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Jeff's computers and OS's
I have 12 computers at this time. They range from the obsolete to the mid-tech level .
My best computer is a home built. It is based on a Soyo 5ema motherboard with an AMD 500mhz cpu,
160 mb of Ram , one 13.0 gb harddrive, one 6.8 gb harddrive
and a Voodoo3 2000 video card. I have Windows 2000 running on this one.
I tried Windows ME on it , but I had all kinds of hardware conflicts with the Via chipsets.
Second place goes to a DTK, I picked up on eBay. It has a Pentium II 333mhz cpu, 128 mb of ram,
one 9.5 gb harddrive, a 100 mb Zip drive and a Voodoo 3500 video card. I have Windows 2000
on this also . Now I can no longer use my joystick and trying to install service pack 1, ( at 80 mb),
takes away my internet connection.
My last tower computer is a generic home built with a Pentium 233 mhz cpu, 128 mb of ram,
one 1.2 gb harddrive. I have Windows 95 running on it.
Of course, all have sound, cd players, floppy drives and USB ports, etc.
One of my most used computers is my laptop. It is an ancient NEC Ultralite Versa. This jewel runs a
486 cpu at 25mhz.It has a 510 mb harddrive and 8 mb of ram. I recently upgraded the modem from
14.4 kbs to 56K. Since it had no cd - rom , I got on eBay and purchased a PCMCIA cd rw drive,
which I can get a parallel interface for use with the other PC's.
Out in the living room is an old IBM, Pentium class for the kids to abuse. It runs Windows 98.
In addition I have five 486 class cpu boxes of various speeds and memories, with smallish hard drives.
One sub notebook Katrina uses for a personal diary. I have not seen it since I bought it.
For all I know she is merrily hacking her way thru the web ! Not !
Operating Systems
I think without a doubt the best operating system is Windows 98, for the average home user.
It is easy to navigate, to upgrade hardware with and has been around long enough, that there is
plenty of compatible software for any purpose, ( including gaming ). If you reboot every hour or so
under heavy usage, ie. surfing the net or Quake playing , performance will remain quite good .
Windows 2000 Professional is my favorite right now. It requires a lot of setup work. Checking for
compatibility, finding new drivers for some equipment and making sure other software is not
conflicted by it. It does seem to be extremely stable as I can leave it on for a couple days, using the
computer intermittently , without having to reboot. Windows 2000, has a vast amount of system info
and generates enough logs , to keep a fast reader busy quite awhile.
Windows 95, is a good workhorse operating system , without any special features.
It has a small footprint which is good for the smaller hard drives. I never really used it under
intense conditions of surfing or gaming,so I am not sure how stable it is.
I have also three versions of Linux , which are: Red Hat Linux, Slackware and Caldera.
Trying them out on a Hewlett-Packard 486-25mhz, 425 mb harddrive and 24 mb of ram, was a lot
harder than I thought. Knowing your basic system info is important in the setup process. This is
the stage,along with partitioning the harddrive, that makes Linux seem so much more difficult than Windows,
although, if you ever put in a non-Windows supported piece of hardware, especially modems, or did a
fresh install of Windows,the real difference comes down to the user interface only.
I ended up with a hacked down version of Slackware, after not being able to get the other two to install.