USB's with Windows 95 vs. 98/2000

[SusanHagstrom]

I am getting very confused with the different effects of USB devices with 95 vs 98/2000. Which is better, upgrading to 2000 or restricting your devices to parallel ports, etc. What makes the difference in coping with USB? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif

[ReddDogg]

I am confused, what kind of USB devices are giving you difficulty??? I guess i will just tell you what I do know, see if it is of any use.

Windows 95 had 4 editions, and the first three do not have usb support, meaning usb devices will not work. The final edition of windows 95 does support USB devices. As a matter of fact, there is much debate on whether Windows 95d is better than any of the windows 98 versions that were released, and I am not sure myself.

Windows 98 and windows ME both support USB fully.

Windows 2000 does support usb, but unless you put huge emphasis on security, or unless you are in a networking environment, then Me is a a better choice than 2000. 2000 won't allow many games to run, and other applications to install, it is persnickity, as a friend from college used to say.

As for Paralell ports, (excuse my spelling) it seems to work with all windows operating systems, but it is slower than usb, and isn't plug and play the way usb is. I prefer USB over Parelell for that reason.

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Joe Redd
MCP

[xor_chad]

I dont quite understand your delima either. Like previously posted, you MUST have win95c or better, but honestly i have seen trouble untill you switch to 98 or greater.

Sounds like you are saying you have USB and you are having some problems or you question which version of Windows handles it better?

USB is much much better than parallel ...much much much. So DONT switch back to parallel. You made the correct choice on that already. USB frees resources and increases bandwidth. It is also self powered on low power devices such as modems. USB and Firewire are the future of PC's.

If you dont have the correct version of Windows then Upgrade, it is something you will do eventually anyway RIGHT? As for wether to choose Me or 2000, its the same as choosing between 9x and NT. And since you dont have NT now...i would think you would want Me. Hope that was the answer you were looking for.

[This message has been edited by xor_chad (edited 11-25-2000).]