Syntrillium Backup Forums :: View topic

butchc · Posted - Mon Sep 03, 2001 1:02 am

I know this is the sort of question that really has no right or wrong answer, but I'd like to hear some opinions about what OS other people favour for working with CE.

In general Windows 2000 is my preferred OS because of it's stability, but for recording I still mostly use Windows 98 or ME.

The reason is that Cool Edit doesn't give me 24-bit support for my Audiophile 2496 sound card under Windows 2000 because of the issue with WDM drivers. However 24-bit support is fine under 98/ME.

Actually I'm not sure if this is much of an issue because if I do all my work in CE at 32-bit resolution I'm going to get good sound even if CE can't get the maximum bit depth from my sound card. I guess it's mainly the principle of it. My sound card is capable of providing 24 bits so I want to use them!

Any comments? What Operating System does everyone else use, and why?

djlyon · Location: Romania

I'm using Windows 98, first edition.
Because it uses only 64 MB RAM for its self. Because on my system it is very stable. (PIII@500, Soyo MB, 192 MB RAM, 15 GB HDD)
Another important thing is that even Win98 may seem slower than Win ME or 2k or the new XP, the applications run faster.
Personally, I don't really care about how fast Win98 or ME or XP its self does run (explorer, kernel and other internal services), but care about how fast the applications run!
Other reasons include personal opinions about the OSes. I also do tech support for hardware, software, and some Internet. You get to see much more when debuging Windows ME or 2K. I think that Windows 98 1st edition is the cleanest.
It the OS you get the most control over it!
Of course, there's also Linux - but we're talking about the OSes CEP runs on.
As I said above, Windows 98 uses for its self only 64 MB RAM. This way it leaves 128 MB RAM for CEP to run. If you'd be using Win 2K, it would use 128 MB RAM for its self, leaving you with only 64 MB RAM to run CEP.

You were correct when saying "this is the sort of question that really has no right or wrong answer", and everything above is just an opinnion, but it is based on a pretty large personal experience.

c-Row · Posted - Mon Sep 03, 2001 5:45 am

In my opinion - based on my personal experience - I would recommend Win98 (first edition) and then Win2k. Can´t judge WinXP since I still had minor audio problems with it, so it wouldn´t be fair to compare Cool Edit´s performance when running on a non-bugfree OS.

Maybe the final XP will run better, but except the mentioned issues, CE´s performance under XP was near Win98.

2Bdecided · Posted - Mon Sep 03, 2001 9:44 am

I still use Windows 95 (B 2.5). Less rubbish happening in the background - more processor time and memory for the important things.

Not that it matters on modern hardware, but if you compare them on a slow machine, you'll find that with every new Microsoft OS, your computer just gets slower!

D.
http://www.replaygain.org/

MERRICK · Posted - Mon Sep 03, 2001 2:21 pm

I'm using Win 98 first edition. I have stripped it and hacked it down as much as I can. If you are stand alone and have no intent of connecting the DAW to the net, I strongly recommend stripping the IE shell. It definitly "cleans" and "speeds" the OS up; and if you get the demo version of Win98Lite http://www.98lite.net/preview.html , The program does it for you and it's free. Just my 2 cents/pence.

beetle · Location: USA

I'm good with Win98 original edition and have no issues with anything, including IE.

rockindel1 · Posted - Mon Sep 03, 2001 6:20 pm

I use win/98 secnd ed I have no issues with stability, I wont upgrade because the version of pro tools I have does not support win 2k/me and I have set up my system so that I RARELY crash and if I do you can bet its the guy punching the keys whose at fault(whoops did I say that?)

djlyon · Location: Romania

You know what they say: "If it works, don't fix it!" Smile

oretez · Posted - Tue Sep 04, 2001 12:48 pm

MERRICK · Posted - Tue Sep 04, 2001 2:53 pm

I'm not saying that the IE Shell removal will improve stability to such a degree as that the system will not crash but I have noticed a slight "cleaner" O/S. It does make a noticable difference in Windows speed. Sub Menus pop out at twice the speed and programs load quicker. It is suggested that most everything in WIN98 must pass through the IE Shell at some point. I can see/feel the difference. There are three downsides that I have found.
1] No internet connection capability and HTML document Icons/view must be set in Start>Folder Options>File View. However the Win98Lite program can undo so you can have full IE Shell at anytime.
2] The Start>Folder Options>View Disapears! I have the patch for it if anyone wants it.
3] Windows Media Player 7 will not work without a workaround. I have the workaround if anyone wants.
Yeah I know I should have mentioned this in the begining. All I can say is that I am extremely happy with this particular hack program and it's free too. BTW I have no affiliation with the authors of this program. Peace.