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Win'98 Updates
Windows'98 comes with an Update feature where you point your in built browser
at the Windows Update Microsoft website and then the system automatically
figures out what you need. This is fine except when you don't have an an
Internet connected machine.
An independent resource is here.
Win'98 Resources
Microsoft Windows '98 was released with a lot less hype and advertising than
Win'95. As such, not a lot was made of new features or modified features. It
took less than a month for the paper book market to come out with Win'98
technical books though, and you can now buy a variety of books on it. One of the
earliest sites to feature Win'98 was Win'98
Annoyances.
There are supplementary, cost plus kits that you can get with Win'98 (there
always are, with Microsoft products). There is the Plus! Pack and there is the
Resource Kit. I have not seen the Plus! Pack but the Resource Kit is definitely
worth getting if you intend to be a guru on Win'98 and manipulate it from back
to front.
Hot Tips
See the following:
Should you get Win'98?
The short and simple answer is "Yes". There are always
"Buts".
The Positives
- My PC shuts down a lot faster. Win'98 does not bother to individually
unload running modules, it just shuts down as fast as it can. Of course,
applications like Word etc... can block the process if a document has not
been explicitly saved, so it's still safe.
- One of my partitions is FAT32 and applications are 4k
chunked, using the new Defrag. That partition is very much faster. However,
this 4k chunking has implications for update routines that need to patch
original programs - the patching may not work.
- All hard disks seem faster. Win'98 uses an improved caching mechanism and
the sound of the hard disks when there is a read/write request is quite
different from Win'95.
- I believe the Internet Explorer 4.0 that is supplied with Win'98 is
generally the same as the one provided for Win'95. However, the overall
behaviour when IE4 dies during web browsing is that only that window dies,
the rest remains alive. This is crucial when you are downloading a file in
one process and browsing in another. In Win'95+IE4, when one IE4 window
terminates unexpectedly, every IE4 process terminates.
- Updates are less manual. You don't have to keep in touch and make a list
of things to do. Just visit the Windows Update site and you'll get automated
analysis of your machine.
Buts
- Take some time off to migrate to Win'98. If you want a worthwhile change
from what you used to have, there definitely must be changes in the new
system. Be mentally and business wise prepared for "ifs" and
"buts" and delays. Win'98 did not identify my modem like I had it
with Win'95, one of my hard disks developed bad sectors at the same time I
installed Win'98 (not sure whether it is at all related), power management
was handled differently and so on.
- I have not installed '98 on my HP 2000 Omnibook. But info elsewhere on the
web implies that some big name notebook vendors are cautious about their
Power Management routines (stored in BIOS) not being fully compatible or
that their Rescue Disk procedures are not compatible.
- Some specific tools and utilities need to be updated or discarded. Win'98
comes with it's own TWEAKUI, so don't use the old one.
New Features in Win'98
- Improved, more robust IE4.
- Support for Universal Serial Bus (yes, Win'95 OSR2.1 onwards had native
support too)
- Support for FireWire? (this is a connection for digital video cameras)
- Improved Defrag with 4k Chunking of programs
- Windows Update mechanism. This points you to the update site on the
Microsoft web and the wizard then checks out your machine and determines
what needs updating. This method was first used in IE4 updates. Microsoft
wants you to register and some people are concerned about the information
that these processes provide to Microsoft. Independent sites (e.g. www.infoworld.com)
on the web and Brian Livingston's book tell you how you can use the wizard
without explicitly registering.
- Improved Diagnostic Tools:
- Improved System Information Tool tells you hardware stuff like IRQs,
DMA, I/O ports etc... This SI was delivered with Microsoft Office but
not as comprehensive.
- Windows Report Tool (Creates a .cab file containing a .nfo file which
details your software and config.)
- System File Checker (This can scan the system for altered system files
and replace from the CD)
- Signature Verification Tool (to check for ActiveX controls)
- Registry Checker (with backup). Win'98 now makes 5 backups of the
system registry.
- Automatic Skip Driver Agent. If a driver does not load properly when
Win'98 boots up, this driver is then disabled in WIN.INI, etc...
- System Configuration Utility (easy way to modify your startup
environment and sequence.)
- Version Conflict Manager (allows you to compare two versions of a .dll
and choose which one to use. Win'98 now moves the different versioned
.dll into \windows\helpdesk\wcm
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