliable but there are no new features that jump right out at you, I upgraded my home PC from Windows 95b to 98SE because of constant freezes in 95 and for the most part I have been pretty satisfied with it's performance. it does include newer versions of Internet Explorer and it has a better driver database but other than that it's ok. If you are using 95a or 95b, I recommend that you buy this upgrade it will have your system running better with new utilities and it will be easier for you to install hardware with the new drivers database. The memory requirements according to Microsoft.com say 24mb, but I recommend 32 and up the more you have the faster it will run.
Rating:  - Good for a couple things....
Ah . . . Windows 98 SE - the latest product Microsoft is shoving down our throats. When I first installed Win98SE, I didn't expect much. A couple cosmetic changes here and there, a newer version of Internet Explorer bundled, and improved hardware compatibility. And that's _exactly_ what I got. Nothing more, nothing less. God forbid that Microsoft make their latest creation faster, more efficient, and more stable. A lower price wouldn't hurt, either ($89 for an upgrade and $179 for a full install is unacceptable, IMO). But we get none of those things, and instead get a shoddy upgrade that changes a few little things that a normal Windows user wouldn't care to notice.My advice: pick this up _only_ if you're _still_ on Windows 95A or older. If you're on Windows 95B or Windows 98, stay away. Keep your money. Invest in Windows 2000 instead. In fact, personally, my Windows partition sits dormant on my hard drive. It serves no other purpose but to play some old DOS games, or to test an application that I absolutely need to use (which isn't often). If you're anything like me, get BeOS instead (only if you already have Win95/98, of course). Not only is it cheaper ($49 at this site), but it's faster, more efficient, offers better stability, etc etc.
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