Windows Me
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Windows Me | |
| (Part of the Microsoft Windows family) | |
| Screenshot | |
 Screenshot of Windows Me |
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| Developer | |
| Microsoft | |
| Release information | |
| Release date: | September 14, 2000 info |
| Current version: | 4.90.3000, September 14, 2000 info |
| Source model: | Closed source |
| License: | Microsoft EULA |
| Kernel type: | Monolithic kernel |
| Support status | |
| Unsupported as of July 11, 2006[1] | |
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (IPA pronunciation: [miː], [ɛm iː]), is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft.[2] It was originally codenamed Millennium.
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[edit] Overview
As the successor to Windows 98, Windows Me was marketed as a "Home Edition" compared to Windows 2000 Professional, which was oriented towards businesses and had been released seven months earlier. It included Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows Media Player 7, and the new Windows Movie Maker software, which provided basic video editing; and was designed to be easy for home users. Microsoft also updated the graphical user interface and the shell features and Windows Explorer in Windows Me with some of those first introduced in Windows 2000. Windows Me could be upgraded to Internet Explorer 6 SP1, but not to SP2 (SV1) or Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player 9 Series.
Windows Me is a continuation of the Windows 9x model, but with access to real mode MS-DOS restricted in order to speed up system boot time. This was one of the most publicized changes in Windows Me, because applications that needed real mode DOS to run, such as older disk utilities, did not run under Windows Me.
Compared with other releases of Windows, Windows Me had a short shelf-life of just over a year; it was soon replaced by the NT-based Windows XP, which was launched on October 25, 2001.
[edit] History
In 1997, "Millennium" was the codename for a future version of Windows NT that was expected to be released in 2000 or 2001. In 1998, Microsoft stated that there would be no version of Windows 9x after Windows 98.[3] In 1999, however, Microsoft announced a new version of Windows 9x, that was later revealed to be codenamed Millennium. In 2000, this was released as Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me).[4]
The general availability date was December 31, 2000. Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows Millennium Edition on December 31, 2003. Extended support ended on July 11, 2006. Windows 98 Extended support ended the same day.[5] Windows Me also contained the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, which caused it and Windows 98 to be pulled from the Microsoft Developer Network at the end of 2003.[6]
[edit] New and updated features
System Restore: Windows Me introduced the "System Restore" logging and reversion system, which was meant to simplify troubleshooting and solve problems. It was intended to work as a rollback and recovery feature so that if the installation of an application or a driver adversely affected the system, the user could undo the installation and return the system to a previously working state. It does this by monitoring changes to Windows system files and the registry. System Restore protects only the operating system files, not documents, and therefore is not a substitute for a backup program.
System File Protection: First introduced with Windows 2000 (as Windows File Protection), and expanding on the capabilities introduced with System File Checker in Windows 98, System File Protection aimed to protect system files from modification and corruption silently and automatically. When the file protection is in effect, replacing or deleting a system file causes Windows Me to immediately and silently restore the original copy. The original is taken from a hard drive backup folder (%WinDir%\Options\Install) or from the Windows Me installation CD, if the cached copy of files on the hard disk has been deleted. If no installation CD is in the drive, a dialog box alerts the user about the problem and requests that the CD be inserted.
System File Protection is a different technology from System Restore and should not be confused with the latter. System Restore maintains a broad set of changed files including added applications and user configuration data stored repeatedly at specific points in time restored by the user, whereas System File Protection protects operating system files with no user input.
New TCP/IP Stack: Windows Me includes the Windows 2000 networking stack and architecture[7] which was known to be more reliable, full-featured, stable and offered better performance. Support for networking over FireWire, IrDA, a network diagnostic troubleshooter and a new Home Networking wizard are also included.
Universal Plug and Play: Windows Me introduced support for Universal Plug and Play, often shortened to UPnP.
Windows Image Acquisition: Windows Me also introduced the Windows Image Acquisition API for a standardized method of allowing Windows applications to transparently and more easily communicate with image acquisition devices, such as digital cameras and scanners. WIA intended to improve the configuration and the user interface for interacting with scanners and such devices, (which were previously supported by the TWAIN standard) and simplify writing device drivers for developers.
Automatic Updates: The Automatic Updates utility automatically downloads and installs critical updates from the Windows Update Web site with little user interaction. It is set up to check Windows Update once every 24 hours by default. Users can choose to download which update that they want, although high-priority updates must be downloaded and installed.
Compressed Folders: Windows Me includes support for ZIP files through a shell extension known as Compressed Folders. Originally introduced in the Plus! 98 pack for Windows 98, this feature allows users to create, access and extract files from ZIP archives similar to a regular folder in Windows. The user can also restrict access to files with a password.
Image Preview: In Windows Me, images can be viewed by using the Image Preview utility. It allows users to rotate an image, print or zoom in/out an image. Image Preview supports images with .BMP, .DIB, .EMF, .GIF, .JPEG, .PNG, .TIF and .WMF file formats.
