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Windows Millennium Edition

Toronto Star Fast Forward section front for September 7, 2000

Copyright ©, Myles White, 2000

On September 14, Microsoft will release the newest consumer version of its Windows operating system. Dubbed "Windows Me," a cute abbreviation for Millennium Edition, it may (or may not) be the last of the Windows 9x series. Whatever, you can expect the hype from the company and everywhere else to exhort you to upgrade to it from whatever PC operating system you're using now. And, that, of course, will be the question for millions of PC users.

What you gain...

Although it isn't a radical overhaul of the interface, Windows Me (WinMe) does contain several new features and adjustments to old ones. It also drops some mainstays and may provide problems for users of older digital cameras and scanners (see below).

Nuts and bolts... 

PC Health: Under the general heading of PC Health, WinMe provides a much more robust set of tools for protecting your PC against errant software than Windows 95 and improves on those in Windows 98. It will, using something it calls System File Protection (SFP), not allow applications to overwrite crucial system files (DLL and INF files) with older versions or with incorrectly altered versions that may be optimized for that program, but cause problems with all others. And it doesn't bother mentioning to you that it has done the repair, either. 

You can also, by setting breakpoints with a tool called System Restore, roll your system back to a previous state if you install a program or hardware driver that causes conflicts and problems. The rollback itself is reversible, and because you can name the breakpoints (which the system automatically date-stamps), you can roll back not only to the previous system state, but to one several changes ago. The rollback process takes care of files and registry settings, but won't delete documents. The number of breakpoints you can set and reversals you can do is only limited by hard drive space. The "System Information" tool first introduced in Windows 98, with its companion set of diagnostics, has been re-labelled PC Health and Support and adds diagnostics for network and DirectX media drivers. It also takes longer to start because it collects a lot of data before showing you its results.

Driver Signing: It's easy for an incompetent programmer to create bad drivers for hardware devices that either won't work properly under Windows or will cause problems with others. Microsoft is promoting driver signing that will require hardware manufacturers to have their drivers tested and certified. Right now the program is voluntary. We'll see if it catches on.

AutoUpdate: is a feature you can turn on or ignore. If it's on, and once you've configured it, the application will sense when you're online, look for moments when you're not actively downloading, check the Microsoft site, then download updates for the operating system. Once the download is complete – something that could take a while because it stops when you use your connection and waits for you to finish – it will notify you and give you the option to install the update – or not.

Faster bootup and shutdown: Microsoft claims it and at least one testing source, the September edition of PC World Magazine confirms it: WinMe starts about 35 per cent faster and shuts down nearly twice as quickly as Windows 98. Keep in mind that this shows up on benchmark tests, but that I didn't particularly notice the difference.

Slower operation: PC World also noticed an overall reduction in performance of about five per cent, largely due to the background tasks performed by the PC Health components. I definitely noticed that tools such as System Information, Control Panel, and Search seemed slower to load, but didn't see anything else. Most analysts agree that a performance difference of less than 20 per cent is imperceptible to most users.

Interface changes... 

Smart Menus: Windows Me lets you provide much more customization to menus and system folders such as Control Panel, Printers, and Favourites – first offering a default list of commonly used applets and favourite locations. Eventually, the menus will learn your preferences and show only those items you select regularly.

Media Player 7: WinMe includes Microsoft's Media Player 7 (which you can also download for free to add to Windows 9x). It provides a new interface with replaceable "skins" and a huge variety of codecs for just about every imaginable media file type. However, support for RealNetworks' RA, RM, and RAM file formats has gone away.

Internet Explorer 5.5: Introduces a much-needed "Print Preview" option and patches some security holes; otherwise there's little difference. It can also be downloaded separately without going for the whole WinMe package.

Home Networking Wizard: Replaces Internet Connection Sharing first introduced in Windows 98 Second Edition. ICS is now part of a much larger set of applications designed to help novices set up a home networking system. Note that you still need the hardware. It's also, frankly, a pain in the ass to use. Although one system I upgraded here re-connected to all other computers on the network, another brought in for review (an HP Pavilion 8775C) couldn't find the other systems or their shared drives automatically. I had to add them, system by system and drive by drive - very tedious. I'm not sure this Wizard – a variation of the equally vexatious version in Windows 2000 – is an improvement.

Scanner and Camera Wizard: A new handler for digital cameras and scanners and another potential pain in the butt. Running the Wizard will kill any existing digital camera software on your system to prevent conflicts. You may want to wait until your camera's manufacturer updates its software to the new Microsoft WIAPI (Windows Imaging Acquisition Programming Interface) "standard" before you upgrade to WinMe.

