Alternative timeline: A better Windows ME

xanthrou · Post by **xanthrou** » Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:24 pm

What if Bill Gates put you and your development team at Microsoft at charge of Windows ME's development?

Would you make sure not to rush Windows ME's development and keep adding new features that would lay the foundation of NT-based Windows XP?

Or just give up with ME and keep developing NT-based Neptune by merging 9X and NT kernels, eventuality making an operating system very similar to XP?

SlithyMatt · Post by **SlithyMatt** » Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:05 pm

They should have just called it another special edition of Win98 (which it was, under the hood), made it a free service pack for existing Win98 users, and saved all the marketing money and public embarrassment, then put out XP when it was ready.

martinot · Post by **martinot** » Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:34 pm

If I would have never started the ME project. Gone full NT directly. ME was a total flop and waste of resources.

Even Win98 would probably have been canceled by me, and I was never a user of or fan of even Win95. Even if I can see the sales point from Microsoft of Win95, I personally used NT 3.51 (and OS/2 and FreeBSD) at that time, and no need for me at the time to go to a technically worse system.

Edmond D · Post by **Edmond D** » Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:31 pm

I've heard ME stood for "Major Error." ?

Microsoft has a long history of creating new looks & features for Windows which keeps the industry having to redo software, keep retraining the users and keeping tech support people busy. Imaging all the time saved if they just got it right the first time.

I'd debate that sums up most of the industry. Had everyone just stuck with 8 bits we're all be in a much better state.

I would have just politely not taken the job. Not sure if that would be foresight or hindsight. I'd hold out to lead the Encarta team

PS - Then above option is for amusement only. Any other interpretation is strictly forbidden.

kelli217 · Post by **kelli217** » Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:31 pm

ME was released when they thought that the big plans they had for XP (then 'Longhorn') would take too long to bring to market, and they needed a stopgap version. But then XP came out the very next year after they scrapped a lot of their more ambitious ideas.

Then they proceeded to sell XP for six years while working on Vista.

So I would never have made ME in the first place.

Scott Robison · Post by **Scott Robison** » Thu Jan 06, 2022 1:03 am

I'll just go on record saying that ME wasn't as bad as people remember it. That does not mean it was great, but as someone else already said, Win98 Third Edition / service pack would have been a better idea.

The biggest problem with ME was trying to be all things to all people. Trying to allow legacy drivers to still work in a new driver model I think was their biggest mistake. That led to more instability than anything. The problem was largely legacy drivers that didn't do things right, and their decision to allow it.

Still, I'm sure they made money on ME. Maybe not much or any from business or upgrades, but a lot of computers wound up being sold that year with an ME license attached. It did what they wanted by keeping the cash flowing until they could get XP out the door.

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:47 am

@SlithyMatt and @Scott Robison summed up my feelings on ME pretty well.

Personally, I liked ME, even though I never ran it on my own personal systems. I liked it because it made me money on service calls. ?

xanthrou · Post by **xanthrou** » Fri Jan 07, 2022 11:56 am

I would honestly hesitate to remove real DOS mode, which has caused instabillity, as well as creating compatibility issues.

I would also bring the Watercolor (or Watercolour; specifically the 2419 one) and Mallard/Sample Test Visual Style from Whistler. In addition, it would be nice to add the firewall, Activity Center, Fast Boot and the login screen from Neptune, add some notification system from PocketPC 2000, plus having quite a few of Plus! features (95, Kids and 98) built-in, finalising with adding Flight Simulator (moreover: Space and Train Simulators too), the entire Microsoft Entertainment Pack and perhaps an exclusive game for Windows ME as preincluded games for the OS. Security from Windows 2000 is also important, so I would make sure that would be added.

Cyber · Post by **Cyber** » Fri Jan 07, 2022 3:48 pm

I would not merge NT and Win95 lines. I would try to maintaint both lines, so WinXP, Win7 and others would go its own known way, and Winows ME would evolve in next version of Win98. With real DOS mode. Without need to create a User account. With simlicity in every aspect. I know I would face many challenges with security issues, but what the heck. Pursuing the dream never was an easy task.

SlithyMatt · Post by **SlithyMatt** » Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:17 pm

On 1/7/2022 at 10:48 AM, Cyber said:

I would not merge NT and Win95 lines. I would try to maintaint both lines, so WinXP, Win7 and others would go its own known way, and Winows ME would evolve in next version of Win98. With real DOS mode. Without need to create a User account. With simlicity in every aspect. I know I would face many challenges with security issues, but what the heck. Pursuing the dream never was an easy task.

Isn't that basically what happened? The timeline was just a bit compressed.