After searching through the past 10 pages of posts I didn't see this topic so wanted to see if I could get some help with this:
 
My current system is a AMD Athlon 950MHz, Geforce4 Ti 4600, Soundblaster Live Platnium 5.1 with Windows 98 SE and a decent ADSL conncection.
99% of this computers use is for 3D online and offline gaming.
I have a copy of Windows ME sitting on my desk that I used when I had a dial up AOL account and because of connection problems I went back to the 98 SE OS. I'm thinking of going with the Win ME now that I have ADSL but I have heard about half my friends say stay w/ 98 SE and other half say that I could benifit from the Win ME since I already have it.
 
Anyone got any advice on this that could help me out?
 
Also anyone w/ the experience suggest I scrap the WinME and go for the XP upgrade?

My personal experience, stay with 98se. It's was a lot more stable than ME.
 
 
   <font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue>  

I'd say stay with Win98se too unless you want some of the newer features of WinMe like system restore and some video stuff.
 
<i>It is not illegal until you get caught!   </i>

yeah, but the compromises you will have to make for stability with windows me makes you HAVE to have the system restore...i know i did.
if you want the system restore, stability, and video editing stuff, then get xp.
other than that, i would stay with 98se...because it really didnt give me too much guff...and is pretty good with broadband.
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

Personally I'd throw the ME cd in the bin.  
 
If they squeeze olives to get olive oil, how do they get baby oil?

for the love of god man, go with XP.  The fact that you are even asking tells me you've never had any experience with Windows NT/2000.  It's a completely different beast.
 
People's computers crash a few times a week (or day) and they think this is normal...it's not.  Jump to XP and expect to go months without a crash. (and yes, linux will go for a year without crashing but it's about as useful as a macintosh or OS/2 for running popular software)
 
I think the big fear for everyone is "Will my games run on 2000/XP".  Yes they will, and just as fast.

hehe...and then put some flammable liquid in there, and toss a match in there...that will rid the world of one more virus!  
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

I u'md and r'd for months then upgraded to XP..
 
The games run just as well (as far as I can tell) and my 3dmark went up by 500.. Everything seems faster.. I play unreal, Q3, Serious sam 1/2, medal of honor, civ and a few other bits..
 
Before the upgrade I hated XP now I love it... not sure how it will run on a 950 though
 
I have got a ti500 (oc 255 / 560) an XP (oc 145 x 10.5) and 256Mb DDR with 7200RPM HD
 
Burn ME its evil

you mean how XP will run?
i am running it on a 900mhz athlon as i type.
runs great.
stable....and seems faster than 98se, but i think that is because of the different ways xp accesses files.
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

Thanks for all the help guys.
 
>>>The fact that you are even asking tells me you've never had any experience with Windows NT/2000. It's a completely different beast<<<
 
I'm a little confused by this statment. I thought Windows NT/2000 was more for office stuff and Windows 98,ME and XP was for home and gaming use.
 
One thing I noticed when I did have Windows ME on my system is my sound sounded alot better then it did on 98SE.  Also my bro has WinME with some funky sound card on it and it just seems to sound better then my SoundBlaster live Platinum w/ digital output.
 
Anyone know if WinME DOES have better sound quality or am I trippin?
 
Thanks in advance.

NT was...
2000 wasnt.
2000 used to suck for games and some other programs...
but then they released 2000 SP2 (service pack) and now it runs all games as far as i know.
and it is much more stable than 98se.
as far as the sound sounding better..it might be better written drivers..but i dont know!  
with winme, my sound sounded the same, (if not worse due to the constant crashing).
with 98se, it wouldnt crash as much, and with xp, it doesnt crash.
well..i cant say that exactly...
because i never put me on THIS computer..i put it on my old computer, but then it killed me, and i had to start from scratch!
dang buggy OS.  
but 2000 is fine for games and such.
but i think that xp is a bit more user friendly...because of easier networking setup, and a few other things that make it more of a home os.
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

Hehe, that's the difference between a techie and a regular user- techies don't notice anything that's not as user freindly cause they learn it mad fast anyway. I know I do. XP sucks for 3d graphics work though. I mean it just blows.  
 
Sig of the week.

oh..i know...but for the general user, like you said...
thank god i dont do any 3d graphics.
and what exactly happens...it just craps the bed?  crashes?
i havent done any yet..so i dont know.
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

In win9x, 3d s max would just crash, as in it couldn't handle teh polygons or something after a certain complexity. In win2k, I was in a dreamworld- everything was fast and stable, and it never crashed, regardless of complexity...I was able to create a bracelet (for global project) w/ teh most intricate designs that was God knows how many polygons, and then combine that w/ a super complex scene! Rendering was also very fast. Then I switched to XP, and now when I drag the windows around, they kinda lag. Also, rendering time is like 5x what it was on win2k.  
 
Sig of the week.

weird.....
were you running pro, or home?
 
-DAvid
 
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

NT and 2000 are pretty different OS's, 2k has evolved thier NT kernel a lot.  Plug N Play for example =).
 
<font color=red>:</font color=red> <font color=white>:</font color=white> <font color=blue>:</font color=blue>

Actually I don't think i want to use the word kernel above there hehe.
 
<font color=red>:</font color=red> <font color=white>:</font color=white> <font color=blue>:</font color=blue>

You use your computer for 99% for gaming.
 
DO NOT TOUCH A THING!!!
 
You have a nice set up, just shy of hardcore.

How much RAM do you have?  
 
AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

In truth, Microsoft has wanted to get rid of the Windows 95 line ever since NT 4.0 came out.  Windows 2000 was supposed to be the unification of the two operating system branches but it wasn't done in time.  Microsoft had to put something out in the 9x line to buy some time until XP could come out so they built ME in a hurry...and it's probably the worst OS they've ever made..sure it has some extra features but like 5 times the normal release bugs.
 
I'll let you answer your questions for yourself:
People who have used 2k/xp AND 9x operating systems always chose 2k/xp.  You'll only find arguments against this from people who have ONLY used 9x.  Look into this a bit and you'll find it's true.

<font color=red>People who have used 2k/xp AND 9x operating systems always chose 2k/xp. You'll only find arguments against this from people who have ONLY used 9x. Look into this a bit and you'll find it's true.</font color=red>
 
Not true, I have Win2000, and I chose Win98se over it. Win2000 and XP have a better memory management, and may stay up longer, but that's it. I'm a gamer, and if I believed XP was the Bomb I would get it in a second. A lot of people will say XP is perfect, next to God, but I don't buy