Which version of Windows to use?

[hacker_cracker]

Hi all! I am about to set up an old computer for a friend as a christmas present. It is an AMD Athlon 866Mhz with 128mb of RAM, a 40 gig maxtor, a CD/RW, and DVD Rom. I know it's a little old, but it's good for what he wants to use it for. My question is what version of Windows should I put on this thing? I've narrowed it down to either 98se or 2000pro. 98 would run better with only 128 megs of RAM, but 2000pro is a lot more stable & reliable. Any suggestions?

[Nix]

My system is an AMD 950Mhz with 512MB ram 2 x 20G and 1 x 10G HD CDR and CD/RW.

I run a triple boot WIn98SE, WinME and Win2000 all of which work well.

When I got the system it only had 128MB ram and I increased that after a while to 384 and more recently got another 128MB stick from somewhere.

I guess it depends on what your friend will use it for, more compatibility with older games on WIn98SE plus the ability to boot to DOS ?

[jmtjet]

A little more memory and Windows 2000 pro. will run nicely on that rig. Win 2K is for more stable than Win 98. I would recommend the NTFS over FAT32.

That's my 2 cents.

[104456]

98SE would run well on that system and providing your not expecting to run any new hardware then you should be good to go.

[hacker_cracker]

He will mostly be using the system to play old games, watch movies, and burn some cd's. He also knows next to nothing about computers.

[Nix]

He will mostly be using the system to play old games

Then 98SE gets my vote.

[hacker_cracker]

I think I will try out 98se, but if it gives me any problems during the install (it usually does...), I will go with 2000, and try to convince my friend to get some extra RAM. Thanks for the input, guys!

[Nix]

No problemo