The VCR King
Well-Known Member
When I get my new (to me) retro computer at the thrift store soon, I am going to either get a Windows 95 or 98 machine, but I'm torn between each...
Which is better?
Which is better?
Windows 95 or 98?
- Thread starter The VCR King
- Start date
The VCR King
Well-Known Member
The only things that will be plugged into it are a USB keyboard and mouse, and ethernet. I don't need drivers.
Also, how do I tell what edition of the OS the machine has? Will the COA tag on the machine say "98 2nd edition"?
Also, how do I tell what edition of the OS the machine has? Will the COA tag on the machine say "98 2nd edition"?
What makes you think your not going to need drivers? 95/98 have very few generic drivers.
Define the term 'better'? What are you even going for goal-wise?
Any reasonable person would tell you 98SE, but 95 is more 'retroey' so you could contort that into being 'better'. I went through a 95->98 upgrade on a 1.2 GHz Athlon and the benchmarks jumped by something like +33-50%
If you have this many problems with a modern OS like Win 7/8 that has a LOT of drivers available out of the box, you're in for a world of hurt trying to even get this 98 system going.
Any reasonable person would tell you 98SE, but 95 is more 'retroey' so you could contort that into being 'better'. I went through a 95->98 upgrade on a 1.2 GHz Athlon and the benchmarks jumped by something like +33-50%
If you have this many problems with a modern OS like Win 7/8 that has a LOT of drivers available out of the box, you're in for a world of hurt trying to even get this 98 system going.
The VCR King
Well-Known Member
Really all I need is for it to run Internet Explorer or an older Firefox and handle old software I own such as Office 97 Pro or Rugrats Totally Angelica Boredom Buster CD-ROM and others. By better I mean compatibility with software or devices. So 95 or 98? Or Windows Me?
Wow. You really know nothing about old OS'. That was the worst OS Microsoft ever put out.
Why would you bother going online with such an old machine? And why run Office 97? Retro gaming I can understand but not old IE and Office.
Geoff
VIP Member
If you use USB anything, you will need drivers. Windows 95/98 came with very few drivers, so your best bet is to get a PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
You should look up system requirements for what you want to do on this. You will not be able to properly browse most of the web simply due to any browser that will run will be severely out of date. No current Flash support, no Java, no Shockwave, no HTML5, etc. You won't be able to stream video, even if you did it would be incredibly laggy.
You can find 10x better machines for free. I really hope you aren't paying for a machine like this.
If all you want is to use old software, just put Windows 95/98 in a VM.
You should look up system requirements for what you want to do on this. You will not be able to properly browse most of the web simply due to any browser that will run will be severely out of date. No current Flash support, no Java, no Shockwave, no HTML5, etc. You won't be able to stream video, even if you did it would be incredibly laggy.
You can find 10x better machines for free. I really hope you aren't paying for a machine like this.
If all you want is to use old software, just put Windows 95/98 in a VM.
there is reason i threw out all my old os disks.except a brand new still shrinkwrapped windows ME disk.dont know why i kept that one.maybe to remember the heartaches?like was said,you will have driver issues,and if you dont think you need drivers better think again.i can see this maybe for retro gaming but if there is another point to it i sure cant see it.wanna buy my ME disk.LOL