My main computer is a Pentium II/600 MHz Celeron, 384 megs memory,
two 20 Gb hard disk drives and the usual array of peripherals.  My
background with desktop computers goes back to mid-80's when I had my
start with a "portable" Osborne running under CP/M.  Since then I have
progressed through DOS 2.2 to 6.22, then Windows 3.0 through to ME.
I am not a computer professional, just a frequent user.

Over the years I have found Windows reasonably stable for my needs,
but I'm not wedded to it.  Under WinME, I still use a number of old
mid-80's DOS utilities that work just fine in a DOS window, plus some
early Win3.1 utilities and systems.  My favorite word processor is
AmiPro which emerged 'leventy-7 years ago for Win3.1.  I still use it
and it works fine under WinME.

My C drive is 20 gigs, containing 10 gigs of software only.  All my
files are on my D: drive.  I have a spare 20 gig drive which I used
to replicate my main drive using Norton Ghost.  Then I temporarily
installed my spare drive in my main computer, then installed WinXP
on it.

Then I started trying to use all my old reliable software and
immediately crashed into ominous screen messages, to the effect,
"...  has detected an incompatibility with this version of Windows.
Contact your vendor."

Like many people I had presumed that WinXP was a natural progression
from WinME.  However, upon finding all these compatabilities, I did
some sleuthing and learned that WinXP's lineage did not extend back
through WinME, Win98SE, Win98, Win95, Win3.1, etc.  WinXP's lineage
is back through Win2000.

At this point, I abandoned use of WinXP and I'm sticking with my
satisfactory operation under WinME.

As a consequence of maintaining 8 computers within my local extended
family, I've ended up with a spare work bench computer through which
I can cycle suspect components when one of these family computers
coughs and chokes for some reason.  Having this spare computer has
become very handy for various experiments and testing.

Somebody made an observation that it's not a bad idea to find an older
200-300 MHz computer to dedicate to unusual applications.  In my area,
such computers are turning up constantly, priced at very modest dollars
(that's Canadian dollars... :-) ).

I agree with this as most of us cannot possibly exceed the capacity and
speed of the more powerful computers currently on the market.  A slower
300 MHz computer is quite adequate for most applications.  My 600 MHz
computer is just fine for my needs, no reason to upgrade so long as
it's working.  Just a few thoughts...

Regards,

Terry Smythe
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
http://www.mts.net/~smythe