I am currently building a system for my parents and younger siblings.  I started to wonder what would be the best operating system to base the machine upon.  The computer was going to be running basic office applications, music, email and light internet activity as well as some gaming.  Thanks!

When I built mine, I reluctanty went with XP. I didn't want to because I was used to 98 and XP was still new. However, I've never looked back. I would suggest XP to anyone building a new computer.
 
   

If you are going to run older games {2-3 years), I would suggest Win98SE. Most of these older games are not supported with WinXP especially if you plan to use Mods.
 
The XP compatability program does not work 100%- refer gaming sites- tech issues.
 
However some older games will run fine with XP, eg. Half-Life, Quake, Unreal, etc.
 
A good option is to run multiple OS with Partition Magic, etc.
 
DCB_AU

I'm running XP.  98SE was better.
 
<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Running W2K and Redhat Linux 8.
 
Gonna go for getting W98SE back in some way or another, as a lot of my games (not all that old either) are unsupported in W2K.
 
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I would suggest XP, because it is more stable than 98SE(which I used before) and it has some nice features hiden under all the make up.
 
The best would be to dual boot between windows and linux, but if you parents are not too familiar with the computer, linux will not do any good for them.
 
In ancient times they had no statistics so they had to fall back on lies

XP. 98se was not better
 
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id say its just personal preference.  98se or xp will be fine.  Might not want to use win2k on a system for the younger siblings.  Im sure you know this, but avoid WinME.  
 
<font color=blue> If it ain't broke, don't fix it...tweak it.</font color=blue>

XP is not more stable.  Shortly after installing it I had a system crash which corrupted my NTFS partition and screwed a bunch of files.  I've never had a stability problem under 98SE, I've ran it for 2 months cracking passwords before.  98SE simply has a harder time coping with garbage hardware and drivers.  In my experience, if 98SE crashes on your system, something on your system is junk.
 
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If you know your way around XP I'd recommend it. Otherwise stick w/ 98SE but you're going to have to switch to XP eventually.  
 
If your family is just starting out then I recommend XP.
 
<b><font color=blue>veni,vidi, and ended up in THGC<font color=blue></b>

Yeah, for the longest time I stuck with 98se until I finally caved and went to 2000 & XP.
 
98 is cool as hell, because it'll run on almost any computer. Most games made before and after 98se can still run on 98se. Can't really say the same for XP or 2000
 
Just a matter of preference really, with a little bit of necessity in there too
 
 
 
It's all good ^_^

As long as Microsoft supports 98SE I'll stick with it. I know this OS 'almost' inside and out.  
 
Tried XP but went back to 98SE. 2000 is stable but not everything will run under 2000. XP still has problems and LINUX is not widespread enough although I have 8.0 Pro on a partition. Still learning it. Hasn't crashed yet either and not virus-prone like Windows. I'd love to try out a MAC. I  like the GUI but I can't afford it and the people who have them won't lend them out. LOL
 
All in all I'm happy with my setup.
 
VAGABOND
 
<b><font color=blue>veni,vidi, and ended up in THGC<font color=blue></b>

Many are created but few stand the best! Some say XP, some say 98, I'd say use what you're most comfortable with!
Windows will always upgrade but as the program is improve, some of its better parts are oftentimes left out, leading to incompatabilities, driver issues, more time to master, more instructions to follow before you can comfortably use it.
   But I guess that's the price of technology!
 
mvsiangco
 
 
" but no matter what they say, bad will always be bad, good will always be good and experience will always tell us which is bad and which is good"

Was diehard for Win98SE then switched to Win2K, too slow went back to Win98SE for my older games, Put WinXP Pro on my wifes machine was curious about it, saw it was really fast after I dumped the fluff and optimised the system for performance.  So I installed it on my own machine, had to give up my older games but what the heck I don't play the games after I beat them anyway.  I haven't had even 1 crash on the games I'm running, plus I've successfully installed even some of my older games that were rated for Win2K, one game that always caused problems was MOHAA, it constantly kicked Win98SE's rear, usually had to disable all background programs to get it to run, WinXP Pro no problems at all.  When I was considering WinXP, I was warned to stay away from the Home version, and formatting with the FAT 32 file system, go with NTFS period and that has turned out to be good advise.
 
And I wasn't having problems with Win98SE from lack of hardware performance.
My Specs:
WinXP Pro
M/B=MSI-KT4V-L  
CPU=AMD-XP2100+ x266FSB
Heatsink=Volcano6/Modified/HS60mmFan
RAM=PC2100 DDR266
AGP=GF4-TI4400
SndCrd=TBSC
LAN=Onboard/VIA
HD=Maxtor 7200Rpm-ATA133 40G
PS=Antec 430 Truepower
CDRW=TDK40-12-48B
Cheiftec Dragon Case
 
Ripleys: The Volcano 6 Modified is outperforming, Swiftech's MCXC370 and CoolerMasters HHC-001, with the exact same fan.  GO FIGURE!!!
 
 
 
 
Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.

I have dabbled with all the Microsoft windows since win95 and in my experience they all have their pluses and minuses. I would probably give windows 2000 first prize for stability but last for all round compatibility. Win98se first for all round compatibility but not particularly high for stability though it's better than win95 or ME (the latter I would steer clear of altogether). WinXP wins my choice as preferred OS however as it has the best compromise between stability and compatibility with lots of nice features thrown in and is much faster on the internet than win98. Just be careful that you have enough Memory (at least 128meg) a large harddisk (XP takes up approximately 1gig) and a relatively powerful cpu. Otherwise go with win98se.

XP Pro not the Home Edition.
 
Whilst XP does take up 1GB (and up to 2.5GB for some), you can cut it down to around 500-600MB