Windows Me, 20 years later: Was it really that bad?

Twenty years ago, at the turn of the millennium, we saw some serious bugs in global software. No, we are not talking about Y2K. We are talking about Windows Me or Windows Millennium, which were named "Murlenium" in Greece andWindows Mistake Edition ”from PCWorld.

OR Microsoft released the Windows 2000 on 17 February 2000. The Windows 2000 was a forgotten masterpiece, offering a solid, 32-bit operating system designed for business use. It was based on Windows NT, technology that is still at the core of Windows 10 today.

A strange pit stop on their way Windows XP

The Windows They had an incredibly short lifespan: the Microsoft replaced it with Windows XP on October 25, 2001, a little over a year.

After Windows XP, η Microsoft put everything together, releasing an operating system for home consumers based on Windows NT. It was also an operating system for businesses. Before that, home users had Windows Me.

Why the Windows Me was supposed to be exciting

The Windows Me designed as an upgrade Windows 98 Second Edition. THE Microsoft's website then promised that Windows Me will make your home computer a "multimedia entertainment center" thanks to Windows Media Player 7 and Windows Movie Maker. He was proud that the Windows it would be easier to use with an "enhanced user experience" thanks to features like "new wizards". Home networking setup has also been simplified.

Under the hood, the Windows They got some features from Windows 2000. This includes System Restore to restore operating system files to known states, as well as System File Protection to protect important system files from modification.

The Windows They also removed support for real-mode DOS, which made the operating system boot faster, but made it less compatible with older DOS software that consumers may still be using.

In the end, there were a variety of smaller features and low-end system upgrades that did not affect most home users, who were largely stuck with the Windows 98. Unless you were buying a new computer that would come with the Windows Me, there was no reason to spend $ 209 for the full retail version or $ 109 for the upgrade version.

Especially when it was discovered how unstable they were Windows Me.

The reality of Windows Me: Τα Windows 98 SE but with bugs

The range of operating systems Windows 9x - that is Windows 95, τα Windows 98 and the Windows Me - was always critical of being unstable. Everything was based on DOS, as well as Windows 3.0.

The Windows Me was even more unstable than Windows 98. We all found it when we used it twenty years ago. PCWorld's Dan Tynan called them "Mistake Editions" Windows and said it was one of the 25 worst tech products of all time. In Greece, the whole technical world made fun of them by calling them Windows Murlenium, obviously because they drove you crazy with their bugs.

Why were there so many blue screens and other problems? Who knows. The order of Windows 9x was always unstable. The Windows They had some new features: They introduced, for example, System Restore, a feature that allegedly caused problems for some people at that time. Users reported hardware support issues in specific system configurations. Maybe the Windows They needed more development time.

The errors did not really affect the companies, which were encouraged to use them Windows 2000 at their workstations. While the Windows 95 and the Windows 98 were designed for both home and business use, with the Windows Me suddenly there were significant different versions of Windows for the office and for home computers and the version for home users was, unexpectedly, less reliable.

Of course, many people then reported that Windows Me was firmly in their systems. Because the Windows 98 were also often unstable, as they were DOS based, they may not have felt much change since Windows 98.

But the users who worked with them Windows 2000 would surely have wondered: Why Windows Me not so stable?

Forward for the Windows 2000
The release of Windows 2000 showed a way forward for Microsoft, but unfortunately the company did not bring them Windows NT to home users, until the advent of Windows XP.

Meanwhile, some people had heard bad things about them Windows Me, they were not waiting for the next turn. They bought them Windows 2000, which were intended for business purposes only. The Windows 2000 Professional cost $ 319 for a full version or $ 219 for an upgrade from Windows 98 or 95. That was $ 110 more than Windows Me.

Of course, these are for those users who were legal and bought their operating system. At that time, illegal "broken" software was widespread. Even in the operating system. THE Microsoft could not easily lock in illegal users (or did not want to) and so rarely did a home user have purchased an operating system. Of course, the scene changed with the entry of XP and even more with Windows 7.

And yes, some users were installing pirated disks at the time Windows Often copied from their workplaces, arguing that operating system piracy was acceptable, as they had already paid the Microsoft for Windows Me. Was it legal? No. It was understandable that people wanted a stable version of Windows that did not have constant bugs? Of course.

Then there were several users, dissatisfied with Winodws, began to explore Linux. Desktop Linux has been much more sophisticated to use since 2000 than it is today, but it was definitely stable.

The Windows XP saved the situation

In the end, the Windows XP end their chaos Windows 2000 and of Windows Me. THE Microsoft did not have to put a service pack for Windows Me and spend time fixing it, as he did with them Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1.

Instead, the MIcrosoft released the Windows XP and brought the most stable operating system Windows NT to home users. The friendliest display and multimedia features of Windows They ended up in Windows XP, in a more stable form. The Windows XP was more compatible with consumer applications that may have had problems with Windows 2000.

With the release of Windows XP, both business and home users now use the same version of Windows for desktops. Sure, there were Home and Professional versions, with a few different features, but both were the same basic operating system.

Of course Windows XP had their problems. Security issues were resolved only with Windows XP Service Pack 2. But now everyone remembers them nostalgically Windows XP and many users have been stuck with them for a long time.

But people do not miss them Windows Me in the same way. Even if you want to go through a version of Windows based on DOS, to run some old software, you will definitely prefer them Windows 98.