Which Microsoft OS do you hate worse.

[djscribbles]

Frankly, this poll is unfair. Windows ME should receive 100% of the votes, however most people have short memories, and some people weren't old enough to understand the fail that was ME (or were shielded from it by their guardians); after all an annoying OS that functions is much better than a clone of windows 98 with vastly improved crashing and system file corruption capabilities.

Vista, post SP2 was not bad at all, it's biggest problem was resource usage being too much for the hardware that was available at the time; my primary experiences with it early on were on relatives PCs which had < 1GB of ram, and of course it sucked. It was a mistake, but it wasn't so severe as everyone likes to remember.

Windows 8, doesn't really have the luxury of being history behind it. I'm old enough to remember how much hate and doom was spewed about Windows XP just before launch.

 

[thundervore]

Ah yes, Windows Many Errors gets my vote.


Honestly ive been using Windows since Win95 and ME was the worst, blue screens all day.

Ive been using Windows 7 since the beta and for the last 10 months i hardly used the start button. What ever programs i used most i pined them to the taskbar. I hardly went into the start menu for anything. Once Explorer was pinned and i increased my recently used items all folders i normally utilized were always in the list, if i wanted to keep them ill pin them. And if i wanted to see them i used a dock on the desktop.

I use dual 22" widescreen monitors and after trying Windows 8 it is a bit silly that they implemented that Metro tile system. The best thing about windows 8 is Multi monitor support with the new taskbar. I no longer had to use that POS ultramon that always seems to be 1 OS behind on features or display fusion that just made things worse to get a taskbar on each monitor that shows programs that only relate to that screen with full Aero Peak and thumbnail view window interaction.

Now that i think about it, just give me the Windows 8 taskbar on Win7 and they can keep Windows 8.

 

[OSU Cowboy]

Windows ME, hands down.

 

[PCgamer81]

Leaving out poll options because you may not like the outcome is no way to conduct a poll. Either be objective about it or don't conduct one at all. I know plenty of people who preferred Windows 2000 to Windows XP until XP SP2 was released. I know plenty of people who have no problems at all with Windows Vista because they bought hardware that didn't suck.

Every OS has a rocky start, Vista and XP are no exception. There was a lot wrong with the hardware that Windows Vista shipped on and a lot wrong with application developers who took 5 years to get used to the paradigm changes that Microsoft made. Laptop OEMs such as Dell and HP insisted on producing dirt cheap laptops and desktops using bottom of the barrel hardware that was only barely met the system requirements. Many of these platforms used Core2 processors which were inferior to the dated Netburst PCs which they replaced. I use Windows Server 2008 (Same codebase as Vista SP1) on a couple of my customer serving boxes and it runs just fine. I'd upgrade it to 2008 R2 but that would mean shelling out a grand for another licence. Heck Server 2003 was so full of issues that it's barely usable by many people's opinions which makes Server 2008 a marked improvement.

It's not that I entirely disagree with you, it's just that there is something you seem to be overlooking/ignoring. Plus, I just feel like before you insult someone you should perhaps try and see things from another perspective.

The OP created the poll to see which of those three the voters hated the most. If he was interested in opinions concerning other versions of Windows, he would have included them. He is simply wishing to see which OS, out of those three, is hated the most here on Tom's.

The nonsensical responses pertaining to the limited number of options would be akin to me creating a poll asking which game is more demanding, giving the choices as Crysis, Metro 2033, and BF3, and have to deal with some annoyance arguing that the poll is invalid for the reason that it left out, say, the Witcher 2.

And before you, or anyone else, attempts to differentiate this poll from the example I gave above, I would dare say that your time would be better served actually attempting to be helpful.

 

[mindless728]

I have been loving this hate for windows 8, do you realize that the metro interface can be completely customized as to what shows up and what doesn't.

Personally vista wasn't all that bad either so long as you didn't have a prebuilt computer with crap specs.

however, ME was pretty terrible

 

[noise]

As if you guys haven't given Windows NT any love! ... that's the one before 2K for those of younger years.

Windows NT had epic stability; principally due to having virtually no compatibility with any hardware 😀

Customer: I'd like new computer
Tech: Great!
Customer: I'd like all current generation hardware
Tech: Awesome!
Customer: It must run Windows NT
Tech: ... FML ...

On a more serious note, It's not really fair to judge v8 before it is out but I do feel they might be jumping a step to fast with the metro interface.

So my nominations of epic fail are:

9x kernel - Windows ME, fastest to boot, faster to crash)
NT kernel - Vista, it would have been NT but at least it didn't pretend to work then randomly screw you over.

