IGST Support: Windows Operating Systems
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There are obviously several Windows Operating Systems to choose from: Windows 95, 98, 98 SE, ME, NT, 2000 and XP

To most people, these are all basically the same thing. Windows is Windows right?  Most definitely not...

There are many differences between the different Windows Operating System families:

Windows 9x family tree:  Windows 95, 98, 98 SE & ME

    The 9x tree was targetted at the home market and is missing much of the networking, security, and administration features of the NT tree.  These versions of Windows are considered pretty unstable and tend to crash often.  The positive side of these has been the support for hardware. Windows 9x is good for games because is supports DirectX graphics and sound technology. Windows 9x does not use memory very effectively, adding anything over 256MB does not really result in a performance boost.

    All the Windows 9x machines we have seen suffer from problems.  Most just simply crash unexpectedly.  Some won't install software correctly.   Most of the problems stem from installing cheap hardware and older 16-bit software.

    All Windows ME machines we have seen have been re-installed with another version of Windows because ME is quite unstable.  ME machines have trouble with having multiple programs running at the same time.  Many of these machines just decide at random not to start up one day (missing and/or corrupt files.)

    If you have a 9x machine that you are using for business, and don't want to purchase a new O/S, we really recommend that you only install the programs you need and nothing else.

Windows NT family tree: Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0

    The NT tree was targetted at the business/corporate market.  It is very stable, and has many features that are useful in the administration of large networks. NT is lacking major hardware support and does not have Plug-n-Play hardware functionality (PCMCIA/USB.) Windows NT uses memory much more effectively, adding more RAM to a NT machine will make a substantual difference in performance.  Windows NT does not support DirectX graphics or sound technology.

    NT machines have proven to be quite stable unless you have installed a strange device driver and does not meet Microsoft's standards. 

    Avoid Windows NT 3.51, it is not supported by Microsoft any longer.

Modern Windows NT/XP family: Windows 2000, XP Home & Business Editions

    Microsoft merged the best features from the 9x and NT trees: NT stablity, Security, memory management, Plug-n-Play hardware support and DirectX graphics.

    We really think these Operating Systems are the best ones to have.  We highly recommend using Windows 2000 or XP Business Edition. 

 

Please note, that with any Microsoft Operating system, it is really a good idea to keep it up to date with the latest security updates.  Please visit Microsoft's Windows Update Web Site to patch you machine, it's easy.