Windows ME to XP

Damok

Recently I've gotten very annoyed with Windows ME. It just crashes way too much for my liking! I recently tried to install a new graphics card and It just wouldn't work properly! Also when i tried to install the security fix a while ago, the whole system stopped working and i had to reinstall windows again!

I'm thinking of getting Windows XP, just to have a more reliable operating system. Is it worth it, will it make any difference? I'm thinking of getting Windows XP home edition, but i hear that XP Pro is more stable. If so, is it worth the extra EUR70?

Can anyone out there give me any advice on the matter?

Stephen

XP Home will be fine unless you plan to join your PC to a windows domain.

Stark

Yeah Windows XP professional isn't worth the €70 over Home edition.

the ME to XP upgrade though is a definite must though.

Winters

Originally posted by Stark
Yeah Windows XP professional isn't worth the €70 over Home edition.

Im assuming you ment is worth it. XP Pro is a lot more stable and better then Home. I would advise it over home to anybody. And PRO is a hell of a lot better then ME.

But foe general browsing and stuff Home is grand.

sceptre

Originally posted by Winters
Im assuming you ment is worth it. XP Pro is a lot more stable and better then Home.

Don't they have exactly the same kernel and code base?

(that's mostly a question by the way)


Either way, yeah, XP is much better than ME. I realise it's trendy to occasionally knock old Windows releases just because, even if you're the kind of person who doesn't knock the current one but even though I don't tend to go in for that kind of silliness and liked 3.1, 95 & 98, loved 2000 (still do), noticed the little extras in the half point releases and I'm getting to like XP more over time, ME is and was a pile of poo, a resource hungry hog that added nothing useful for the extra power required to use it. Dump it in any way you can as soon as you can. And I don't morally care if you have to beg, borrow, buy or steal a copy of a better version of windows (even 98 would do) to get there.

delly

If you could manage it, I would try and do a fresh install of XP, rather than an upgrade of ME.

Had a friend who nearly topped himself with the amount of grief it gave him, and he knows is Pc's too. It might not be the same for you, but put the extra time and quids in if you can.

sceptre

Originally posted by delly
If you could manage it, I would try and do a fresh install of XP, rather than an upgrade of ME.

Oh, that's a must if at all possible.

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by sceptre
Don't they have exactly the same kernel and code base?

Well for NT4 you could hack the registry to get workstation to think it was server ( a few other files were missing - 99.9% wasn't).

they described 2000 as crashing 40 times less often than 98 and 17 times less than NT4. I haven't noticed XP being vastly better than 2000 - also as msblaster showed XP has many of the same holes that NT had

Depends on what you want it for and how much you want to spend ..

If XP pro is more stable than home then I'd put the blame at microsofts marketing gimps - the differences are for market segmentation rather than technical - we can't have the corporates using a cheaper version can we ?

You could always upgrade from ME to windows 98 [ I am being serious here ]

ChipZilla

Originally posted by sceptre
I realise it's trendy to occasionally knock old Windows releases just because, even if you're the kind of person who doesn't knock the current one but even though I don't tend to go in for that kind of silliness etc etc...

No, I'd say it's agreed by anybody who knows anything about computers that Windows ME was the worst version of Windows ever. Nothing trendy or silly about that view...

Stark

Don't they have exactly the same kernel and code base?

Yeah home and pro have exactly the same core, pro just has a few extra features like finer control over security on folders, support for connecting to a domain (only of use if you're in a corporate environment) etc.

Stephen

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
Well for NT4 you could hack the registry to get workstation to think it was server ( a few other files were missing - 99.9% wasn't).

You can do that with Windows 2000 professional too

Stark

A lot of the server features aren't there though. I tried installing Exchange before on a windows 2000 pro machine I hacked to be 2000 server and no joy, too many components like active directory missing.

Damok

Thanks everyone, I think i'll get XP home. Pro sounds a bit like overkill for my use. I just want it to work for games and browsing. Plus I don't want to lose the PC crashes altogether. After all what would windows be like without the crashing?
That's right, not windows at all! :cool:

Damok

I found copies of Win XP OEM for €80 at:

http://www.jes-computer.de/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=179_14&products_id=9606

This is the cheapest i've found anywhere! But maybe there is a catch. Will this version be in german, since it's from a german site? That'd really suck.

ColmOT [MSFT]

Someone said

XP Pro is a lot more stable and better then Home.

I don't know where this is coming from...they are the exact same code base - build from the same source files and generated at the same time during build....only difference is about 6 files in Pro that aren't in Home....