By far the best Operating System (Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition)

Member Name: r_machin

Product:	Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Date:	11/03/02 (1854 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stable, Easy to use, Looks good

Disadvantages: Hiden Start menu items, Very slow Help System, fair capacity hdd needed for installation

First, may i say that i do feel that Microsoft Windows ME(Millenium Edition) is the best operating system I have ever used, as a home user. Explanations below.

I have been through many microsoft operating system starting with MSDOS.

At the time, I though MSDOS was the best thing EVER, and sometimes I still think that parts of MSDOS is better.

I then went on to Windows 95, this was a huge step from MSDOS, but im a quick learner, so off i went and learned within about a week most of the standard tasks you could perform.

But windows 95 did have problems, causing errors left right and center, and those famous Blue Screen error messages. Boy, I hated them. They were those horrible errors where you had to manually restart your computer and start whatever you were doing all over again, fortunately MS Word recovered your work most of the time.

Then came windows 98, which seemed different in its looks, and better with problems but still had bugs.

Microsoft then released Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), which was a really lot better with handling problems and errors. But as usual, there were still errors.

I then came across Windows ME(Millenium Edition). This operating system was by far the best one ever, with some problems with rare errors, and irritating features.

== Errors ==
Windows ME was made a lot more stable than its previous versions. There were errors, but not so many of the blue screen errors, they were more user freindly, and allowed you to close the program that was causing the error, which in most cases solved the problem, but sometimes it did slow your computer down enough that you needed to restart to get your computer back to itself again. The task manager is also very helpful with errors, because you could call up the task manager by holding the keys CTRL-ALT-DEL
then the task manager would appear, and most of the time, the application causing the problem would have (Not
Responding) to the side of it.
This, in my eyes, makes windows ME the best most stable Operating System.

== Looks ==
Windows ME definately has a better, smoother, look to it. The light blue desktop background colour which comes as standard makes it feel warmer and more user freindly. The taskbar, and start menu, look like they are more blended in with the desktop, and actually look like it should be there, and smooth. It seems more animated instead of the sub-menus just appearing.

This may not be as noticable with windows 98SE, but definately windows 95/98. A definate improvement.

== Installation ==
I just wanted to give a breif explanation of some of the installation.
The installation is very easy, and the only thing, is that it is not particually quick. The first 10% of the installation takes ages, this is because the installation is copying all the files you will ever need onto the hard drive. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, the advantages is: you wont need to insert the CD when you install a peice of hardware, the disadvantage is: you need to have a high capacity hard drive(at least 4gb preferably) in order to install windows ME and then all your other software.
Once the first 10% has passed, the installation simply fly's through.

== Hidden Start menu items ==
One of the main features that was added to windows ME is the one feature i find most annoying. It is the Hidden Start Menu Items. The theory is to hide the shortcuts to your applications on the start menu that you dont use frequently, making it easier to find the applications that you use a lot. Some people may like this, but I do NOT.

== Very Slow Help System ==
The help system in Windows ME, has been updated to look more modern, with a flashy interface, and more indepth content of help. However, I feel that Microsoft forgot to think of how slow all these improvements would make it. Not so much the in
depth content, but the improved interface. I have got two different spec computers, P2 400mhz, and P4 1.6ghz, on the P2 400 it takes much longer than i would expect any application to load never mind a help system. And, on the P4 1.6ghz, it takes about the same time to finish loading as a program on the P2 computer.

When you are in safe mode, it is even worse, having starting the help system automatically.

I have also tried Microsofts recent Windows XP Home edition, which I absolutely brilliant as an operating system but when you start to try play games using it, it just wont do.

This is why I have chosen MS Windows ME as the best Operating System that I have used.

I would also like to say that microsoft should stop releasing their software until bugs are solved, instead of releasing it early, and then charging the users again for the update. Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE is the prime example.

Thanks.

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