You don't have to go very far to hear the grumbles about Window ME, but then as I recall you didn't have to go far to hear the grumbles about every other operating system (O/S) that Microsoft has put out either. Generally speaking, I've found people are very quick to point out the negative (or perceived negative) and are prone to completely ignoring the positive so it can be quite difficult to hear a cheery voice above the grumbles of discontent, so here I am up on my soap box about to start yelling in a cheery voice...

In my oh so humble opinion Microsoft has come a long way since it released Windows 3.0 (16bit) in 1990, I can't speak of the ones prior to that as I personally hadn't jumped on board at that stage but I fondly remember 3.1 which fixed the majority of the gaud awful problems we suffered through & Thank goodness those days have passed us by! I still have and greatly admire Windows 95 (which people grumbled about) and Windows 98/98SE (both of which people grumble about too) and joining them all is my love of ME for it is my (humble!) opinion that Microsoft has taken a few more steps forward to try and feed out insatiable desire for more bells and whistles... all the while doing it's best to protect us from ourselves and by that I mean their inclusion of features like [System Restore] and [System File Protection]. So from me to them I say Thank You Microsoft!

As my inbox rapidly fills up with flaming email I shall continue... The first thing to keep in mind is that Windows ME was put out for the standard home user... not the tweak geek-up all night-eyeballs falling out-computer on 20+hours a day fiend that a lot of us are... so if you're more than a 'home user' then don't throw on ME and expect it to do all that and more because it just wont. That being said lets get this out of the way too... yes it takes a whopping 455mb and 635mb to install, yes [System Restore] will suck 200mb (minimum) of your precious space, yes it spits chips at older hardware and yes it spits chips at the older software too but in most countries you can't drive a horse and cart down the motorway either! So what's my point? Quite simply put ME isn't the "be all and end all" but it's not that bad either if and I mean IF, you take due care and caution when upgrading to it. Personally I haven't had many problems with ME (I've had 2 in total and no I'm not touching wood!) as I took great care to ensure that all the hardware and software was compatible first. I also make sure that all the drivers are kept up to date, patches are installed as required, system maintenance is done regularly and my expectations are realistic. Realistic expectations are essential for a relatively trouble free relationship with ME so if you can understand why you shouldn't drive your horse and cart on the motorway then you'll be just fine when it comes to ME and compatibility.

The majority of the problems we've seen/heard about have been user inflicted and by that I mean the problems could have been easily avoided if a little more care and consideration had been taken. Most problems have been a result of little (or no!) preparation, lack of prior knowledge and understanding and lastly what we've affectionately come to call the CE (Close Enough) syndrome so if you're going to make the leap to ME then just be aware that like everything else in life you're success or failure is entirely dependant on you and the prep work you put into it & a good start would be the following...

Make sure your computer meets ALL the [System Requirements]...
Remember close enough isn't good enough! Here's my own personal opinion... if you've only got the 'basic' system requirements, specifically 32MB RAM and 320MB free disk space after install, then don't event think about ME just stick with what you've got and save yourself the grief.

Don't go installing it over an already shaky system...
if you had problems before installing ME they'll still be there and you'll have acquired quite a few more on the way. Fix your problems first, then install ME.

A Clean install is great...
if you have compatible hardware! Take the time and check your hardware first, if your system is 'old' then you may need to look at upgrading some bits and pieces before putting ME on. If you can afford it go out and buy the full version but first make sure that your hardware manufacturer/s have drivers to support ME.

Upgrading...
Ok, you're not going to like this one but your best bet is back up everything you want to take with you, reformat your hard drive, load the full version of your previous operating system, run scandisk and defrag, check for any viruses (habit!) THEN upgrade to ME. This seems to lessen the chance of you taking all your excess baggage, problems and 'leftovers' with you. From there you can go along and add your bits and bobs like printers, scanners etc one by one as that way you can identify which (if any) have decided to spit chips at your new O/S. Speaking of spitting chips, when you're prompted to save the system files from the previous O/S hit YES! I know it takes around 20%mb to do so but think of it as being an insurance policy in your back pocked should ME decide it's not going to co-operate... you can always delete these later when everything is up and running smoothly.

Drivers...
You can bet your bottom dollar that you're going to need updated drivers so pull out the documentation for your soundcard, monitor/s, modem, printer, scanner etc etc and then pop along to the manufacturers site and look for an update... add the device, load the updated driver then add the next bit of hardware. Now here's a 'must have book marked' site [www.windrivers.com]. If you're on the hunt for drivers and you can't find them at the manufacturers site then don't waste anymore time... head straight to [WinDrivers]

Boot Disk/Emergency Boot Disk/Startup Disk/Emergency Startup Disk...
So many names for the one thing! Go and pull out your Startup disk now. What Startup disk you say? The one that'll save your bacon if you run into trouble. Your Startup disk is essential, you may never need it but the day you do and you don't have it you'll be kicking yourself so put the next 5 minutes to good use and go do one now. Either create the standard one recommended by Microsoft (something is better than nothing!) or be sensible about it and go one (or 10) better and grab [The Ultimate Boot Disk]

{no-combomax}