Win 98 update shows promise
By Eamonn Sullivan
It has the department of justice hanging over it like a dark cloud and several features of debatable value, but Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 98 is nonetheless shaping up as a good upgrade.
PC Week Labs examined Beta 3 of Windows 98 (Build 1650), which became available last week; the operating system is expected to ship at the end of the first quarter of next year.
The upgrade has a distinct corporate slant, with new administration and diagnostic tools, and is much more polished than previous betas we've tested.
Beta 3 isn't ready for use in a production system, but it is stable enough for us to recommend that corporations begin testing it--and preparing to take the plunge, at least for systems not powerful enough to run Windows NT (such as systems with 32MB of RAM or less).
Administratively inclined
For administrators, Beta 3 introduces some dramatically improved tools for deploying Windows across a network and managing upgrades. For example, upgrading Windows 95 systems in tests was a breeze.
The award for most improved utility in Beta 3 has to go to Batch 98, which is used for creating scripts to automate the installation of Windows. In Windows 95, using Batch requires filling out a dozen or more complicated dialog boxes and takes some trial and error to run correctly.
Using the Windows 98 version, in contrast, was a snap. Rather than filling out unfamiliar dialog boxes, we simply configured our system the way we wanted, using familiar tools such as the Control Panel. Then, with one button, we copied that configuration into an INF file that we used to automate the installation of Windows 98 on other PCs.
Another new administrative feature is Windows Update, a Web-based service for distributing updates, new drivers and bug fixes. If this sounds scary to you, you're smart.
We ran Windows Update through its paces by upgrading a monitor driver: We connected to a Microsoft Web site, let ActiveX controls scan our system for components that could be updated and chose which updates to install. Once the update was complete, we could back out by restoring the old components.
Giving business users the ability to update at whim, not when IS departments choose to roll out a new standard, is, in a word, stupid, leading to disparity across the corporation. Administrators can and should disable the Windows Update feature, and look into using push technologies or some kind of scripting as an alternative.
Microsoft officials said the Windows Update feature is aimed at consumers, not corporations, but it will be important for administrators to deal with the feature before deploying the operating system. Microsoft officials said a push-based solution for distributing updates within a corporation is planned and will probably be released when Windows NT 5.0 ships.
There are also many new features under the hood to please developers. For example, Windows 98 finally includes Windows Sockets 2.0, which is a much improved version of the basic Windows networking code.
Interminable Explorer
As expected, Internet Explorer 4.0 is thoroughly entwined throughout Beta 3. During the standard upgrade, we weren't even asked if we wanted to install it-- nor was there an option to uninstall it.
We were, however, able to turn off most of the manifestations of Internet Explorer, such as Active Desktop, Active Channels (Microsoft's push feature) and the icons that appear on the Windows task bar for launching Internet Explorer and other Microsoft Internet software. We were also able to install Netscape Communication Corp.'s Communicator 4.04 without any problems, and even use Communicator as our default browser.
However, Internet Explorer continued to pop up everywhere in Windows 98's interface. The Windows Update feature, for example, uses Internet Explorer no matter which browser we designated as our default.
User tweaks
Microsoft officials have made a big deal about the performance improvements under way in Windows 98, but these improvements were not evident in the beta we tested. For example, this beta took nearly twice as long to boot as Windows 95 on the same hardware.
Another area getting a lot of attention from Microsoft is application load time, although we're not sure why. On a 133MHz Pentium running Windows 95, for example, it took a only few seconds for the latest version of Microsoft Word and Excel to load. With the changes planned for Windows 98, you might shave a second or two off that time, but that won't increase any company's earnings in 1998 (except maybe Microsoft's).
Most of the performance enhancements are accessible to the user through the new Windows Tune Up Wizard. The Tune Up Wizard enables the user to schedule tasks such as defragmenting the hard disk, checking for disk errors and cleaning up the disk. The latter option, which automatically deletes temporary files (such as those created by Internet Explorer) is also accessible through a Disk Cleanup button on any disk's property dialog box.
Also of interest to users will be some new utilities included with Beta 3. One utility, for example, searches for and flags shortcuts that no longer point to real files. Another tool backs up configuration information, allowing users to create (and switch to) several different configurations.
Beta 3 also includes a utility for converting regular FAT (file allocation table) file systems to the newer FAT32. The FAT32 format, which is now available only in the OEM version of Windows 95, makes more efficient use of large hard disks.
A new control panel icon--TweakUI--gave us a lot more control over the Windows 98 user interface than was possible in Windows 95. For example, we could add or remove standard items from the desktop (such as Network Neighborhood).
PC Week Labs executive summary: Windows 98 Beta 3
Bug fixes, improved administration tools, easier installation and upgrades, and numerous small user-interface tweaks make this beta of Windows 98 worth testing for most corporations. For PCs with less than 32MB of RAM, Windows 98 will likely make a good upgrade from Windows 95.
PROS: Easier to deploy and upgrade than previous versions; more customizable interface; improved installation program.
CONS: Contains many consumer-oriented features, such as Web-based updates; Internet Explorer 4.0 is not optional.
Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. (800) 426-9400; www.microsoft.com
Scoring methodology: www.pcweek.com/reviews/meth.html
The Batch 98 feature is used for creating scripts to automate the installation of Windows.
Windows Update should be used with caution in corporations. |
