X-no-Archive:yes

Well Wirt, perhaps you are correct.  Actually, I do not run Windows 98, never
had and probably never will.  I converted to Windows NT some years back and
never reconsidered my decision.  So I cannot say if Windows 98 is more stable
than NT. I do not possess your vast experience and so I must defer to you on
this assessment.  In my case, more stable than NT would be difficult to
accomplish, simply because my NT boxes never crash.  Period.  I have read
countless reports about how Windows 98, whilst less problematical than 95, is
still prone to crashes and lock ups.  Microsoft even released Windows 98 SE
(Second Edition) and I still read the same reports about that one.  But again,
I defer to your judgment on this issue.

I don't know which to which party you are referring, but if it is the party
that pursues and enjoys reliable computing, then yes, you are indeed correct.
 If you are referring to Microsoft, then you are incorrect.  Remember M$ still
wants you to buy Windows 98 now and then Windows Millenium next year.  They
just are not letting go of the DOS-based OS.

Finally, if you have experienced problems with NT on your desktop, might I be
so bold as to suggest some quick things to look at.

A) I trust you verified that all the hardware and software was supported and
listed in the HCL.  After all, you wouldn't run unsupported hardware on MPE.
B) Use NTFS exclusively.  FAT will only give you trouble!
C) Do not set up a dual-boot environment, unless it is absolutely critical.
D) Do not have these virus checkers and other background products running on
your systems, (this goes especially for the Windows 9x crowd.
E) Make sure you have 128 MB of RAM on the system, 64MB is a bare minimum for
NT.
F) Check those drivers, ensure you have up to date versions.
G) You should have at least SP3 installed.  SP4 is reliable but I have heard
some bad rumors, probably isolated, about SP5.  I will probably never install
SP5 or SP6 or SP7 on 4.0 as I am completely migrating to Windows 2000 shortly.

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Sunday, 26 September, 1999 10:44 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: HP Business Brio's Can't Connect to HP3000's?

Denys writes:

> If I were you,
>  I would consider getting Windows NT and not the Windows 9x.  The only two
>  reasons to get Windows 9x  are a) it's a home computer and you have games
>  are not supported on NT or b) you have hardware that you absolutely must
>  and it is not supported, yet, under Windows NT.  I use my laptop all the
>  doing a wide range of things.  It is my only system.   I run NT
exclusively
>  it and have never had the need to go back to 95.

Denys writes the party line, but I must admit, I have yet to understand it.
We run all three versions of the OS here: 95/98/NT, with virtually identical
software on all of them. On a purely objective basis, 98 appears to me to be
by far the most stable of the three.

Wirt Atmar