 

[spartanmk2]

I'll give windows 8 a benefit of a doubt until its been out for awhile... but I'm not going to buy it (have my reasons), win7 is doing fine and will work for me till the next OS or two comes out.

I havent tried windows vista, but the furor over it being a hog and what not made me stick with XP for 7 years.

I will say windows ME was the worst, but my experience with it was not terrible, it did bsod more than XP and Win7 for me so thats all I can really say about it 😛 and my memory of any other issues with ME are pretty vague since it was almost 12 years ago when I had it on an IBM pc.

 

[mactronix]

Well you cant buy W8 really anyway. I'm not sure but I think its an old charter or something. The pattern is pretty solid, you skpi every other release then get the next one once the first SP has been released.

So it goes like this

ms-dos = Get
3.11 = Avoid
95 = Get
98 = Avoid
2000 = Get
ME = Avoid
XP = Get
VISTA = Avoid
Win 7 = Get
Win 8 = Avoid


Simple really. that has stood a lot of people in good stead over the years.

Mactronix

 

[Dogsnake]

Troll topic

 

[verbalizer]

I am glad the moderator is keeping this thread open as it contains a lot of useful information for anyone evaluating Windows ME.

Do you recommend running Windows ME under a Sparc workstation/virtualized model? What is the cost-benefit analysis of Windows ME vs. Windows 3.11 for Workgroups? How about volume-licensing?

Btw: be on the look-out for anyone asking legitimate and specific questions about Windows 8. Could be an infiltrator from the Real World.

Cheers.

As if you guys haven't given Windows NT any love! ... that's the one before 2K for those of younger years.

Windows NT had epic stability; principally due to having virtually no compatibility with any hardware 😀

Customer: I'd like new computer
Tech: Great!
Customer: I'd like all current generation hardware
Tech: Awesome!
Customer: It must run Windows NT
Tech: ... FML ...

On a more serious note, It's not really fair to judge v8 before it is out but I do feel they might be jumping a step to fast with the metro interface.

So my nominations of epic fail are:

9x kernel - Windows ME, fastest to boot, faster to crash)
NT kernel - Vista, it would have been NT but at least it didn't pretend to work then randomly screw you over.

my favorite replies thus far..

 

[The_Prophecy]

May I ask why you find the upgrade to Win 8 compelling.

First and foremost, the bootup and shutdown times. After several attempts, Microsoft finally seems to have taken a major step in the right direction. The big change they made as outlined in the Building Windows 8 blog was how they decided to hibernate the kernel session instead of fully shutting it down and then reloading it from scratch when the machine was turned back on by the user. This results in significantly faster startup and shutdown times because of much less data to dump and read back to and from the disk - regardless of whether it's spinning magnetic media, or an SSD.

Second, I've been exploring a lot of the power user features that they built in. They were kept out of the way, so that if you didn't need them, you probably wouldn't stumble across them and potentially break something. But they are accessible enough that they are easy to point out to a non-technical user when I'm trying to support them. My favorite thus far is the context menu they added when you right click the space where the Start button used to be (the elevated command prompt option almost by itself is a godsend as far as I'm concerned).

Third, the new Start screen. Many may be staring at their screens in disbelief right now, but I have to say that despite it taking some getting used to, I actually like it. Once you realize how it is laid out, it actually makes more sense. The only part I don't like is the extra click required to get to the desktop when you power up/restart/resume the machine. Not a huge deal overall, but can get annoying over time.

And last, I'm not the least bit shy about breaking out the Windows Easy Transfer wizard, backing up my data, and reinstalling Windows. It's so much easier now than it was back in the XP (and pre-XP) days. I used to dread wiping a machine out because of the time it took to get it going again. Not so much anymore. I can wipe out my main desktop at home and be back up and running within 2 hours. An OCZ RevoDrive 3 certainly helps with this, but so too does the install time, and performance of a fresh install of today's latest operating systems.

 

[OSU Cowboy]

I am somewhat amazed that Windows 8, the newest kid on the block, could get over a quarter of the votes. Good grief. I can guarantee that every person who voted for 8 as the worst ever never once dinked around with Windows ME.

 

[ceh4702]

I actually have tried Windows 8 and I cant say I really Hate it. It is just confusing to use at first.

People fear change most of all.

It would be easier to use if it came with some helpful hints or short tutorial about how to navigate?

 

[mactronix]

I am somewhat amazed that Windows 8, the newest kid on the block, could get over a quarter of the votes. Good grief. I can guarantee that every person who voted for 8 as the worst ever never once dinked around with Windows ME.

This guarantee, what does it cover ? What do I get ? Did you even read my post ? Or just make an off the cuff comment without actually reading the thread first ?

