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HOME TOPICS ABOUT ME So Microsoft becomes a sort of Jeckel and Hyde. It creates a much better version of Windows, one that handles memory properly and is just as crash-proof as Linux, and then continues to make and sell vastly inferior versions. |
technofile Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983 Why can't Microsoft level with you about the advantages of Windows 2000?Dec. 10, 2000 By Al Fasoldt Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers You don't have to put up with the frailties of Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me. You can install a much better version of Windows, one that is practically crash-proof. It's Windows 2000. You'd be crazy not to switch if you're tired of lockups, crashes and memory problems. Experts on PCs have known for months that Windows 2000 is vastly better than the consumer versions of Windows. It's even better than Microsoft's workhorse server operating system, Windows NT, which Windows 2000 replaces in every way. You'd think Microsoft would be falling all over itself to get you to switch. But Microsoft doesn't even want you to know that Windows 2000 is out there. It insists that Windows 2000 is strictly for office use. It even avoids advertising Windows 2000 in any publication that would be seen by regular consumers. Microsoft is doing everything it can to keep you from knowing that you have a choice. Microsoft could very well be afraid of the obvious. If it tells consumers in an unambiguous way that Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me are so badly flawed that we should switch to Windows 2000, guess what would surely happen? People who don't like wasting their time or losing their files would go to court and sue Microsoft for every cent they've lost to Windows crashes and lockups. So Microsoft becomes a sort of Jeckel and Hyde. It creates a much better version of Windows, one that handles memory properly and is just as crash-proof as Linux, and then continues to make and sell vastly inferior versions. Microsoft's stock argument for keeping consumers in the dark about Windows 2000 is that Windows 2000 is not for people who play games on PCs. It's not a gaming platform, in other words. As if that matters! Refusing to recognize that we need a reliable and stable operating system for normal computing tasks such as word processing and e-mail is lunacy. As long as your PC has enough memory (64 megabytes at a minimum, 128 megabytes or more preferred) and a fast enough processor (233 megahertz or faster), you should consider switching to Windows 2000. Your PC also needs a lot of free disk space. The advantages Windows 2000 has are easy to understand: Stability. Even if a program your PC is running crashes or locks up, Windows 2000 keeps running. Other programs won't be affected. You're much less likely to lose important work. Intelligence. Unlike Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me, Windows 2000 cannot run out of the kind of memory called "resources." (Technically, it probably can, but I know how to stress an operating system and I couldn't do it, so I'm saying flatly that Windows 2000 won't run out of resources.) This means you'd be able to run as many programs as you want without the dreaded lockups and crashes common to Windows 95, 98 and Me. Security. Interlopers can be locked out of Windows 2000 very easily. Any 14-year old can break into a Windows 95, 98 or Me computer in a couple of minutes, regardless of passwords or other apparent security measures. But a Windows 2000 PC equipped with a standard log-on password cannot be hacked. Your kids (or your summer help) won't be able to get onto your Windows 2000 PC no matter what, unless you authorize them to use it. Integrity. Windows 2000 will not let any program you are installing wreck the files that Windows itself needs. It also won't let anything happen to files other programs are using. This is something Windows Me is supposed to do also, but it's a huge failure. (Windows Me is so bad at this that it even mistakes viruses for essential files. Windows Me might restore a virus after you've gotten rid of it. If you're using Windows Me, consider yourself forewarned.) Familiarity. Windows 2000 looks like Windows 95, 98 and Me. There are many differences in small areas, but everyone used to the other versions of Windows should be able to switch to Windows 2000 without a problem. This puts Windows 2000 at a big advantage over Linux, which requires a lot of rethinking and retraining. (Linux is much safer overall, since it is immune to Windows viruses, but the gap has narrowed with the introduction of Windows 2000.) Windows 2000 has some of the same problems all other versions of Windows have, so you'd still need to run up-to-date antivirus software and use a good Internet firewall program. But in other respects, you'd be getting an easy-to-use operating system that works right. That should be an attractive option if you're tired of the way Windows misbehaves, want a better operating system but don't want to learn something entirely new. |