I’ve been running and testing betas of Windows ME for quite a while now. I like Windows ME very much. Because my company is a Microsoft partner, I’ve got the final retail version, I was able to download and install it from the private MSDN site. I must tell you that I think this is the quickest, most stable, and reliable version of windows to date. Boot up is fast, shut down is very fast. By the way, plug-n-play is superb. I’ve yet to see a single blue screen. I must say that I’m very impressed, Windows ME is still largely untested, but the price of upgrade is much less then previous versions. Early rumors indicate that street prices could be as little as $30.00 compared to $165.00 for Windows 2000 Professional but, that’s a rumor.
Usage and selection rules as follows (as always):
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation users, get Windows 2000. That means software developers, CAD operators, engineers, graphic artists, and workstation level computers (with more than one processor, large SCSI drives, 512MB+ RAM, etc…). If you are never going to run a game, and need the control and stability of Windows NT, this is your choice. Networking, security, excellent hard disk management (Software RAID, NTFS, etc..) and better management of multiple users are still resident features of Win2K Pro that many users don’t/won’t need.
Windows 95/98 users gamers, Office 95/97/2000 users, internet browsing machines, home networkers, business networkers (light usage) etc… Windows ME is for you. You’ll not need the multiple layers of security, you don’t have 2 processors, you do need the drivers, you do need the more advanced plug and play support, you do need the multimedia support. Please remember that you can still accomplish all of those things with Windows 2000, but it not as user friendly, wizard driven, and easy as Windows ME.