Best Operating System?

[garyallred]

I am using a Gateway computer that is about 4-5 years old and running 98 SE. I am about to buy a Dell and I have heard reasons for using almost every OS but 95. I am heavy into graphics and moving into web design using Corel, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash. What is the best OS for graphics and web design?

Gary Allred

[garyallred]

I am using a Gateway computer that is about 4-5 years old and running 98 SE. I am about to buy a Dell and I have heard reasons for using almost every OS but 95. I am heavy into graphics and moving into web design using Corel, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash. What is the best OS for graphics and web design?

Gary Allred

[stlewis]

I continue to be happy with it - miles better than any of the 98s. I am running it on an old Pentium II 450 with 256Mb memory. I have drivers for all my old add ons.

But no doubt Dell offer XP. If you are in to more complex stuff then Professional may be best. Other people will have a good view on this.

www.bricksandbrass.co.uk

[gdavidson]

I can safely vouch for Win XP Pro with DW4, FW4 and Flash5. It's the most stable OS I've ever had on my machine which is a fairly modest PIII 500MHz 256MB. When I went from W98SE to XP, it was like having a new machine!

If you do get XP, take it onto the Windows update site as there are fixes which solve some compatibility problems with older software including Dreamweaver.

--
Graeme

[dalel]

I have heard more good about 2000 Pro than any other operating system.

95 is actually pretty good if you don't need to use newer software, and don't need support for CD burners and such. I wouldn't use it for modern graphics.

98 crashes too much. I get by pretty well with 98 First Edition, but I wish it were more stable.

Win XP has the annoying licensing scheme, which I will avoid.

I tried to update my machine to Win 2000 Pro, and was totally frustrated trying to update drivers and get everything to work right. After one week and still getting the 2000 equivalent of the BSD, I just put 98 back on.

Dale [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Eye Site Web Design

Why, I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir, because I’m not myself, you know...
- Lewis Carroll

[garyallred]

With 98 SE, part of the way I pass my time during the day is put another mark done each time my computer crashes, locks up or shuts down. I vary from 3 to 8 times a day depending on the work load I ask my computer to take on. I have heard stories like Dale's and I probably will not try to upgrade my current computer's OS until I have a new computer up to speed. I assume some upgrades work much better with a new format of the hard drive and a fresh install of a new OS.

At this point I am just trying to decide on with OS on a new computer.

Gary Allred

[vogonpoet]

I am still running win95 on one box and win98se on my graphics box and both are fine.

At work we were running Sun Solaris (unix based) which was good too. We have recently migrated to win2000 pro and it also seems pretty good.

From personal experience, the puters set up and guts seem to have more effect on the OS's stability then anything else.

Have you considered building your own machine as opposed to buying a stock machine from Dell or Gateway? Better value for money, plus a good learning experience and also you get to load just the OS and not have to deal with any of the junk that Gateway, Dell, HP, Compaq etc etc, preload!

ymmv

~Vp

[dalel]

My first computer was a Gateway, and is still my main computer.

I bought a backup computer last year from http://www.buy-atlas.com. My only regret is that I didn't pay the extra money and get it with Win 2000 Pro(I got 98SE). I paid far less than I would have paid had I gone with Gateway or Dell.

Atlas Micro builds computers to whatever specs you desire, including whatever operating system you want, at very reasonable prices.

Dale [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Eye Site Web Design

Why, I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir, because I’m not myself, you know...
- Lewis Carroll

[gidgit]

Yea VP, it really does depend a whole bunch on what the whole system configurations are.....

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[garyallred]

I posted the same question on the Dreamweaver discussion group and the majority vote for Win 2000 Pro.

Gary Allred