"There is a better way...Find it!" [Instead of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."] -- Thomas A. Edison
#12. I can't imagine anybody holding onto either Win9x or NT4 by this time next year simply because the opportunity costs from not upgrading are staggering. I use Win2k and haven't decided if I will upgrade to WinXP. Chances are probably not immediately, but we'll see. I know I was completely floored when I saw how much improved Win2k was over WinNT. I just haven't investigated XP enough to know what's changed.
#11. My parents have a 486DX4/133 I put together for them back in late '96. It runs Windows 95, and they still use it. I recently had to come over and reinstall Win95 for them, which I think is quite surprising because it's the same OS install from '96. I'd call that a stable 9x box.
Last year they decided they needed another computer. I talked them into getting Windows 2000 with this one and that they did. (BTW, the new box cost less with Win2k installed than the 486 box cost new back in '96.)
Both my parents, who are not miraculous computer users by any means, even though my father is an Engineer, have commented on how much better the Win2k box is. It's not so much that it is faster but rather it's much more stable and responsive. They don't have to reboot to solve problems, etc.
My point is, from the perspective of my parents... they do care.
How anybody who claims to be a computer hobbyist could not possibly care is beyond me. Back in '97 I moved to NT4 completely. In '98 I tried Win98 out for about a month because I had received a free CD from Microsoft. Like I said... I only used it for a month... after that time I was ready to wipe Win98 off my box and go back to NT4. Win9x is so *MUCH* slower than the NT4/2k/XP line of operating systems.
Yes, you can't run Win2k on a 486DX33. Who cares, you can't run Win95 on a IBM PC-XT either. But if you have anything faster than say a Pentium 200 and you aren't running something from the WinNT OS family, you are being foolish.
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