The
software applications that you get for your computer must be compatible. Once
you determine which operating system you are going to run on your new computer
(assuming that you have a choice), Windows 95, 98, NT, Me, 2000, OS/2, or Linux,
you can then select which software applications to get. Most software
applications are available in each of these flavors, so the application does not
necessarily determine which operating system you have to use. If you buy a
complete computer system from a single outlet store as opposed to purchasing
each of the components separately from different outlets, the complete system
will most likely come with an operating system preinstalled, such as Microsoft
Windows Me or on an IBM brand computer, IBM's OS/2 Warp.
Windows
95
A
32-bit, semi-preemptive multitasking operating system, in definition anyway. In
reality, it is a hybrid version of Windows 3.x (in that it still contains some
of the same 16-bit code) and Windows NT (a true 32-bit operating system). Due to
the 16-bit code which is still part of the operating system, Windows 95 will
actually run faster on a computer with a Pentium processor that is not optimized
for a 32-bit operating system and slower on computers with processors that are
fully optimized for a 32-bit operating system (Pentium Pro and Pentium II). It
was designed as more or less a transition operating system to move users from
the older, slower 16-bit software applications to the newer, more powerful
32-bit software application. Therefore, it still runs most of the older 16-bit
applications such as Microsoft Office 4.x, DOS versions of word processing and
spreadsheet applications, as well as most DOS based computer games. While
maintaining this backward compatibility, Microsoft also included some 32-bit
code to allow it to take advantage of the faster and more powerful 32-bit
software applications that are now available, such as Microsoft Office 97 and
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite 8. Problems associated with Windows 95 are
generally due to the backward compatibility issue with 16-bit software written
for DOS and Windows 3.x. These problems will generally appear as Windows GPF
(General Protection Fault) errors, which were common with Windows 3.x (although
not quite as bad in Windows 95). One way to avoid the GPF errors is to stick
with device drivers that were written specifically for Windows 95. Also, Windows
95 supports Plug & Play which makes the installation of components a snap.
Windows
98
32-bit
operating system like Windows 95 and although it is marketed as a new operating
system, in reality it is more or less a bug-fix for Windows 95 with a few new
bells and whistles thrown in. The major differences between Windows 95 and
Windows 98 are that Windows 98 integrates Microsoft's Internet Explorer web
browser into the operating system - creating a single interface for browsing the
web and the PC, better help and troubleshooting wizards, enhanced support for
DVD and USB (defined below), support for multiple display monitors (I can barely
afford one monitor, let alone two), WebTV support, and a feature called Windows
Update that automatically checks Microsoft's software update site for newer
versions and updates your computer for you (assuming that your computer is
connected to a network or you have a modem). If you already have a PC with
Windows 95 and it is working fine, I wouldn't recommend upgrading to Windows 98
due to the cost and disk space overhead (195 MB). However, if you are buying a
new computer, Windows 98 is definitely better than Windows 95 due to the
enhanced support and cleaner interface.
Windows
Me
Another
32-bit operating system like Windows 95 and Windows 98. Me is targeted at the
home user and includes improvements to the reliability and ease of use of
Windows 98. There are also some enhanced features including Internet Explorer
5.5, Windows Media Player 7, System Restore which restores deleted files, Auto
Update that automatically checks Microsoft's software update site for newer
versions and updates your computer for you, Windows Image Acquisition the
simplifies downloading and saving of images from digital cameras, Windows Movie
Maker for editing digital video, and the Home Networking Wizard that is designed
to help users setup a home network. Most new computers will come with Windows Me
installed.
Windows
NT
A
true multitasking, multithreaded 32-bit operating system. Although the interface
of Windows 95 and Windows NT appear the same, Windows NT does not contain any
16-bit code and is therefore not backward compatible with older 16-bit software
applications. Since it has been around for several years, it is considered a
mature operating system and it has a built in crash protection scheme that
usually prevents one software application from crashing everything else,
although it can still happen on occasion. Windows NT still has its share of
bugs, but they are related more to hardware compatibility issues rather than the
operating system itself. As long as you stick to hardware components that are
certified to work with Windows NT, you shouldn't have any problems. If you want
security and increased power and stability, Windows NT is the operating system
for you, but note that it is not quite as user friendly as Windows 95 is and it
also does not support Plug & Play.
