Windows Me
Arriving after many delays, Windows Me, is considered by many to be a hybrid between NT/2000 and the Windows 9x range. When it comes to the underlying technology however, it has not taken anything from Windows 2000. The installation part its much like Windows 98 but with three reboots and few more mouse click that need to be done by you. The process of hardware detaction worked great with Windows Me. The Firewire port capabilities are another addition to Me and supports almost all the generic USB devices. Windows Me no longer has the Real DOS mode but you can use bootable diskettes created during startup to run REAL-MODE DOS applications.
The fact that stability pays is something Microsoft seems increasingly aware of lately, and this is reflected in Me which seems relatively more stable than it's predecessors. The Windows Media player 7.0 and Microsoft Moviemaker adds to it's strength on the multimedia side. With a 10 fps boost in Quake 2 and around 14 fps boost in Quake 3, this operating system is great upgrade for gaming geeks. It has the beefed up help system that feels just like a web site. You can search through the information or jump to the Micosoft website for more information and assisted support. Windows ME was also significantly faster than Windows 98 SE at Boot-up time.