Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the money - 98 with a pretty face
Review: Windows ME just isn't worth the investment. It is just Windows 98 with some added features. The core operating system is still the same, unreliable OS it always was. Let's start by looking at the plus side. The new features are pretty nice. Windows Media Player is much better than its predecessors. Internet Explorer 5.5 is a great browser and not having to download the beast is an added bonus. The auto update feature (while somewhat annoying at times) is much easier than searching the web for the latest software updates. If you feel these features are reason enough to upgrade your to ME, then go for it. As I said, ME still has plenty of reliability problems. It is still possible for a single application to bring down the entire operating system. In my experience it has been rare that I actually get the OS to shut down properly. I have used Linux and NT for years and gotten used to their stability. I had forgotten just how bad the stability of this line of operating systems could be. One word of caution if you are still thinking about making the purchase: pay attention to the system requirements! I tried installing the upgrade on an old Pentium 133 Mhz system. The requirements say a minimum of 150 Mhz is needed, but I figured the OS would just run slowly so I went ahead with the install. After ME partitioned and formatted my hard drive, it told me my system didn't meet the 150 Mhz requirement and exited the installation. There you have it, the pluses, minuses and some annecdotes. I don't believe the additional features are worth the investment.
Rating: 
Summary: WINDOWS Me Upgrade - Install Clean...
Review: WINDOWS Me operates great, even on 200MHz systems. But, You're going to have problems if you install it as an upgrade on top of your existing Microsoft operating system. I build/repair/upgrade computers as a hobby. My household also has 3 computers using "Me" & there are no problems...EVER.
The TRICK is...(1)Backup your existing personal stuff & wipe clean your hard drive, make sure you have other driver/program disks, you can get updated drivers on their respective websites.
(2)Format & Partiton your hard drive. (3)Run WINDOWS Me SETUP, it will ask you for another version to continue - Put it in CD-Rom, it is only going to read it to verify you have a licensed copy. (4)When prompted, put "Me" disk back in & continue with setup. It will even install some audio & video drivers for you.
You now have installed a clean boot WINDOWS Me operating system & should have no "Lockup" problems. If "Me" is installed as an upgrade on top of your existing Microsoft operating system...YES, you're going to have problems as listed in previous reviews. By the way, my company has WINDOWS XP & I hate it!
Rating:
Summary: Yuk
Review: All I can say is, the computer I had with Windows 95 on it is still running strong at my parents house, whilst this one I bought new with Windows ME on it constantly hangs up and crashes. Thank goodness all the new computers have XP on them now. I can't wait to get one.
Rating:
Summary: Hope I write this review before my operating system crashes
Review: Yes, my current operating system is Microsoft Windows ME. I got this O.S. with my new computer, does it have to crash every other second? It's not great, at all. My friend used it for 10 minutes briefly and came to the conclusion I came up with 2 months after living with it. Positive side (shouldn't take long...)
1. It's got that Windows Movie Maker program, if only I could use it without risk of crashing the machine (in the bin).
2. Media Player's OK
3. System restore was quite handy when i had a few graphics card problems.
4. Internet Explorer 5.5 OK (but you can wazz version 6.0 upgrade off Microsoft for free anyway)
5. All the lovely little icons are nice looking, sitting on the desktop like that...
6. ...mmmm, that's it. Negative side (here we go...)
1. Freezing, crashing, lockups, incompatibility, sudden program closures (with data loss) and more blue screens than I can throw at keyboard at (biggest gripe).
2. When I used system restore quite a few times to sort a graphics card error I ended fixing the problem and having all my icon labels and program titles on the start menu ALL CAPITALISED...how odd!
4. I've reinstalled it 2 times since having the computer Jan 2001 (it's a pain, I wont go through it again).
5. It doesn't look any better.
6. It doesn't like me capturing video.
7. It doesn't like me. So it's OK/adequate if your new computer came with it, but horrible as an upgrade.Don't buy Windows MEediocre. (look forward to XP)
Rating:
Summary: Windows ME
Review: I've been using it for several years and I have not had any problems what-so-ever. It runs smoothly. I've tried the new XP and did not like the cartoonish look. I've reinstalled Windows ME several times and it automatically does everything for me. It searches and installs hardware with easy. I've seen a lot of people say it crashes and freezes up all the time. My version Windows ME has not froze or crashed as much as Windows 95 and Windows 98 did. Windows 95 and 98 froze and crashed all the time. Mine stopped responding one day but I traced it to a driver. I reinstalled an update to the driver and it has not done it anymore. It's an outstanding program. The only thing I don't like is it does like a little bit more memory but it is fast. Let's put it this way Windows 95/98 froze/crashed about 3 - 4 times daily.
Windows ME may do it 2 times a month. XP is too cartoonish. I may go back later to it but I need a bigger hard drive. Save my 2 gig for something else. :) billy
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful Upgrade!?
Review: If you're still living in the stone age of Windows 95, then you must get Windows ME right now. The difference is virtually day and night. And for users of Windows 98 the upgrade is still helpful while at first there seems to be not that much of a difference. But Windows ME has some subtle features that I don't want to live without, like e.g. the automatic update feature that alerts you of updates and upgrades. Then there is the Windows Media Player which has excellent sound and video capabilities, which is almost a necessity in our day and age. The only difficulty we experienced so far, only occasionally though, is with the printing of E-mail notices which indicates an error message at times, but while we haven't figured out the problem yet we found a temporary solution to it. Overall, we can't give this upgrade 5 stars, because it's not as radical with super features that you may expect, but Windows ME has features you don't want to live without. Also, the operating system seems to be very stable without a freeze since installed, which wasn't the case with the previous version. It's well worth to upgrade now.
