Microsoft Windows 98 Software Improvements Michael Hayman
On the software side, the actual interface has changed as a result of Internet Explorer integration, and niceties such as new and improved utilities and faster startup/shutdown times are prevalent.
Internet Explorer Integration. A feature and a hindrance at the same time, IE 4 is the sole source of the huge anti-trust law suit against Microsoft that could extend as far as Office and NT if they aren’t careful. From our tests, IE 4 was much more stable under Windows 98, but you’d expect because of the advantage of being installed from the outset, and not running into trouble with old stagnant files. It looks as though IE 4 is in Windows 98 to stay – there’s no option for an uninstall from the shell. However, You do get a cool animated Windows logo instead of the standard blue IE logo, which is reason enough for many to upgrade.
Improved Setup. The first thing you will notice about Windows 98 is that setup has been redesigned and streamlined to improve the experience for existing Windows 95 users upgrading to Windows 98. There is no longer a need to do a full hardware detection during the initial setup. Windows 98 setup also uses information from pre-installed applets and utilities so that you do not have to set those preferences again.
More Utilities. A host of Internet apps like FrontPage and Outlook Express, Maintenance Wizard, (a simple wrapper around Disk Cleanup, Defrag and Scandisk) Version Conflict and Configuration Editors (for problem solving), and decent Backup facilities at last.
System Recovery. A disaster recovery tool is included that allows you to boot from your Windows 98 Startup floppy disk to restore from backup as a fast protected-mode process. The feature works by initiating a minimal setup of Windows 98 and launching you into it. As Windows 98 starts, the Welcome to Windows screen is replaced by a wizard that steps you through restoration from Microsoft Backup or any other backup software.
Windows Update. The only decent new ‘innovation’ out of the lot comes about three years after it should have been implemented. It allows a Windows 98 machine to go over the Internet to Microsoft’s site and check that the installation has the most recent versions of DLLs, drivers and so on. Web-based, Windows Update installs a few controls and requires that you register with Microsoft first – and supply them with data pertaining to system configuration including graphics cards, hard disk size and so forth. It seems as though this feature will work well because it gives even novices some sense of being in charge of their Windows installations without having to follow an arcane ritual to get the most out of their current configuration. This great utility should solve the problem of having to install multiple patches in a certain order to protect yourself from various bugs that may surface.
Improved Connectivity. Aggregation of several phone lines each with modems and improved dial-up scripting capabilities are features of Windows 98’s improved Dial Up Networking components. Long accepted in Windows 95 OSR2, these features have finally made it into the mainstream.
Faster Program Startup Speed. Thanks to Intel’s Launch Accelerator technology, programs start and work faster. Implemented in the Defrag applet, programs most used are stored towards the beginning of the disk and close together to make the hard drive work less to have them launch. Unfortunately, the excess bog-down of having a browser sit on top of the shell rules out much of a chance of this feature being really effective in its current implementation.
Faster Shutdown. Unlike Windows 95, 98 shuts down in seconds. And, quite often, depending on the hardware, it will even turn off your computer automatically.
Updated Utilities. Do you remember those old Windows 95 utilities like Wordpad, Notepad, Paint, and Backup? They’ve all been updated. Wordpad supports new document formats (including Word 97 documents), Notepad has a major change -- it now supports different Fonts, and modification (bold, underline, italic) of those fonts.
Faster Bootup. Thanks to OnNow, a new feature in upcoming PCs, Windows 98 never has to fully restart again. This feature saves everything when the PC is turned off, and the desktop can appear within ten seconds of the computer being fired up again. The actual startup times for Windows 98 have also been removed thanks to unnecessary processes being killed off and the loading of the drivers from the old DOS files CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT gone.
Improved Entertainment Capabilities. Windows 98 now includes native support for USB (Universal Serial Bus), although buyers of new computers have already got Windows 95 with USB support. Also, Microsoft claims that Windows 98 provides DVD capabilities, but DVD seems to work fine here in our labs under Windows 95. Also, here’s groundbreaking news: "Windows 98 [provides] television broadcast capabilities, allowing a PC with a television tuner card to seamlessly receive and display television and other data distributed over broadcast networks." Now, this is an idea if I’ve ever heard one. To actually allow people with a television tuner card to receive and display television? This is an innovation that will surely not be overlooked. Come on, how dumb do they think people are?
