Distros you tried but didn't like

[Mauser]

While you are talking about Windows I would add Windows 98se due to it being the most unstable rubbish ever created.

SE was good too me. Fixed a lot of issues I had with the initial release of 98. The one version I never touched was ME (Millennium).

One of my friends had Windows ME and I used his computer once and I was surprised I could go Online for more than 10 minutes but it wasn't the most stable Windows but it was much more stable than Windows SE but no way as stable as Windows 2000 which I stuck with until Windows XP came out which was even more stable than Windows 2000 and it was the first Windows distro that had no yellow mark with an exclamation point in the hardware manger which was a shock. Windows 7 was my favorite of all the Windows distros.

[DukeComposed]

I can't see how that is possible because when my HP Desktop computer came with Windows 98SE it would freeze solid or I would get the Blue Screen Of Death when I went Online with Dail-up in no more than 10 minutes

Sounds like a kernel problem. To get really solid performance out of your Windows 98SE desktop, make sure it's only connected via Ethernet to your corporate LAN and to the Option 11C PBX over serial. AutoLogin isn't a problem if you conceal the box in a remote corner on the second story of your server room on a janky non-OSHA-compliant elevated loft where no one can reach it without a ladder and, for bonus points, you can remotely admin the box from your desk over an unencrypted VNC connection. Always worked well for me.

Early versions of Windows also carried a litany of remote vulnerabilities, one of the more popular of which was the port 139/tcp WinNuke attack in Windows 95. Easy to set up, easy to execute, impossible to defend against without a packet filter. While the bug was patched in Windows 98, Windows operating systems as a whole didn't include a packet filter enabled by default until Windows XP SP2, so putting a Windows 98SE machine online in any capacity was a risk. A free firewall utility like ZoneAlarm went a long way to keep random people from portscanning you and trying something, anything really, to knock you offline, especially if you had a less than amicable personality. When I was younger and chat rooms were clunky, Java-powered things that shared your username and IP address for all the world to see, I may or may not have WinNuked a particular user repeatedly until they got the hint, gave up, and stopped annoying us for the night.

[Mauser]

I can't see how that is possible because when my HP Desktop computer came with Windows 98SE it would freeze solid or I would get the Blue Screen Of Death when I went Online with Dail-up in no more than 10 minutes

Sounds like a kernel problem. To get really solid performance out of your Windows 98SE desktop, make sure it's only connected via Ethernet to your corporate LAN and to the Option 11C PBX over serial. AutoLogin isn't a problem if you conceal the box in a remote corner on the second story of your server room on a janky non-OSHA-compliant elevated loft where no one can reach it without a ladder and, for bonus points, you can remotely admin the box from your desk over an unencrypted VNC connection. Always worked well for me.

Early versions of Windows also carried a litany of remote vulnerabilities, one of the more popular of which was the port 139/tcp WinNuke attack in Windows 95. Easy to set up, easy to execute, impossible to defend against without a packet filter. While the bug was patched in Windows 98, Windows operating systems as a whole didn't include a packet filter enabled by default until Windows XP SP2, so putting a Windows 98SE machine online in any capacity was a risk. A free firewall utility like ZoneAlarm went a long way to keep random people from portscanning you and trying something, anything really, to knock you offline, especially if you had a less than amicable personality. When I was younger and chat rooms were clunky, Java-powered things that shared your username and IP address for all the world to see, I may or may not have WinNuked a particular user repeatedly until they got the hint, gave up, and stopped annoying us for the night.

That is impossible for me because I use my computer for personal use and not for some corporation. I only had access through Dial-up. I turned off my computer and waited until Windows 2000 came out which I installed and corrected the problem.

[DukeComposed]

That is impossible for me because I use my computer for personal use and not for some corporation. I only had access through Dial-up. I turned off my computer and waited until Windows 2000 came out which I installed and corrected the problem.

Well, you do you. I know what I did and I almost got 800 days of uptime. Fun fact: Windows 2000 also didn't have a firewall, but it had a completely different kernel and hardware abstraction layer from the 9x series.

[MikeR]

First foray into Linux was Knoppix in the 90's, installed from a bunch of 5¼" diskettes - 1200 baud dialup, CLI only, B&W screen
When Ubuntu came out, distributed on CD I went there. Used Remastersys for backup, until it died circa 2013.
Decided to switch off Ubuntu when Canonical went all systemd and snaps.
Went to MX about two years ago, because mx-snapshot looked like a good Remastersys replacement.
Stayed with MX since, mainly because of the REALLY EXCELLENT level of community and forum support -- Thank you, people!!
Still feel more at home with CLI rather than GUI (I was raised on RSTS(*) and VMS, before it became OpenVMS(**), did support for DEC)

Keep up the good work, and thanks again!!
Mike

(*)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSTS/E
(**)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS

[operadude]

@MikeR Regarding this:

First foray into Linux was Knoppix in the 90's, installed from a bunch of 5¼" diskettes - 1200 baud dialup, CLI only, B&W screen

RESPECT

[siamhie]

One of my friends had Windows ME and I used his computer once and I was surprised I could go Online for more than 10 minutes but it wasn't the most stable Windows but it was much more stable than Windows SE

I was using AMD/ATI/USR devices, so maybe I just had better luck with SE.

but no way as stable as Windows 2000 which I stuck with until Windows XP came out which was even more stable than Windows 2000 and it was the first Windows distro that had no yellow mark with an exclamation point in the hardware manger which was a shock. Windows 7 was my favorite of all the Windows distros.

Honestly, as much as XP was great (best release in my book), I always loved my NT4/2000 installs.

[rokytnji.1]

ReactOS.

https://reactos.org/

To be fair. I tried it in it's release stage when it was buggy.
https://reactos.org/forum/
Might be better now but I moved on.

[LU344928]

SE was good too me. Fixed a lot of issues I had with the initial release of 98.

Many users, including me, complained about the chronic hang-at-shutdown issue.

The one version I never touched was ME (Millennium).

You didn't miss much.

ME = Mistake Edition

[siamhie]

SE was good too me. Fixed a lot of issues I had with the initial release of 98.

Many users, including me, complained about the chronic hang-at-shutdown issue.

At this point, I was building my computers, so I didn't suffer at the hands of the manufacturers (Dell/HP/etc.) crafted BIOS's.

The one version I never touched was ME (Millennium).

You didn't miss much.

ME = Mistake Edition