Rating:
Summary: Windows 98 3rd Edition
Review: With subtle improvments over Windows 98 2nd Edition, this should really be called just a 3rd edition. It does adds support to DV video editing, improved MP3 and .JPG file handling, added anti-virus/erasing security and improved home networking support for broadband connections. It also supports web pages AS desktop, which is a neat new feature expanding on the Active Desktop theme. There is a new system restore function that will allow a user to revert back to "times" where the system may have performed better but has since experienced a problem due to a bad program, user mistake, or any other problem. It's new file security helps insure that critical system files are not accidentally erased by the user, or purposely by a rogue program such as a virus. It gets a facelift borrowing from the corporate version of Windows, Windows 2000 sharing ICONS, wallpaper, window animations, and NO MORE SYSTEM DISKS. That's right, with Windows Me, like Win2000 you will NO longer be able to make system diskettes. Your only choice will be using Start Up disks. the format /s switch as well as "copy system files" selections are gone from this OS. Most of the best enhancements appearing in Windows Me are already available for free from Microsoft; Media Player 7, the updated and more tightly integrated MSN Messenger/Netmeeting which allows AOL style instant messaging to incorporate video with ease, and DirectX 7. Will it's release still a month away, and the final product just now going to manufacturing, many companies have now released updated drivers so if you have hardware that must function the moment you upgrade, please check your hardware vendor to make sure an update driver is available if necessary. Hopefully a cheaper upgrade will be available to those who already use Windows 98 2nd edition like there was for Win98 users when Win98 2nd Ed. was released.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it for me to turn on USB port
Review: I think for most people this upgrade would not be worth it. However it was for me since I bought this upgrade to enable the USB port on my PC (I bought the PC in '97 and it had the USB ports, but Windows 95 so the USB ports did not do anything). I was able to live without USB until I got a digital camera, and downloading pictures over the serial port just takes too long. I did a clean install rather than the upgrade procedure (i.e., I reformated the hard wiping Windows 95). Although the clean install takes more time (you have to back up all your data and reinstall all your applications, etc) I think it saves trouble down the road. I have been using ME for over a month now and it seems to be more stable than 98SE (which I have at work). The system restore is a nice added feature, that I think has some advantages over the GOBACK software you could have bought. Other features are less exciting (IE5.5 MediaPlayer 7 are available for free on web and I don't use the movie editor).
Rating: 
Summary: Nice operating system, but forget about upgrading
Review: Two weeks ago, I carefully installed Windows ME on my computer, replacing the preinstalled Windows 98. That was a mistake. While ME has some nice features and improvements over 98, it left my system more unstable and buggy than it had ever been before. For the record, my computer easily met the system requirements for ME. Anyway, after the upgrade, I found IE 5.5 to be slower than IE 5.01, Media Player 7 was a piece of garbage, my McAfee VirusScan loaded much slower, there were video driver glitches, etc...I had similar hassles years ago when I upgraded another computer from Windows 95 to 98. After the experiences I have had, I do NOT believe in upgrading your PC's operating system. If your machine came preinstalled with Windows 95, 98, or ME, then leave it alone. Putting in a new OS totally upsets the equation and causes innumerable problems. Many of these problems don't develop right away. Also, upgrading your OS often violates your manufacturers warranty. So if you need tech help, often the maker of your PC will say..."sorry, but we can offer no support since you changed the operating system. Call Microsoft". So a few days ago, I got fed up with the glitches and completely erased my hard drive, and put back in Windows 98. My computer works better than ever. My PC has a small sticker on the front that I should have paid better attention to: Designed for Microsoft Windows 98/NT. Didn't say anything about ME. If a new OS is released and you simply must have it, wait a few months until patches and bug fixes are released, then buy a new computer that has the new OS preinstalled.
Rating:
Summary: It works well
Review: I was running Windows 95 on my desktop, which is an AMD-K6-2 (350 mHz) with 64 MB RAM. My laptop, which I purchased used, is a Compaq Armada 1590DMT (150 mHz) with 80 MB RAM, which came with Windows 98. I have a 24 gig C drive on the desktop, and only 2 gigs on the laptop. I upgraded both machines to Windows ME with no problem at the same time. For some reason, unknown to me, when you go through "Start" and "Shut down" on the desktop, it never shows the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" notice--just a horizontal stripe on a dark screen, but I can tell by the sound that it's finished the cycle. I'm not troubled by the problem. The laptop does fine. The one feature which I have learned to like in ME is the "Restore" function. When you do have a system problem, it is relatively easy to restore the machine's system to a previous time, when everything worked. In fact, when the machine starts in "Safe" mode, it automatically takes you to the "Restore" function, which you can either accept or reject. No recently loaded applications or files are lost with restore. Only the system is restored to an earlier time. Other than that, there are no significant visual or operating differences between 98 and ME that I can see, and I've run it for three or four months now. There is one difference in capability, which cost me some money. I had a French made flatbed SCSI scanner which I liked, and it worked fine with Windows 95. However, Windows ME does not support SCSI, and so I had to purchase a new Hewlett-Packard scanner which plugs into my parallel port. (The printer plugs into the scanner.) Currently I'm having trouble with the scanner operation, but the printer works fine. I'm going to have to sort that out when I get time. However, the HP scanner DID work with ME, and I assume I can make it work again. That's about all the comment I have on ME. No more complaint than one usually finds with a Microsoft product, and I'm used to the little glitches. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to DOS, when things were simpler, before Microsoft tried to make things "user friendly" and reduced our control in the process. Joseph H. Pierre, author of "The Road to Damascus: Our Journey Through Eternity"
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