Movie Maker: If you already edit videos with your PC, there's no need for you to upgrade to get this. Virtually any editing software currently on the market provides more functionality and a larger group of effects. Still, if cuts and dissolves are all you need...

Search: The "Find" feature (on the Start Menu or Windows Explorer Tools menu) has a new look and name. Search now includes the Internet as a place to search with a number of alternative engines to use (although popular search engines such as Google, DMOZ, AskJeeves, and AskMe.com aren't available to it). When you start the Search tool, it's a little slow because it starts indexing your hard drives before you ask it to find files. Once that's done, however, its searches are very fast. You can also save common searches for retrieval later. I like this one, although I'd really prefer it to wait for me to ask before it begins stockpiling indexes.

More ways to kill time: New Internet games include Backgammon, Checkers, Hearts, Reversi, and Spades. Something else for the jerk in the Microsoft commercial to play with when his boss isn't looking.

What You Lose...

What Microsoft giveth, it also taketh away...

Bye-Bye MS-DOS: Recent PC users won't miss Microsoft's Disk Operating System that has been the underpinning of Windows since its inception, and quite a few experienced users may not miss it either, but some of your DOS applications might not appreciate its demise. "Real Mode" is gone. You can no longer boot to the DOS command line (unless you use the Startup disk WinMe creates during installation), nor can you exit to a full-screen DOS session. Windows handles DOS calls itself and there are already reports on programs that won't run.

Bye-Bye Backup (sort of): the Backup applet in Windows 98 never did find the tape drive on one of my systems, so I don't miss it, but you might if you're not diligent. It no longer installs by default. It's on the disc, but you have to know that to find it. 

Kiss QuickView Goodbye, too: If you've been relying on QuickView as a file viewer, it's time to find another, or simply get used to opening the application that spawned the file. Unlike Backup, it's not on the distribution disc.

Yes, but should I upgrade?

I have no doubt that some people will disagree with parts of what follows, but here's my take on whether or not you should upgrade to Windows Me.

Will there be bugs? I know of no major software product released by any company for the past several years that hasn't had bugs requiring patches and updates during the life of the product. This may say something about the general level of programming competence in the industry or simply be a function of the complexity of modern computer software. I don't expect WinMe to be any different. However, I do expect it not to have the bugs that were present in Windows 98 SE, Windows 98, or the various flavours of Windows 95. And it does have improved components such as Internet sharing, USB support, FireWire support and more.

Don't upgrade if: 

• Your system is working perfectly or at least to your satisfaction. Follow the standard rule that the only reason to upgrade hardware or software is to fix a problem you cannot solve in other way. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 
• You're using Windows Media Player to run RealAudio files and don't want to use RealNetworks products known for their inclusion of spyware on your system. 
• You have a digital camera and its drivers haven't been altered to support the new WIAPI standard. 
• You rely on MS-DOS to run some games you'd just die without, or other critical applications. Check with the software publisher to see if there's a patch, first. 
• You'd miss QuickView and don't want to find a third-party alternative. 
• You have less than 32 MB of memory, less than a 150 MHz Pentium processor (WinMe will refuse to install on a slower system unless you override it with the /nm switch and your performance will definitely not improve), or less than 200 to 300 MB of available hard drive space left on drive C:\. 
• All you want is the new version of Internet Explorer (5.5), Windows Media Player (7), or DirectX 7 drivers (they're all available for free downloading from the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com). 
• You're running a business and wide support for multimedia products isn't important to you – a better alternative for you is Windows 2000 Professional, so long as you've got at least 64 MB of memory and a Pentium with 133 MHz processor or better.

Do upgrade if...

• You're still running Windows 95 and you're tired of its ills, particularly if you want better USB and networking support. There's also improved power management, administration management, and suspend/hibernate utilities for those computers supporting these features. 
• You're running Windows 98 and the same is true. 
• You want built-in digital camera and scanner support, video editing, and the rest. 
• You want better system diagnostics and functionality – such as better system protection and the ability to roll back installations.

How much is that doggie...?

Windows Me (Millennium Edition) has list prices of $84.99 if you're upgrading from Windows 98 or 98 SE (until January 15, 2001), $169 if you're upgrading from Windows 95, and $309 for the full package (a new install on a computer without a previous Windows installation). 

Street prices will vary, but at least a couple of places were advertising $69.99, $139.99, and $279.99 respectively. 

According to a Microsoft company spokesperson, "You can't order it by phone, but it's going to be available online for pre-ordering at Future Shop (www.futureshop.ca), Radio Shack (www.radioshack.ca), Chapters (www.chapters.ca), and CanadaBuy.com. After that, you can get it from most computer supply retailers."

More info: www.microsoft.ca

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