Win 98 First Ed vs SE

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My ancient home PC isa Win 98 box I built myself. I installed an OEM copy of Win98 First Ed / ‘Gold’. Since then I’ve tweaked it and patched it and as far as I know it has all the possible Win 98 updates MS have ever released.

My question has fully patching my Win 98 Gold made it equivalent to a fully patched Win 98SE?

I suspect not because MS charged for the 98 Gold to 98SE update.

Ken

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I don’t know the answer, but is it important? As long as it still runs…

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From here……

“From a personal view, I can’t see any problem in paying out $20 for this upgrade for Windows 98 users, nor can I see any problem for those users who might upgrade from 3.1 or 95.

The main reason I find to upgrade Windows 98 to Windows 98 Second Edition is that it is far easier to install than to keep downloading and installing all the patches and upgrades on the Windows Update Web site especially for European users such as myself. Does it offer enough new features for those hardened Microsoft haters who have been complaining since it was announced? No, clearly it doesn’t but I don’t think that Microsoft ever said it did. I can also say that apart from NetMeeting 3 crapping out on me, I have yet to have a single crash and the majority of USB problems that were part of Windows 98 have vanished which is a godsend to me.”

So, as Hans said, if you’re happy and it still runs, leave it be. It really is a personal choice.

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I was just curious about the subtle difference between 98 ‘Gold’ & 98SE. If you can make one into the other with enough patches how come it wasn’t free? Does that not imply it was more than just a service pack?

No matter, my home computing requirements are minimal and even now, nearly 10 yrs after I built the thing, my Win 98 kit does the job.

Thanks,

Ken

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More than a service pack, but less than an “upgrade” would best describe 98SE. As stated in the article I linked to, the most compelling reason to upgrade seems to be to avoid having to download & apply all the patches if you have to reinstall the OS.

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actually Doc Watson, there are some applications out there that DO require Win98 SE (2nd edition) and NOT FE (1st edition). Adobe Reader 6 is one of them
and its setup program will not allow you to install Adobe 6 under a 98fe OS. better to use Win98 SE if you want to use programs that require a minimum
of 98se. Microsoft’s own & old Windows Media Player 9 app also requires Win98 SE and NOT Win98 FE.

Also in Win98 SE is improved WDM (windows driver model) support; some audio devices installed under 98fe that use a WDM driver may work better in 98se.

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Thank you for your interest in this issue but this thread dates from over 18 months ago so things have moved on a bit.

Since them then I’ve learnt much more about 98FE, SE and the numerous official/unofficial patches, tweaks, bells and whistles that can be added to Win 9x, thanks to another forum, which is much more active than this board.

One of the many tips I’ve picked up is that you CAN run Media Player 9 on FE. I’m surprised you didn’t mention this, I would have thought ERPmans’s site would have been familiar to you.

stuck

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My ancient home PC isa Win 98 box I built myself. I installed an OEM copy of Win98 First Ed / ‘Gold’. Since then I’ve tweaked it and patched it and as far as I know it has all the possible Win 98 updates MS have ever released.

My question has fully patching my Win 98 Gold made it equivalent to a fully patched Win 98SE?

I suspect not because MS charged for the 98 Gold to 98SE update.

Ken

Ken, a major improvement provided by W8 SE is at least a primitive level of support for USB2.0. If your home-built machine has hardware USB2.0-rated ports to support that function and runs USB2.0 around the rated 480mbps, chances are something was improved in the process of doing Windows Update. Although John Dvorak said “W98 SE is the Windows you paid for, but did not get” (with W98, First Edition), USB2.0 is still fairly shaky on Windows 98, no matter what Windows Update might have done for the first edition. In any case, I would not presume the whole W98 FE package was beneficiary of Windows Update.

A suggestion– since Windows XP Home can be had for around $60 or less, why not determine whether your home-built can handle that OS? You will need about 512mb minimum system RAM to be happy, with a recommended 1-2GB maximum (depending on what your mainboard will accept). You can get by on about 8GB of hard drive space (some would argue less).

The advantages of running XP are fairly obvious– unless you are married to a favorite application which cannot be upgraded, and you dislike the idea of dual-booting from W98FE and WXPHome– you can do much more with modern applications. This includes everything from photo-editing software to the latest (and safer) generation of browsers.

Security is also a major issue– W98 is a babe in the woods on today’s internet. In contrast, XP gives you at least a better chance. Microsoft has the largest population of paying beta testers in the world, and their experience over eight years helped make Windows XP a standard of reliability (if that is not an oxymoron with Windows)..

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Your comments are noted but did you not read the date on the post you quote? Failing that, how come you missed my latest post, the one immediately above yours, the one starting with the sentence:
>Thank you for your interest in this issue but this thread dates from over 18 months ago so things have moved on a bit.
and then goes on to point the reader to all things current in the world of Win 9x?

stuck

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>18 months old or ten years…..there are still people out there who are using Windows 98 and its derivatives and would benefit from knowing more about what options they may have to get the best out of it.

I still have three computers that have Windows 98 (various versions) that will NOT run anything later.
I’ve applied the SE upgrade and the Unofficial Service pack to get every bit of performance possible out of those old PC’s. They still work GREAT!

This is after all, Windows Secrets! Why keep something secret that might help a user somewhere?
There are people who read these forums and never ever post a word.
I’ve received PM’s from people who have derived some benefit from something I’ve posted, but they themselves NEVER post to the forum.

Just a thought!

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