Games: Windows Me offers several new games: Internet Backgammon, Internet Checkers, Internet Hearts, Internet Reversi, Internet Spades, Spider Solitaire and Pinball.
On-Screen Keyboard: Originally introduced with Windows 2000, a program called On-screen Keyboard has been added, which makes it possible to input characters using the mouse instead of the keyboard. This feature is useful for computers that use a tablet as the primary pointing device or for accessibility purposes.
System Configuration Utility allows users to manually extract and restore individual system files from the Windows Me setup files. It has also been updated with three new tabs called "Static VxDs", "Environment" and "International". The Static VxDs tab allows users to enable or disable static virtual device drivers to be loaded at startup, the Environment tab allows users to enable or disable environment variables, and the International tab allows users to set international language keyboard layout settings that were formerly set via the real-mode MS-DOS configuration files. A Cleanup button on the Startup tab allows cleaning up invalid or deleted startup entries.
System Monitor has been updated with a Dial-Up Adapter section. Users can now monitor items such as Connection Speeds, Bytes Received or Transmitted / Second.
A new Help and Support program has also been added, replacing Windows Help in Windows 2000 and Windows 98. The Help and Support Center is HTML-based, and takes advantage of a technology called Support Automation Framework (SAF). Several other support tools also shipped with Windows Me.[8]
USB mass storage drivers: Windows Me is the only operating system in the Windows 9x series that includes generic drivers for USB mass storage devices.[9]
[edit] Relation to other Windows releases
Windows Me was complemented by NT-based Windows 2000, which was aimed at professional users. Both operating systems were succeeded by Windows XP with their features unified. Along with Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE, Microsoft discontinued support for Windows Me on July 11, 2006. Microsoft no longer provides any phone support or security updates for these products because Microsoft considers them obsolete.[10]
Many third-party applications written for earlier editions of Microsoft Windows, especially older games, run under Windows Me but not under Windows 2000. This fact has become less relevant with the sharp decline in popularity of Windows Me after the release of Windows XP, which features a compatibility mode which allows many of these older applications to run.
If an installation CD-ROM from the Windows 2000 family is inserted, the user is prompted to upgrade to Windows 2000, the reason being Windows Me having an older version number. While this is not technically so (Windows Me was released several months after Windows 2000), Windows Me is in fact derived from the older, monolithic MS-DOS codebase (Windows 4.x) while Windows 2000 is the first of the NT 5.0 family, thereby constituting the latter as an upgrade.
[edit] Criticisms
Windows Me was criticized by users for its instability and unreliability, due to frequent freezes and crashes. A PC World article dubbed Windows Me the "Mistake Edition" and listed it as the fourth "Worst Tech Product of All Time".[11] "Shortly after Me appeared in late 2000," the article states, "users reported problems installing it, getting it to run, getting it to work with other hardware or software, and getting it to stop running."
The System Restore feature sometimes ended up restoring a virus which the user had previously removed, since its method of keeping track of changes is fairly simplistic.[12] By disabling System Restore, the virus could be removed, but the user lost all saved restore points.
[edit] System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Processor: Pentium 150MHz
Hard drive space: 320MB
RAM: 32MB
Recommended system requirements:
Processor: Pentium II 300MHz
Hard drive space: 2GB
RAM: 96MB
[13]
[edit] Last DOS-based Windows
Windows Me was the last version of Windows to include a real-mode MS-DOS subsystem, although access to it was restricted. The Windows Me startup disk or an unofficial patch allowed booting to real-mode MS-DOS. Along with Windows 2000 from the NT-family Windows Me was the last version of Windows that did not include Windows Product Activation. Windows XP, which is NT-based, became the successor to Windows Me. It also closed the gap between consumer Windows and Windows NT.
[edit] References
- ^ Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me Support ends on July 11, 2006. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
- ^ Microsoft Announces Immediate Availability Of Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). Microsoft PressPass. Microsoft (September 14, 2000). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
- ^ Paul Thurrot (December 15, 1999). Paul Thurrot's SuperSite for Windows: The Road to Gold: The development of Windows 2000 Review. SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Paul Thurrot (July 5, 2000). Paul Thurrot's SuperSite for Windows: The Road to Gold: The development of Windows Me. SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Microsoft Support Lifecycle - Windows Millennium Edition
- ^ Paul Thurrot - Microsoft to Retire Windows 98, Others. eWeek, December 8, 2003
- ^ Windows Me Networking features
- ^ Windows Millennium Edition support tools webcast
- ^ Microsoft USB FAQ
- ^ Windows End of support for Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows XP Service Pack 1. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
- ^ Dan Tynan (May 26, 2006). The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. PC World. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ Mary Landesman. Disabling System Restore to Remove Viruses. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
- ^ Minimum hardware requirements to install Windows Millennium. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
[edit] External links
- Win9x: General support and info for Windows Me
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