How were older versions of windows criticised?


Recommended Posts

I am having some trouble finding older articles, forum threads, etc. where older versions of Windows were criticised similarly to how Windows 8 is criticised today.

I remember people complaining about Windows XP a lot. That it wasn't suitable for gamers and required an extremely powerful PC to be useful. I even remember some criticism of Windows 95, that it changed things too much when compared to Windows 3.x.......

......but I can't find any of these. Maybe I'm just incapable of using google properly ;) So this thread is a request for help - could you guys post what you remember? Links are welcome. If a similar thread exists on Neowin, please direct me to it and kill this one :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in those days there were not such "Fanboyism" to any platform, hence discussions were actually more intellectual rather than non factual like they do now, for example, usability, what works for some doesn't works for another (main criticism of Windows 8) but any side is trying to preach that their solution is the best for both sides, Microsoft has successfully divided its user base in two, too bad for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in those days there were not such "Fanboyism" to any platform, hence discussions were actually more intellectual rather than non factual like they do now, for example, usability, what works for some doesn't works for another (main criticism of Windows 8) but any side is trying to preach that their solution is the best for both sides, Microsoft has successfully divided its user base in two, too bad for them.

Actually, the user base of Windows always splits when a new version launches; the user base split with the launch of Windows NT - the original one.

Splits in the Windows user base are FAR from new; it's simply that due to the competition being far more acrimonious among operating systems - even among those from the same company - along with how many folks on the planet now have access to computing hardware, there is marketshare to be had, even for niche players. (For example, as little marketshare as Windows Phone 7.x has, it's *still* greater, in terms of absolute numbers, than that of Windows 1.0 was at launch.)

Folks are reading more into the split than is there. The split is far from new - what's new is the split happening at the same time as a southward turn in the global economy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, the user base of Windows always splits when a new version launches; the user base split with the launch of Windows NT - the original one.

Splits in the Windows user base are FAR from new; it's simply that due to the competition being far more acrimonious among operating systems - even among those from the same company - along with how many folks on the planet now have access to computing hardware, there is marketshare to be had, even for niche players. (For example, as little marketshare as Windows Phone 7.x has, it's *still* greater, in terms of absolute numbers, than that of Windows 1.0 was at launch.)

Folks are reading more into the split than is there. The split is far from new - what's new is the split happening at the same time as a southward turn in the global economy.

Hmmmmm... I have seen some people to actually dislike previous versions of windows, that's true, but not to the extend and magnitude that we are seeing now. (I come from the msdos 6.22 era)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in that thread i spied this

Vidar, on Dec 3 2002, 11:49, said:

::Pokes the Mods:: Can we get a clean up crew in here. This thread could be removed and used to store more files in the Babe forum. tongue.gif

where is this godly forum? lol

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I remember from Win 95 and Win 98, is the complaint of having to Reboot after every Install, and the problems with virus, trojans.

There was also a Memory leak problem and often driver crashes.

Win 95 was well loved as an big improvement over Windows 3.x.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Each and every Windows version (like ALL software) has had it's plus points and of course its drawbacks. Not everyone can be pleased all of the time. I know with 95, the vast majority embraced the Start Menu and the abandonment of Program Manager but yes some people didn't like the change.

I also remember people bleating on about Windows 98, suggesting the First Edition was absolutely awful, buggy and unreliable compared to the Second Edition. I had no issues with either to be honest although i vaguely remember something about USB support.

Windows ME was hated, people felt it was buggy and prone to crashes. I witnessed none personally but that may have been luck.

XP Luna was called Childish and too bright and colourful and i remember LOTS of moaning people refusing to adopt it, hating the Start Menu e.t.c but eventually it became extremely popular and is considered now a huge success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Windows 95 - people hated it because of the move away from the Program Manager to the Start menu

Windows 98 - people hated it because it used more resources and was slower than Windows 95.

Windows ME - People hated it because it was always crashing

Windows XP - People hated it because there were no drivers, the start menu changed and it had a "fisher-price" interface

Windows Vista - People hated it because of drivers, they said it was slow and bloated

Windows 7 - people hated it because the 'superbar' didn't work the same as old versions of windows

Windows 8 - People hate it because of the new start screen

Windows 9 - People are going to hate it because of whatever is different compared to Windows 8

And so on and so on...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think 2000 was generally well received, mostly because few people knew it existed. :rofl:

The others, everyone has something to complain about. There are more "well I could just use x,y,z" system complaints these days, because there are other viable options. Back when I had ME, I think I tried replacing it with BeOS...

/aside - it's nice that we can complain about UI issues these days, once upon a time a new version of Windows meant your hardware was probably all obsolete, or at least it was going to run dog slow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't recall too many folks fussing about 95. Windows ME was the first one I remember there being such an uproar over. My dealings with it were like most, it crashed constantly. My sister had a new pc with ME and I formatted it and installed Windows 2000.

But it's all about change, we're creatures of habit and when many of us get out of our comfort zone we're going to whine and moan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember there were two product lines

Consumer OS

Windows 3x -> 95 (a/b/c) -> 98 -> 98se -> Me

Business OS

Windows NT -> 2000

Merging

Windows XP Merged the two. Windows 2000 core with the "consumer" features 9x had added.

Current

Windows XP -> Vista -> 7 -> 8

Vista original version was taking so long and had too complications they scrapped most of the code and started over.

This caused XP to be out there much longer than MS ever planned.

(Edit) Windows Me was windows 98 se with the dos compatibility artificially removed / hidden with Windows 2000 interface elements and some other stuff Microsoft was planning for XP.

And if I remember correctly, also trying a newer driver model. Did read MS was pressured into releasing a new OS before XP was ready by hardware manufacturers.

(Edit 2) Windows 95 version C or OSR 2.5 is extremely rare / hard to find. It was OEM only and added built in USB support / Fat32 file system support and came out a few months before 98 launched.

Which were some of the key new features of Windows 98.

(Edit 3) I hated windows 95a, kept getting constant registry corruption issues. Most of my issues went away with Windows 95b. Microsoft released updates, service like packs, but Windows 95a users were left behind with several updates. B/C users were always kept up to date. Looking back at that... MS could've handled that a lot better. Program compatibility issues with dos based programs were a big thing too. windows 3x tended to work much better. In addition Modem drivers had different versions for Windows 95a / 95bc which made it a pain at times. This was before high speed where dial-up was the standard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.