With a new look and feel, like Windows 98 on Viagra, Windows ME sure is frisky and responsive as an operating system can be. Early indications show that Windows ME is a product you should upgrade to.

Windows ME has the look and feel of Microsoft's other newest operating system, Windows 2000. Windows 2000 itself a much needed update and rework of Windows NT, the business operating system. What Windows ME has is stability. Its predecessor, Windows 98, was buggy as hell. Everyone knew that. There would be crashes, registry problems, and of course, the blue screen of death. Windows ME does away with most of those problems. The operating system is remarkabily stable, and much faster. But don't get me wrong, Windows ME is really an improved Windows 98 in disguise.

What really has changed in Windows ME is total removal of all legacy code from the days of the 386 pc. In those days, cpus were able to process 16 bits of information per cycle. Today, that number has doubled; soon we will see 64bit (processing ability once reserved for supercomputers). What it all means is that Windows ME will boot into the desktop in a quarter of the time it normally takes Windows 98 to boot up. That is a significant improvement over its predecessor. That alone is worth the upgrade.

Windows ME is also consumer friendly. It has a home networking wizard, it is multimedia friendly. It comes with media player 7, which can be downloaded for free, but many people are kinda lazy regarding upgrading. It also has the system restore wizard, and Windows movie maker. The System Restore Wizard protects the most critical components of your operating system by storing them in a special directory. The Windows Movie Maker is a novice program allowing you to make and edit movies like a pro.

The problems? There are quite a few problems with the new operating system. Namely hardware drivers for your printers, cameras, CD-ROMS, DVDs, scanners, anything and everything. Windows ME does update the drivers when you upgrade or do a fresh install. However, Windows ME does not have all the drivers for every devices ever made, so the manufacturer must provide them. Chances are the old Windows 98 device drivers will work quite nicely, but in many rare cases -- and there are quite a few I came across -- the device stops working. Then you are in trouble because without a proper driver, you can't use the device.

If you run older windows 95 programs or DOS programs, then chances are that those programs will not work as those programs may use 16 bit programming techniques.

I have also encountered problems with AMD Athlon cpus running Windows ME. The problem was that the computers would frequently crash and reboot. I wasn't sure why, all the other computers I would use didn't have this problem. But those running the Athlon are now stuck with Windows 98.

If you are the intrepid kind, and upgrading computers is not really for the faint of heart, then I recommend upgrading to Windows ME. Most users will not have a problem, and it will be a problem-free install. For those who need more reassurance, then I suggest first finding out if your devices will have a problem (especially frequent with printers and scanners). Before upgrading to Windows ME, know where to locate the latest drivers in case you need them. This usually is the manufacturer's web page.

If you are in an office, then Windows ME doesn't offer anything different than what Windows 98 offers except the improvement in startup speed. The networking is no less different than Windows 98. For more advanced networking and task options, Windows 2000 may be the solution.

For the average user, Windows ME is worth the time and money spent on upgrading. Your system will boot up faster, and will be more stable.
Hard core gamers won't have to worry about hardware incompatibility as Windows ME will work with any new game.






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