From Windows 98SE to Windows 10, 20 years

pcgear said:

For me the computer trip started further back as an Atari user in the mid 80's. There was no internet then offcourse, I was a member of the worldwide Atari club and one would order software via mail in the form of floppy disks. Atari's closest competitor in those days was Amiga with the same type of distribution by floppy d

I remember getting my first hard drive, it was 2gb and considered a huge luxury.

Before I go any further I would like to comment that I am very impressed that a multi conglomerate company like Microsoft is taking a step back and realizing their mistakes by coming up with a new operating system and offering this to previous customers of windows 7 and 8. I

I would like to add that I am a little disappointed that windows Vista/XP users are not getting the same deal.

Let's look at it in reality from the consumers point of view (I started with 98 when I changed from Atari) ;

Windows 98 - didn't do so well
Windows 98SE - was a success
Windows 2000 - was ok if you where a banker but not so much if you where a gamer or musician.
Windows ME - Was pretty well a disaster
Windows XP - A success so much that it is still in use by 250 million users (12%) worldwide.
Windows Vista - What can I say - YUK (1.84%)
Windows 7 - A huge success (Currently 60% of users worldwide)
Windows 8.1 - Let's face it, generally hated. I have lost count of how many PC's I have put windows 7 back on for people (13% use worldwide)

For the computer savy there where various server editions which I will not comment on, I have used them all and have found them all AOK.

Really; Microsoft give the people that paid for Vista (XP maybe) a break and that doesn't include me. I have my Windows 10 ISO downloaded and I am legit.

Apart from that, I personally think this is a massive step forward for Microsoft. In the end it doesn't matter how big a company you are, the public have to believe in you to buy your product. Before Windows 10 - I nearly shifted to Ubuntu.

Shaky ground means some solid ground and some so not solid ground, Microsoft we'd all like you to stay on solid ground.

Cheers! - Henk

..........Good read....Agree! Windahs 10....whatever....next year it'll be 11, 12 or whatever goes for control!

I started with DOS.

I started with IBM Machine Basic and PC-Dos. But there were a whole bunch of Doses. Wasn't MS Dos based on PC-Dos?

Am I the only new gen here who started with windows xp :/ >.> Wait is windows xp considered new gen, I don't know what gen I belong in XD

I started with the ZX Spectrum operating system, storage was audio cassette.

First email account was circa '84.

First hard drive was a whopping 10MB!

In 2015, PCs and operating systems are nearly at an acceptable level...

pcgear said:

I would like to add that I am a little disappointed that windows Vista/XP users are not getting the same deal.
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Really; Microsoft give the people that paid for Vista (XP maybe) a break and that doesn't include me.

A big issue in those two versions is there have been too many changes in hardware and the versions of Windows in the intervening years. WinXP did have a 64-bit version but only with the Professional iteration, weren't as many programs and hardware drivers for it so I never installed the copy I have. Even Win8.0 is left out probably due to some of the changes in the update for 8.1.

But then one can never discount the need to make money from things one produces and could be that Win8.0 didn't get the results desired.

IMO Windows 2000 is a worthwhile upgrade just for the Task Manager. The Task Manager in Windows 9x was terrible.

Eaglesail said:

..........Good read....Agree! Windahs 10....whatever....next year it'll be 11, 12 or whatever goes for control!

There is some fantastic Linux Bistro's around now, totally free and as user friendly as any Windows. The reason why "Windows is the World" is that it is firmly hooked into our children's education system. The early bird catches the worm and Windows is now firmly entrenched into our schools.

Hah, for the first time in history children are teaching their parents/grandparents education; how to use a computer i.e. Windows. Microsoft's television advertising campaign in Australia is; "Windows 10 is our children's future".

See what happens...

Gary said:

I started with DOS.

DOS was a Chameleon that changed to Microsoft Dos.