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Vol. 1/No. 4
05/11/1998
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Archive of
volume 1, number 4 for May 11, 1998. Go back to
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Windows 98's New Features
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It has been almost three years since Windows 95 was released to the computing
world on August 25, 1995. 1996 and 1997 came and went without a public
upgrade from Microsoft. (Even though Microsoft did release a few service
releases [SR2.0, 2.1, and 2.5, corresponding to 950A, 950B, and 950C] to
OEMs.)
Now Microsoft is ready to release their latest and final version of their
Windows 9x line to the world. Unless the Department of Justice says otherwise,
Microsoft will be releasing 98 to consumers on June 25th. (OEMs should
be getting their version by May 15th.)
Many critics of Microsoft have complained that 98 is yet another service
release for bug fixes. So why should the consumers pay for something that
adds little or not additional functionality to Windows 95?
Yes, Windows 98 does indeed fix (or attempt to correct) many of the common problems
and bugs in Windows 95. But 98 include many changes that are transparent
to the users. Here's a partial list of new features you'll find in Windows
98:
Multimonitor Support - Macs have
had this feature for the longest time now, and Microsoft is finally
bringing it to PC users with Windows 98. If you've seen how multimonitor
works, then you'd realize how cool and useful it is. In a nutshell, your
can add additional monitor to you system simply by adding another PCI/AGP
video card. The only catch right now is, the video card must be using
ATI Mach64/Rage II/Rage PRO, S3 ViRGE, and/or Cirrus Logic chipset.
Microsoft's default video drivers for those cards will support multimonitor.
If you've got a video card that uses some other chipset, then it's up to
the manufacturer to provide you with updated driver that will support
multimonitor. You can have up to a maximum of nine monitors.
Native USB Support - Beginning
with OSR2.1, Windows 95 comes with USB support. But it was in the form of
an add-on package. Windows 98 will support the majority of USB chipsets
(Intel, VIA, SiS, etc) right out of the box. And since it's integrated
into the operating system, there's no need to load any additional patches
or drivers. Hopefully, USB devices will finally take off with the arrival
of Windows 98.
Optimized Disk and Memory Defragger -
Windows 98 comes standard with a better disk defragging program. Not only
will the defragger arrange the sectors of the HDD, but it will also optimized
the load order of an application. For example, if you constantly run Netscape
Communicator, the defragger will analyze how each module (in the forms of
DLLs) of Communicator is being loaded into memory, then it will arrange
those modules on the HDD so the load time is optimized. The virtual
memory manager is also optimized to reduce disk swapping.
Better Driver Support for Devices -
Since Windows 95 was first introduced in 1995, many new devices are now available
in the market. Windows 98 will come with default drivers for commonly used
peripherals. So just by installing or upgrading to Windows 98, you will get
updated drivers for most of your peripherals.
Better Troubleshooting Tools -
One of the biggest improvement to Windows 98 is the addition of many
useful troubleshooting utilities. The best tool is SCANREG. The most
common problem in Windows 95 is corrupting your registry. SCANREG will
automatically make a backup (default is five set) of your registry every
time you start 98 successfully. In addition, SCANREG will attempt to
fix corrupted registry automatically.
Those are just some of the new features you can expect in Windows 98.
Is 98 worth the $100 retail price to upgrade? If you're purchasing a brand
new system, then most likely you'll get 98 preloaded after June 25th. Even
if you have an older system and are happy with Windows 95, it still may
be worth it to upgrade to 98. Because features like multimonitor, disk
and memory optimization, are native to 98; you can't get these features
by applying a patch to 95.
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An Introduction to AGP
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With today's demanding games and multimedia applications, even the
well-proven PCI bus cannot meet the video bandwidth requirements.
The 32 bit PCI slot running at 66MHz have a peak bandwidth of 133MB/sec.
And in most cases, the 133MB/sec is only for burst mode; the PCI slot
cannot sustain 133MB/sec indefinitely.
Because of this limitation, Intel introduced the Accelerated Graphics
Port (AGP) architecture for video cards. It's important to note that
the AGP slot is for video cards only, unlike the multi-purpose
PCI slot. AGP is just beginning to take off this year. The first Intel
chipset to support AGP was their 440LX AGPset, which is now being displaced
by the newer 440BX AGPset.
