Windows 98 was not designed to run with more than about 512MB of RAM. I wanted to install it on my IBM ThinkPad T42 with 2GB of RAM. It wasn't easy, but not only did I get it installed, but the OS actually recognizes the full 2GB! How? Well, someone named Mr. Rudolph Loew wrote an unofficial patch that allows Windows 95/98/ME to access the full amount of RAM without crashing:



The patch was a bit expensive at $20 + $1 "shipping and handling" (it was actually just an e-mail attachment), but I recognize that it probably took a lot of time to develop it, and there's only a small market for patches for anything related to Windows 9x these days. Also, the machine seems to be very stable even with a lot more RAM than it was designed to handle. I also installed KernelEx which allows me to run some newer software than Windows 98 was designed to handle.

I did run into a few issues while setting things up. When I installed KernelEx, the computer would enter a bootloop and get stuck. To fix this, I had to boot to DOS and uninstall and reinstall the patch, using the /M switch. Also, Office 2000 seems to have a few minor issues, such as not being able to install from the network and a broken Office Assistant. However, everything else has run smoothly, and I can now run most software designed for either Windows 98 or 2000 with more than enough RAM to handle whatever I throw at it!

Now all I need to get is a new 7200RPM hard drive and this thing should take off and fly!

Windows 10 has been out for about a year and a half now, and I still have absolutely no interest in installing it on any of my computers. I actually can't figure out why anyone would *want* to use Windows 10. It's a big, bloated (even more so than Windows 7 and 8) piece of spyware and adware that takes over your entire machine. So, why would anyone want to use it? I still don't have an answer, but let's take a closer look at why not to use it:

Privacy? What privacy?

As soon as you start Windows 10, it begins tracking what you do and sends who-knows-what-data back to Microsoft. Microsoft doesn't tell you what data Windows 10 collects or where it's going. I'm sure some of this data is used for ads within the OS (yes, you read that right. ADS WITHIN THE OS) and to make sure you're not using pirated software, but we don't really know what else they're collecting.

Ads, ads & more ads

Do you want ads flashing at you while playing Solitaire? How about on your Start menu? Me either, but Windows 10 includes them. And don't forget about the ads on the lock screen either.

Would I like to pay Micro$oft for my solitaire? No, thanks!

"Operating system as a service"

Windows is switching to an "operating system as a service" model for Windows 10. This means that your computer will automatically install updates, and the way your PC looks and works could change at any time. Just recently, an announcement has been made about "project Neon" with many changes to the Windows 10 user interface. I'm not sure why anyone would want their OS to constantly change how it looks and works, it seems to me that it will just confuse people and generate more calls to customer support.

So if you don't mind not having any privacy, having ads all over the place and constantly changing software, then Windows 10 may be for you. As for me, I will stick with Windows 7 and earlier for as long as I possibly can, and then I will switch to linux for new computers that don't support Windows 7. I've already been using Ubuntu 12.04 since it came out five years ago, and it still runs just as fast and smooth as it did they day I installed it.

Long live Windows 2000!