It is, quite possibly, the most under-hyped version of Windows ever created. But for home users confused by the incompatibilities, cost, and system requirements of Windows 2000, Microsoft's last hurrah in the Windows 9x product line offers a ray of hope. Windows Millennium Edition--or Windows Me (as in the dreadful, "get to know Me" tagline)--is a lame duck technologically, but it offers enough reliability improvements and new features for me to recommend it heartily to most Windows 9x users (Figure). And for those people that eagerly turned to Windows 2000, only to get burned, Windows Me might be just what the doctor ordered.
I've been covering Windows Me for over a year now and have written more about this operating system than anybody outside of Microsoft. So before you proceed with this review, you may want to take a look at some of my many other articles about Windows Me, which explain Microsoft's positioning of the product and the ways in which Windows Me lives up to the company's goals. In late 1999, I wrote up an introduction and review of Windows Millennium Edition Beta 2. And in April 2000, I wrote up an introduction and review of Windows Me Beta 3, which was very close to the final version in terms of feature-set. And I've written a number of Technology Showcases that apply to Windows Me, including an Activity Centers Preview, an overview of the Windows Me "Out of Box Experience", and a look at the contents of the final Windows Me CD-ROM.
But now Windows Me is completed. And while it's easy to dismiss yet another Windows 9x-based product, its important to understand that Microsoft actually made some very important strides with this release. And because the Windows 2000 team was essentially given an extra year to fine-tune the next consumer Windows (the Windows 2000-based Windows.NET 1.0, code-named "Whistler"), Windows Me will offer a straightforward transition to that OS when it becomes available in Q2 2000. So far from being a dead-end, Windows Me is really just another step in the path toward the future of Windows. On the other hand, Windows Me was somewhat constrained by its rapid release cycle. So there was no time to add features that would have taxed the compatibility of a kernel that is due for retirement within 12 months. For example, the Windows Me team was unable to provide some of the fading icon, mouse cursor, and menu effects from Windows 2000. And Windows Me won't be able to take advantage of dual processors, as Windows 2000 Professional can.
But Windows Me does some things quite well. It offers far greater hardware and software compatibility than Windows 2000, for example, giving consumers the straightforward and transparent upgrade they desire. Windows Me requires far fewer resources than Windows 2000, so it will run on less powerful machines with less RAM. Windows Me starts up and shuts down much more quickly than Windows 2000 on the same hardware. And, oddly enough, Windows Me comes out of hibernation and standby (two power management modes) much more quickly than Windows 2000. On single processor machines, Windows Me is much more responsive than Windows 2000.
So rather than take you through a boring Microsoft-like overview of Windows Me's feature-set, I'll show you why Windows Me is must-have upgrade for most Windows users. And then I'll explain why some people might want to hold off and wait for Whistler. In the end, the decision is up to you. But Windows Me is appropriate for a far wider audience than Windows 2000, so if you're not sure which OS to choose, please read on.
Job 1: Reliability
It may not look that exciting on a bullet list of new Windows Me features, but this OS offers some compelling reliability improvements that make it a must-have upgrade for Windows 98 users. First of all, Windows Me has gotten rid of "Real Mode DOS," a legacy environment that older MS-DOS programs ran in. Instead, Windows Me supports only the more elegant "Protect Mode" of the Intel processors it runs on, which provides the OS with full access to the power of the underlying hardware. The removal of Real Mode DOS has several implications, most of them positive. Windows Me boots up more quickly and more reliably because a Real Mode boot loader is no longer required. And once the OS is up and running, it is more stable because of the removal of Real Mode DOS, which was a major cause of reliability problems in Windows 95 and Windows 98. The downside to this omission, however, is that some older DOS apps and, curiously, some Windows apps won't run under Windows Me.
