By Tikkler - July 18, 2000

Microsoft's Windows line of operating systems have always, and will be for some time to come, the dominant operating system for computer users all over the world. They have set the tone for other operating systems such as Linux in terms of features and user-friendliness; however, there has always been two areas that they have previously never been able to attain top spot: reliability and efficiency in the use of system resources. They have, however, managed to secure a good part of reliability with the release of their Windows 2000 operating system, but they never really achieved much in terms of efficiency. Windows 2000 requires huge amounts of computing power and memory to make it run nice and smooth, whereas Windows 98 can run pretty smoothly on a much lighter-weight system. Hence, Microsoft decided to create a hybrid between Windows 2000 and Windows 98: Windows ME.

Windows ME is built on the same old Windows 9x core that it's older siblings, Windows 95 and Windows 98 use; therefore, it basically functions exactly the same as them. What's different about it is that it includes a brand new GUI (graphical user interface), a bunch of new, user-friendly features and also a host of tweaks to the old core. These tweaks, as Microsoft claims, will allow for a greater amount of reliability in Windows ME compared to its predecessors (but, of course, can't be compared to Windows 2000, which is built on a different core) and will also allow for more efficient use of hardware. Microsoft calls this OS the easiest, fastest and most reliable Windows to date for the home user.

There are many reviews and previews on Windows ME's new features and looks, so I decided not to do a review on the new features of this new operating system. Instead, I decided to test out Microsoft's claims about Windows ME being the fastest OS for the home user yet. I recently obtained a press-release copy of the final build of Windows ME and I ran it through its paces through a few benchmarks and compared it to its predecessor, Windows 98 Second Edition. Did it really acheive what it claimed to be? Was it faster than the already, over-tuned Windows 98 SE? We take a look...

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