Microsoft Windows ME- For The Adventurous!
Written: Oct 07 '00 (Updated Oct 11 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Easy Home Networking
Cons: Promises, Promises
|
|
|
| rpllingrock's Full Review: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Media Only) ... |
After toiling for several weeks trying to get Windows ME to function on my montage of devices and software packages, I have all but given up ship.
Going against my word of never writing a review on Windows Millennium, I stuck my foot in my mouth and broke down to write this evaluation. My attempt is to not replicate what was already written in my upgrading to Windows ME review. This of course is a challenge since after three weeks of work I feel as though I only backpedaled and wasted my $49.
If At First You Don't Succeed!
Try, try and try again. And that's exactly what I did. After trying to upgrade from Windows 98SE to Windows ME twice, my last resort was to do a clean install of ME.
All went well during the install phase; it was when I tried to install my existing software that the problems began.
You may be saying to yourself "Hey! It's your software and devices, not Windows ME."
This is partially correct I must admit, but you must keep in mind that OS upgrades before this also promised great things with backward compatibility. Just because Microsoft says it's compatible doesn't make it so in every conceivable configuration. If this were the case, Microsoft wouldn't have to provide updates to their products on what seems like a daily basis.
Features That Made Me Want It In The First Place
· Faster load and shutdown times- well one out of two isn't bad! Faster shutdowns but just as long Windows load time.
· The ability to restore a previous state of my system. It did work as advertised but was little consolation.
Scenario; Save system snapshot. Install several software programs. They don't work. Restore system to previous state. If life were like this and I restored my life like I did with ME, well, I'd be about 12 years old now.
· The promise of greater system stability. This was somewhat true but not to the point where I'd run around the streets tolling a bell. The system fault pop-up was changed to a less dramatic alert. I guess they figured after six billion served, it was time to move on. ;)
· Ease of installing a home network. I think great strides were made by Microsoft by taking away most of the manual configuration needed to setup a home network. Using the ME machine, creating a network setup floppy made installing the network settings for other client machines effortless.
· The thought of having an integrated video editing system helped in my decision but wasn't a deciding factor. After playing with it though, it's very basic and left for the beginning editor in all of us.
Problems? What Problems?
· No longer would Norton Internet Security install, let alone run. The same holds true for Intellipoint from Microsoft. The problem is, these two packages worked with an upgrade to ME but not a clean install!
Windows notified me that neither would work correctly on a clean install but allowed it during the upgrade without warning. Go figure?
· Hauppauge WinTV- Having minimal problems on Win 98SE, I knew going in this may be another item to add to the incompatible list. After downloading the updated drivers specific to Windows 2000 and ME, the program became very unstable and eventually un-installed.
· ZoneAlarm- I figured if Norton Internet Security wouldn't run I'd need some sort of protection on the net. It appeared to run fine but was quick to find out it was causing problems. Once un-installed, my system would return to normal operation.
· Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) - I'll save this problem for Microsoft and their engineers! After trying literally a hundred different configurations, this would prove to be the last straw for ME and me. With my current system and two other computers sharing a single internet connection, there was no way around this one outside of buying a third party proxy server or equivalent to accomplish what ME had promised. Pricing for these packages can run more than the cost of ME itself.
My guess is it's not ICS itself, but more a combination of system devices, programs, and ICS just not getting along with each other and Microsoft not anticipating the problem. It works just fine on 98SE.
What Did Run?
Below are a few programs that worked without a hitch on my system.
· Internet Explorer 5.5 (surprised?)
· Naviscope- After spending hundreds on programs, it figures that the one I got for free would work! ;)
· Netscape- Although taking longer to load, it seemed to run without as many problems as before. Maybe my imagination?
· Adobe PhotoShop 5.5
· Micrografx Picture Publisher 7
· Microsoft Office 2000- These are the only programs used by myself so I can vouch for the following components, Word, Excel, and FrontPage.
Back To The Drawing Board
Yes it's back to waiting for answers and possibly an update to Windows ME that'll get me back in the saddle again. It probably would have been better to either purchase a system with all components ME compliant and installed, or waiting for companies to update their software or drivers to allow my system to at least function.
Windows ME works nearly to perfection on my wife's computer with the exception that it won't shut down properly. It just hangs until you manually power down. This computer is next inline for a clean install and I'm quite sure it will solve the problem.
Overall
Someday, yes, someday I will put it all together and rewrite this review.
I would recommend this program for the adventurous since you never know what you're going to get once installed. Sure it runs a check on common components and will alert you of any conflicting programs, and or devices, but the last thing you want is to here that your software or devices need replacements or upgrades.
The fact that it runs on my other two computers without many conflicts, it warrants at least three stars in my opinion.
This isn't really a necessary OS upgrade at this time, and don't see it as one for the near future. The jump from Windows 3.1 to 95 was significant. This jump was not!
If you're wondering whether or not to purchase ME, check out Microsoft's own top ten reasons. If what you see here doesn't interest you, then save your money.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/upgrade/upgradewhy.asp
Let's face it. Most people want plug and play with not only devices but with software. We don't want to screw around hunting for drivers and replacement devices after dishing out anywhere from $49 to over $200 for a software package that promised us the world, but delivered to us just a few continents. ;)
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.