Mactronix

 

[mactronix]

I actually have tried Windows 8 and I cant say I really Hate it. It is just confusing to use at first.

People fear change most of all.

It would be easier to use if it came with some helpful hints or short tutorial about how to navigate?

What like this http://www.tomsguide.com/us/win8-tips-tricks,review-1778.html

Mactronix

 

[ratsa]

First and foremost, the bootup and shutdown times. After several attempts, Microsoft finally seems to have taken a major step in the right direction. The big change they made as outlined in the Building Windows 8 blog was how they decided to hibernate the kernel session instead of fully shutting it down and then reloading it from scratch when the machine was turned back on by the user. This results in significantly faster startup and shutdown times because of much less data to dump and read back to and from the disk - regardless of whether it's spinning magnetic media, or an SSD.

Thanks for that. Here are my comments and questions:

-Are there any security issues with hibernating the kernel session? Does maintaining security of the Kernel session require Bitlocker to be in use? (Otherwise could you read the contents of the Kernel session offline and use the info to break into users' accounts?)

-Time will tell whether performance will degrade if you never shut down the OS. Right?

-Personally, after I upgraded to an SSD and UEFI, I am ok with the startup time of Windows 7.

At the end of the day I will probably upgrade one of my four machines:

(1) Old laptop with 512MB RAM: Linux is the only option, and having access to Linux is the only reason to keep this laptop.

(2) Crappy Laptop with 1.8" hard drive: not worth $40 upgrade price. Will upgrade to Surface Pro instead.

(3) Media server computer: who cares whether it's running Windows 7 or 8? It's just there to play music, home videos and Youtube on the TV.

(4) Flagship media creation desktop: I want the latest and greatest on this one, so I will upgrade it to Windows 8 as soon as possible. BUT ONLY if all current software is FULLY compatible with Windows 8.

I will probably get a Surface (the pro model with the real Windows 8, not Windows RT) when it comes out.

 

[ratsa]

The OP created the poll to see which of those three the voters hated the most. If he was interested in opinions concerning other versions of Windows, he would have included them. He is simply wishing to see which OS, out of those three, is hated the most here on Tom's.

Not accurate. He stated "This is just a poll to see which OS users hate more."

Had he said "Which of THESE THREE OS do users hate the most", what you said would be accurate but it would also be even more readily apparent how nonsensical the question is.

I have never used Windows ME, so I do not have any feelings about it (not that I would have feelings for an OS, but that is another story).

Yet I recognized that ME was not a worthile upgrade over Windows 98, which is why I went straight from Win 98 to Win XP.

Anyone who says they hate Windows Vista probably hates the hardware they were running it on. I upgraded a computer from Vista SP1 to 7, and could hardly tell the difference, except that the interface was more finely tuned.

Also hate is a really stupid thing to ask about. You can ask about performance, security, stability, price, interface, how productive it made you, but asking about "hatred" and including only three OS, one of which is not even released, is a childish prank.

 

[OSU Cowboy]

This guarantee, what does it cover ? What do I get ? Did you even read my post ? Or just make an off the cuff comment without actually reading the thread first ?

Mactronix

Proven incorrect, my guarantee provides you with Windows ME technical support for life.

 

[verbalizer]

Proven incorrect, my guarantee provides you with Windows ME technical support for life.

[flash=420,315]http://www.youtube.com/v/RjF93E4LjlA?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]

 

[verbalizer]

I thought you would like that being an OSU guy and all... 😛

 

[OSU Cowboy]

This guarantee, what does it cover ? What do I get ? Did you even read my post ? Or just make an off the cuff comment without actually reading the thread first ?

Mactronix

And I never read your post initially, and wasn't directing mine at you. Sorry.

 

[OSU Cowboy]

I thought you would like that being an OSU guy and all... 😛

Ah, yes. I remember that interview well. Man was he ticked off.

 

[lynspottery]

I am most grateful for this forum. I have enjoyed browsing and learning from all of you folks that post here on Tom's Hardware forums.

I am a bit hesitant to move to Windows 8. I also believe the software might just be too "green" (wet behind the ears type of green) for immediate and smooth use. I game, therefore, I am reluctant to change my operating system until I know a replacement will allow me a smooth gaming experience as well.

 

[ebbote59]

I ran Windows ME without a problem till XP came out, ran XP without a problem till Vista came out, ran Vista without a problem till Win7 came out. I think it boils down to having the right components in your system. I go all the way back to
Windows 3.0, 3.11, 3.22, 95, 98, NT and 2000. I found out when I got the best components it eliminated most of the
problems. I love Vista, never a problem, just a memory hog. Win 8, I will wait.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Windows 3.11

All the best Brett