Windows 98: Viable OS once more

[Cinefast]

So, something not many people are aware of (I wasn't aware until recently myself) is that Windows 98 is still being maintained and improved by the homebrew community, which is keeping it currently usable. With the addition of KernelEx, a GPL'd kernel addon that implements a compatibility layer allowing one to run 2000/XP/Vista only applications on Windows 98 or ME. And, Opera still supports Windows 98/ME anyway.

So, as a result of this, Windows 98 is a practical choice once more for an operating system, and I now recommend it rather than Linux for old hardware.

My current setup runs on my old Pentium 1 MMX laptop @ 233mhz with 64mb of RAM. It sports antialiased fonts and system theming support thanks to RevolutionsPack. I'll show a screenshot ASAP.

 

[Chaos Knux]

We just now got this thread? Retro's had it for easily over a year.
Also, links are a good thing.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelex/
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/131040-revolutions-pack-96/

 

[supersonic45]

Meh, I'd still rather would trust Linux. Old outdated OS will feel old and outdated no matter what.

 

[Fawfulfan]

And the homebrew community's patched-up version of Windows 98 is better than Windows XP or Windows 7 because...? Oh wait, Windows 98 would probably have optimal support for Animaniacs Game Pack. Yayz.

 

[Cinefast]

Meh, I'd still rather would trust Linux. Old outdated OS will feel old and outdated no matter what.

Linux is itself 19 years old and closely followed the design of a 40 year old operating system, and therefor, it's the outdated OS if anything rather than Windows 98.

Fawfulfan, not only do you get more compatibility, but it's extremely fast and just perfect for developers, because it doesn't interfere with direct hardware access and other cool stuff. The ability to easily restart into MS-DOS is cool too.

 

[Blitzzo]

Linux is itself 19 years old and closely followed the design of a 40 year old operating system, and therefor, it's the outdated OS if anything rather than Windows 98.

Except that Linux is constantly being updated to reflect new hardware, standards, and trends, while Windows 98 is an end-of-life operating system being fed patches developed independently a decade later just so that it can do the things Linux is already capable of doing out-of-the-box. The year of inception is totally and completely irrelevant.

 

[Bigboi]

Windows 7.

 

[Cinefast]

Except that Linux is constantly being updated to reflect new hardware, standards, and trends, while Windows 98 is an end-of-life operating system being fed patches developed independently a decade later just so that it can do the things Linux is already capable of doing out-of-the-box. The year of inception is totally and completely irrelevant.

Blittzo, I wasn't arguing on the basis of year of inception - rather I was pointing out to supersonic45 that if he should like to use that as an argument, one should note that Linux and UNIX itself are far older.

Bigboi, call me when Windows 7 lets me directly access the hardware, run MS-DOS programs, runs at a decent speed on older hardware.

One of the big problems I have found with Linux on older hardware, by the way, is that any modern programs run like mud. I can only assume that this is a result of the crazy-huge widget libraries and such that they depend on. (And before someone jumps on me for mentioning modern programs, we're talking a viable system here. I don't consider ancient and abandoned versions of programs with no modern support and no point in patching to be worth using. Windows 98 enjoys extensibility, still-decent support in general, and cool stuff like KernelEx and RevolutionsPack to keep it modern but fast).

 

[Autosaver]

Blittzo, I wasn't arguing on the basis of year of inception - rather I was pointing out to supersonic45 that if he should like to use that as an argument, one should note that Linux and UNIX itself are far older.

Linux is special since it can be updated to dated to every day uses.
You can't make Windows 98 not look outdated. Yes, you can download programs to make a tiny bit better. But Linux gets huge overhauls.

And no, I'm not a Linux fanboy. Just pointing out that Windows 98 being old isn't very comparable to Linux being old.

 

[MechaS3K]

One of the big problems I have found with Linux on older hardware, by the way, is that any modern programs run like mud. I can only assume that this is a result of the crazy-huge widget libraries and such that they depend on.

http://www.puppylinux.org/+http://freedos.org/+http://winehq.org=WIN

I don't consider ancient and abandoned versions of programs with no modern support and no point in patching to be worth using.

Aaand you prove my point before I even make it. Bravo, good sir. Bravo indeed.

 

[Cinefast]

http://www.puppylinux.org/+http://freedos.org/+http://winehq.org=WIN



Aaand you prove my point before I even make it. Bravo, good sir. Bravo indeed.

Might I point out a few things?

Puppy Linux may run at a decent spend on somewhat old hardware, but I bring to point:

One of the big problems I have found with Linux on older hardware, by the way, is that any modern programs run like mud. I can only assume that this is a result of the crazy-huge widget libraries and such that they depend on.

FreeDOS? Haha, are you joking? Aye, that's a full desktop OS right there with modern support.

And WINE has limited support for all programs, and again depends on Linux.

Aaand you prove my point before I even make it.

Way to ignore my next statement:

Windows 98 enjoys extensibility, still-decent support in general, and cool stuff like KernelEx and RevolutionsPack to keep it modern but fast

And Autosaver, you don't seem to understand how KernelEx and RevolutionsPack work. These aren't silly new icons or other junk, KernelEx is a full implementation of the Windows 2000/XP Win32 API on Win 9x and RevolutionsPack is a massive overhaul of the GDI systems, as well as many other cool tweaks.

 

[RogerTH]

Is it too late too ask a question? Would it be better to have regular 98, 98se, or 98se2me? And if 98se2me do you need 98se BEFORE you install it?