Your experience is completely contrary to mine wrt the speed of XP and 98(SE). The speed at which a machine boots up is dependent upon what programs and processes are being loaded and how well the disk is maintained, how much total on-board memory there is, and how Windows is configured. A lot of office machines run behind firewalls, and load various anti-spyware and anti-virus programs that cause a machine to run slower.
Further, there's a lot more to using a DSLR these days than just being able to have and use a USB connection. Shooting RAW (if that's what one chooses to do) almost ~requires~ a fast USB 2.0 connection, and I'm not sure Win 98(SE) supports that without the addition of additional USB cards. Further, the programs that one might want to use to edit and view their work often requires a more recent version of Windows than 98(SE). I'm sure there are some such programs out there that can run on 98(SE), but, offhand, I don't know of any, or any that will run well over such old software. I'm the last person to want to upgrade - those who know me know that I'll use anything, including computers and computer programs, until every last bit of life is wrung out of them. Even on my newer XP machine I'm still using programs from more than ten years ago, and I still use a Win 95 machine for some work. However, when I moved to XP I was able to use some newer software (like recent iterations of Photoshop, BreezeBrowser, newer browsers and more up-to-date email programs), as well as faster USB and Firewire connections. While I know that not everyone can afford the newest and fastest machines, updating to XP and some newer hardware makes the experience of working on a PC so much easier and faster, so much more pleasurable, that it's ~almost~ fun in some situations. There's more to contemporary computing than just being able to use a USB connection. I believe you have offered poor advice. BTW, I've often wondered if Cornelius Nuzzlemuff III is your real name, or if it's just a screen name. Shel > [Original Message] > From: Cornelius Nuzzlemuff III > Bofore you upgrade to XP (which might at worst spoil your computer, at best take objection to a few elderly programs) try running 98SE. I have had no problems with my USB card reader (Pentax 750Z camera). There are massive updates on the Microsoft website and these seem worth downloading. Once you have up-graded your machine make an image of the drive as I feel the days are numbered for us 98 users and the updates may be removed from Microsofts site, then we'll be in trouble. > > I have used XP extensively at work. and frankly these multi GHz machines running XP seem slower than my sub-GHz machine on 98SE! I'm sure they'll render huge files quicker but they take ages to boot up and are no quicker for average tasks. My 450MHz can handle 6MB files with ease. It can handle 50MB files if I'm patient. > > To upgrade to 98SE with all the updates should work well. Upgrading to XP might be asking for trouble and your machine might well be slower come the end of it. Most people say avoid ME all together.
