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HOME TOPICS ABOUT ME If a program you've run under a previous version of Windows won't run under Windows 2000, the leprechauns hiding in your PC might be trying to tell you something. They might be telling you it's time for better software. |
technofile Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983 Why Windows 2000 might not be for youDec. 17, 2000 By Al Fasoldt Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers When I praised Windows 2000 last week, I realized as soon as the first letters arrived that I'd left something out. I'd neglected to explain the potential problems of Windows 2000. My article had pointed out that Windows 2000 is much more stable (and therefore much less likely to crash) than Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me. I had also explained that your computer needs a lot of memory and a fast processor to run Windows 2000. Finally, I'd said that Windows 2000 is not able to run some game software. All those things are true. But what I left out could fill a book. The basic problem of Windows 2000 comes from the different way it works. Most of these differences are under the hood, so to speak. You usually don't see them and won't have to deal with them. But the differences can lead to problems. If Microsoft had made Windows 2000 work just like Windows 98, all your programs and games would run just fine -- and your computer would crash and lock up just as often as it does now. It would run out of memory just as often. It would misbehave the same way. That's not what you want, right? Then try to understand why Windows 2000 had to be different. In order to make Windows 2000 work better, Microsoft had to make it work differently. That means Windows 2000 has to handle programs differently, for example. Unlike Windows 95, 98 and Me, Windows 2000 will not allow programs to step all over each other, nor will Windows 2000 allow any software to mess up the files that Windows itself uses. Windows 2000 also is designed to handle memory differently, so that you won't run out of "resources." The fact that Windows 2000 works differently means some programs you run now might not work under Windows 2000. You have to realize this. There's just no way around it. Programs that routinely misbehave won't run, for example. If a program is written so badly that it causes a crash in Windows 95 or Windows 98 (or in Windows Me, the latest weak link in the chain), you can bet that Windows 2000 will send it packing. If a program is written so badly that it makes other programs crash, you can be sure Windows 2000 will give it a pink slip faster than you can say "Bill Gates." As you can see, switching to Windows 2000 would give you a mixture of good news and bad news. The good news is too obvious to dwell on. We all appreciate a solid operating system. But the bad news shouldn't get you down. If a program you've run under a previous version of Windows won't run under Windows 2000, the leprechauns hiding in your PC might be trying to tell you something. They might be telling you it's time for better software. Let's be honest about this. If you want to get rid of the headache of Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me, you have to swallow a bitter pill. You have to be willing to change some of your habits. You've got to accept the fact that doing things the old way might not work any more. Microsoft did all of us a disservice by designing the older versions of Windows badly. Getting out from under it -- whether by switching to a Macintosh, to Linux or to Windows 2000 -- means you have to learn new things. Even if you switch from the old Windows to the new one, you'll have to accept the fact that some programs won't run. We all know the way things work in life. There's no such thing as a free lunch, the check is never really in the mail and Microsoft isn't out to make you happy. Lunches cost money, bill collectors will always have more work than they can handle and Microsoft is never going to turn itself into a charity. It's never going to come clean and fix the older versions of Windows. It makes its money selling newer versions. Remember that. Microsoft makes its money selling new versions of Windows -- lots of new versions of Windows. One of the biggest disappointments in computing in the year 2000 is Windows Me, which is just the Windows 98 jalopy with a new paint job. And Microsoft made an almost unthinkable blunder when it designed Windows Me: It created a "System Restore" feature that, tragically, restores computer viruses to full health after your antivirus software deletes them. It's clear that Microsoft doesn't know how to fix the "9x" versions of Windows (95, 98 and Me). That leaves Windows 2000 as the only choice for anyone who needs a stable and reliable version of Windows. It's not the ideal operating system -- there is no such thing -- and it's just as prone to Windows viruses as the other versions. But if you'd rather not switch to a Mac or to Linux, Windows 2000 makes a lot of sense. |