The AGP slot is able to run at 66MHz with the LX AGPset and a full 133MHz
with BX AGPset. Currently, AGP's full speed is 2x mode; Intel will increase
this to 4x in the very near future.
With the AGP slot in place, games and applications are able to move and copy
texture from system memory to video memory at a very high speed, a feat
that wasn't possible with the PCI architecture. For now, 3D technology is
known mainly in the gaming and graphics designing world. But this may
change when Microsoft release their "Chrome" technology for web browser
sometime in 1999. "Chrome" will move 3D graphics and animation into your
browser.
For more technical information, go to the AGP Forum website.
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The Multimedia World of DVD
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Current CD-ROM discs are able to storage a maximum of 640MB. DVD, the
successor to CD-ROM, discs are able to store up to 4.7GB of information!
And that's just the beginning. Using dual layer technology, the storage
capacity will double to 9.4GB per disc. In addition, information may
be encoded on both side of the DVD disc, giving us an incredible
18GB per DVD in the near future.
So what can we do with 4.7GB of information? We can put a full-length
movie (2+ hours) encoded in MPEG2 format with Dobly Digital 5:1 (or AC-3)
on a single 4.7GB DVD disc today with room to spare! Because of the extra
free space, most DVD titles comes with different language tracks: English,
Spanish, French, etc. A little known fact about DVD is that it really
doesn't stand for anything, but people have associated DVD as Digital
Video Disc.
MPEG2 is a processor intensive compression / decompression scheme; click here to learn
more about MPEG2 decoding. The visual quality of a typical DVD movie is much sharper and better than super VHS or even a laser
disc. Unfortunately, quality comes with a price: an Intel Pentium II/333 or faster processor is required in order to perform software MPEG2 decoding.
Because of this, most PC DVD kits rely on a dedicated MPEG2 decoder
PCI card. Due to current technology, this is an inexpensive solution since
it frees up processor for other use.
In addition to the high quality visual aspect of DVD, it also incorporates
Dobly Digital 5:1 or AC-3. This is an audio encoding scheme developed by
Dobly Labs. Click here for more details.
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Getting Help For Windows 95
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Here are some online resources to help you with your Windows 95 problems:
Microsoft Knowledge Base -
A very comprehensive troubleshooting guide for all Microsoft products.
The main problem is searching the database will often yield hits
on dozens of related problems. You can probably find the answer
to your problem if you have the time and patience to go through each
article.
Unofficial OSR2 FAQ -
Everything you wanted to know about Windows 95's service release
2.0 and higher.
Windows 95 Networking FAQ -
Check here first if your problem is network related somehow.
Windows 95 Annoyances -
This is the place to be if you really want to learn the ins and outs of
Windows 95. Many cool ways to really customize your Windows 95 system.
PREMIO's Windows 95 FAQ -
Last but not least, a shameless plug for PREMIO's Windows 95 Troubleshooting
Guide.
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Joke of the Week
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Excuses If Caught Sleeping in Your Cubicle
Courtesy of Infowar
It's okay, I'm still billing the client.
They told me at the blood bank this might happen.
This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in the last management course you sent me to.
I was working smarter, not harder.
"Whew! Guess I left the top off the liquid paper!"
"I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm!"
This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people!
I was testing the keyboard for drool resistance.
I'm in the management training program.
Actually doing a "Stress Level Elimination Exercise Plan" (SLEEP).
This is in exchange for the six hours last night when I dreamed about work!
"I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminatory towards people who practice Yoga?"
Damn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.
The coffee machine is broken.
Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot again.
Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won't wear off!
It worked well for Reagan, didn't it?
I was cross-training for telecommuting.
Ah, the unique and unpredictable circadian rhythms of the workaholic!
Wasn't sleeping. Was trying to pick up contact lens without hands.
The mailman flipped out and took out a gun so I was playing dead to avoid getting shot.
I thought you (the boss) were gone for the day.
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Coming up in next week's issue...
What's new in Windows NT 5.0?
Customizing Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer
What is USB and Firewire IEEE 1394?
S3's Savage3D
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Please direct any comments or corrections to Webmaster
Copyright © 1998 PREMIO Computer, Inc.
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