Windows
2000
A
true multitasking, multithreaded, 32-bit operating system. It combines the best
features of Windows 98 with the security, manageability and reliability of
Windows NT. Some of the new features include safeguards that prevent important
files and device drivers from being overwritten during a software installation,
eliminates the need to reboot the computer after installing software
applications, can run more applications and perform more tasks at the same time
than Windows 95 or Windows 98, provides support for multiple processors and
several hundred languages, faster data transfers with Universal Serial Bus (USB)
and IEEE 1394 (discussed below), and it is rumored to be 25% faster than
previous versions of Windows. There is also a tool that allows you to view a
small thumbnail image of a multimedia or graphic file before you open it, a
feature called Hibernate that will automatically turn your computer and monitor
off at a set time, off-line viewing for files and folders, and Internet
Connection Sharing that allows you to connect your Windows 2000 computer to the
Internet (via dial-up or other method) and then give network access to other
computers in your home.
Windows
XP
A
multitasking, multithreaded, operating system that will be available in both
32-bit and 64-bit formats. There will be two 32-bit versions of Windows XP when
it is released later this year, Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP
Professional. Both versions have the new Windows XP interface, advanced support
for laptops, wireless connections, faster bootup and application startup times,
advanced power management, a builtin Internet firewall, and support Internet
Explorer 6.0 Privacy. Windows XP Professional has all of the above plus support
for remote desktops, offline files and folders, multiprocessors, file
encryption, enhanced administrative functions (like Windows 2000), and a
multi-lingual user interface. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition is Microsoft's first
64-bit client operating system and is targeted at technical users working with
high-end multimedia, engineering, and scientific applications. It contains all
of the enhancements for the 32-bit versions of WIndows XP plus it is optimized
to run on the Intel Itanium processor and will initially support 16GB of RAM
memory and up to 16TB (terabytes) of virtual memory.
OS/2
Warp
Similar
to Windows NT in that it is also a true multitasking, multithreaded 32-bit
operating system. At one time this IBM operating system was considered to be the
next step for all personal computers, but over the past few years, support for
OS/2 appears to have all but faded away. Software applications written
specifically for OS/2 seem to be lagging behind those written for Windows NT or
completely non-existent. For example, when Adobe Photoshop 4.0 came out, this
was listed in its specifications, "Adobe Photoshop 4.0 is not designed (nor
was it tested) to be run under the IBM OS/2 Warp operating system." IBM
itself has even been shipping Windows NT on some of their lower-end systems, so
I'm not sure what lies in the future for OS/2.
Linux
Free,
32-bit, multitasking, Unix-based operating system. Unlike the other operating
systems listed here, Linux will run on a wide variety of platforms, from the old
Intel 386 to a Sun Sparc. Although there are many sites that will allow you to
download a Linux for free, I strongly suggest that you purchase an installation
CD from a company like Redhat, it will make the installation a lot easier.
Productivity
Software
Besides
the operating system, you need to choose which software applications that you
are going to need on your new computer. Most computer systems now come bundled
with a suite of software applications, such as Microsoft Works,Microsoft Office,
WordPerfect Office, or Lotus SmartSuite. These suites of applications typically
contain all the programs that you would need to run a small business. Microsoft
Office comes with Word (word processor), Excel (spreadsheet), Schedule+
(calendar), PowerPoint (presentation graphics), and Access (database) in the
professional version. Novel WordPerfect Suite comes with WordPerfect (word
processor), Quattro Pro (spreadsheet), CorelCENTRAL (calendar), Presentations
(presentation graphics), Envoy (Internet publisher), and Paradox (database) in
the profession version. Lotus SmartSuite comes with Lotus 1-2-3 (spreadsheet),
Word Pro (word processing), Freelance Graphic (presentation graphics), Approach
(database), Screencam (multimedia), and Organizer (time management software).
Sun StarOffice comes with Writer (word processor), Calc (calculation and
analysis), Impress (presentation graphics), Draw (graphics), Base (database),
Schedule (time management software), Mail (E-mail program), and Discussion (news
reader). Each package has its merits and I can't recommend one over the other.
Other than a personal preference for the layout of one application over another,
all of these are fine programs.
In addition to the operating system and the business software applications, there are many other categories of software that you may or may not want to use on your computer. Software to access the Internet such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator, graphics applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, multimedia editing software such as Adobe Premier or RealProducer Pro, and games should also be taken into consideration when choosing the brand and model of computer that you are going to purchase.