Others say...

"Sucks"
This is still the windows operating used today just now it's called Vista. Same crashing, bugs, bloatware and horrible performance.

"Still the BEST Microsoft operating system around!"
This is by far the best operating system that Microsoft has ever created. I don't know why some of these reviews are complaining of problems. I use this operating system on most of my computers; as soon as I buy a system I immediately format the hard drive and load Windows 98 SE. In 10 years I have never had a problem. Most of the problems that I read are attributed to manufacturer hard coding for a particular operating system, and simple hardware problems.
Windows 98SE stopped problems that occurred in Win95 where a program could freeze your system. Even that Win95 later became available in Fat32, the first versions were in Fat16. Win98 started out using Fat32.
Also, the reason why it is touted as the best gaming system still out there is simple. It takes up less memory and hard drive space to operate. All later operating systems produced by Microsoft are extremely resource intensive. One last note, all modern viruses are being created for the new operating systems. Therefore, Windows 98 SE is safer, faster, and more reliable than ever. Good luck.

"Windows 98SE is probably Windows' best overall OS to date"
After reading just some of the 'horror stories' of Windows 98SE written here, I have to say BUNK! I've used Windows 98 since it was introduced, upgrading from Windows 95. I upgraded to Win98SE when the Second Edition became available. I Still use Windows 98SE today.

I have used this OS on countless laptops/notebooks, and Desktop and Tower PCs in various makes and models: IBM, Toshiba, Compaq, and even generic self-built systems using a plethora of hardware.

It isn't that I haven't used other Windows systems such as 2000 ME, XP and XP Professional, because I have. It is my standard practice, that unless I am selling a system to a client that wants a later operating system, I will re-partition the Hard Drives and reformat it and then install Windows 98SE in its place. It is the most widely acceptable OS that I know of today that runs almost all current software programs on the market today. I use Windows 98SE to create DVD videos, to run blue tooth networking devices between various computers (also running the WIN98SE platform), and almost 365 days out of every year, the system works flawlessly. I have also used the WIN98SE network support to create 10/100 wired networks -- although I prefer Blue Tooth's wireless capability.

Again, I simply cannot believe some of the horror stories bantered around here by so-called reviews of Windows 98SE. While it is still available, I highly recommend that if you are looking for a great, stable operating system for a used or new computer, that you consider the many advantages of Windows 98SE. Frank Reichert (frank.reichert@excite.com)

"too unstable!"
I have used most of Microsoft's operating systems released since 1995 (95A, 95B, NT, 98, 98SE, 2000, and XP), and Windows 98SE seems to have the most bugs. I have installed Win 98SE on about 6 different computers, and have had one or more of the following difficulties on each machine:

1) I was already having problems while installing it. For example, when the installation was 99% complete (i.e. after almost an hour of hard work!), it gave me a "Windows protection" error, which prevented the computer from starting up. It took me a while to figure out how to get around that.

2) When I installed other programs, I sometimes got error messages at the end of installation, though the programs seemed to run okay afterward.

3) When I run many programs simultaneously, the computer crashes easily.

4) About 4 out of 10 times I shut down the computer, it freezes and I have to turn it off by pressing the power button!

Thus, if your computer can support Win 2000 or XP (i.e. if it's fast enough and the hard drive has enough space), avoid 98SE at all cost! Not only Win 2000/XP rarely have the above problems, but some of the latest software (e.g. Microsoft Office 2003) requires at least Win 2000 and won't run on 98/98SE. In addition, if I am not mistaken, only Win 2000 Service Pack 4 or Win XP Service Pack 1 or 2 can natively support hard drives bigger than 137 GB. Another (minor) inconvenience is that for hard drives between 64 and 137 GB, you need to get a special, free update from Microsoft if you want Windows 98/98SE to recognize the full capacity of the drive.

However, if you must use either Win 98 or 98SE, Win 98SE is the better choice because certain programs are supported only by the former but not the latter, e.g. Acrobat Reader 6 and Windows Media Player 9, and many USB devices I have used are supported by 98SE but not by 98.

"Windows 2000 or XP is much better!"
Windows 98 is much better than Windows 95.
2000 or XP is really the way to go if you have the hardware for it.