Microsoft's
Windows Millennium Edition ("Windows Me") was released on September 14, 2000!
If you
have a question that isn't answered here, send
it along and I'll do my best to answer it.
UPDATE: This FAQ is now retired.
Q: What is Windows Millennium Edition ("Windows Me")?
A: Windows Millennium
Edition ("Windows Me") is the next version of Consumer Windows,
following Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition
(SE). It is based on the Windows 98 kernel, not the Windows
NT/2000 kernel. Don't believe rumors that Windows 2000 and 98 are
being "merged" to create Windows Me; this isn't
true. A future version of Consumer Windows, code-named
"Whistler," will be based on Windows 2000, but this product
isn't expected until 2001 at the earliest.
Think of Windows Me as "Windows 98 Third Edition." It's a
simple minor release of the old Windows 9x line with no major new
features. The user interface makes it look like Windows 2000, but
it's all 98 under the covers.
"Millennium is going to be a very significant release for home
users," says Microsoft's Shawn Sanford. "We're really
working toward simplifying the computing experience for home
users."
Q: What's with the name? Why didn't they just call it Windows
2000 Consumer Edition or whatever?
A: There are many reasons for the name of this product, which
probably would have been called Windows 2000 had Microsoft not
already taken this name for the next version of Windows NT.
Basically, in late 1998, it seemed that the Windows 9x line would
come to an end with Windows 98 SE. Microsoft was planning a future
consumer Windows release, dubbed "Neptune," that would be
based on Windows 2000 and would hopefully ship sometime in the year
2000. So, in late 1998, the company announced that Windows NT 5.0
was being renamed as Windows 2000 in a bid to continue the popular
Windows name. However, in early 1999, delays in Neptune and an
internal reorganization caused Microsoft to rethink its cancellation
of the Windows 98 product line and the company announced in mid-1999
that it would be releasing yet another version of Windows 98. The
project was codenamed "Millennium."
Because Windows 2000 was geared solely toward business users and
Neptune was so far behind schedule (so far behind, in fact, that the
project was cancelled in January 2000), Millennium would be designed
solely for consumers. That means that, unlike Windows 98, none of
the features in Millennium would be applicable to businesses at all.
This narrowing of the product's target market allowed Microsoft to
focus on only those technologies that would be applicable to home
users, but the name that this product would eventually use was still
up in the air. In December 1999, Microsoft began shopping the phrase
"Windows Me" around (that's "Me" as in
"Millennium Edition" and "Me" as in
"I") and the name stuck. In January 2000, the
company decided on Windows Millennium Edition ("Windows
Me") as the final product name for this last version of Windows
98. And the phrase "Windows Me" will be used in
advertising for the new product.
"The name Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me, will help
Microsoft to clearly identify this next iteration of the OS as the
Windows version designed specifically with the home user in
mind," says Microsoft Windows Group Product Manager Shawn
Sanford.
Q: So how does
Windows Me differ from Windows 98?
A: Windows Me differs very little from Windows 98, since it is
simply the latest release in the 9x family. It features a new TCP/IP
stack, a System Restore feature, silent installation of USB
keyboards, mice, and hubs, a Movie Maker application for recording,
editing, publishing, and organizing audio and video content, the
removal of Real mode DOS, and a number of other small improvements.
Windows Me looks similar to Windows
2000 Professional on the surface, but its virtually identical to
Windows 98 otherwise. Microsoft says that Windows Me focuses
on the following technologies:
- Digital Media and Entertainment: The Consumer Windows Division will focus on enabling users to take advantage of all this new content, making it easy to access, play/view and store as well as providing an enhanced PC gaming experience. Movie Maker fills this role, along with a games manager.
- Online Experience: Consumer Windows will provide consumers with a premier home online experience. Consumers will be able to easily connect to the Web, locate desired content and determine which content is right for their family. To facilitate this goal, Microsoft is integrating the latest version of Internet Explorer, IE 5.5, into Windows Me.
- Home Networking: Networking at home is becoming a reality for more people. Windows Me will simplify the process of connecting multiple computers in the home, enabling users to share information and an Internet connection. It features a new Home Networking Wizard that puts a pretty face on this feature.
- "It Just Works": The Consumer Windows Division is committed to providing consumers with a solution that 'just works,' from the moment a user starts their PC and throughout their daily computing experience. This promise will be delivered upon by the advancement of the PC's self-healing functionality, in addition to providing a simpler set-up and a great out-of-the-box experience for new computer users. System Restore is the primary in-box feature that satisfies this goal.
"The Consumer Windows Division
is focused on truly making computing easy for consumers," says
David Cole, vice president of the Consumer Windows Division at
Microsoft. "We are ... on the
path toward delivering a version of Windows specifically designed to
enable consumers to take full advantage of their PCs in the 21st
century."
Microsoft has released three versions of Windows Me: Step-Up (requires
a Windows 98 install or CD-ROM to install), Upgrade, and Full.
Confusingly, Microsoft released a product called "Windows Game Plus
Pack" at the same time as Windows Me. This is NOT a Plus! Pack
for Windows Me; it will run on any version of Windows 9x or 2000.
However, not all of the information I get comes to me from
authorized channels: I've installed and evaluated
every single build of Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
since the first developer's preview and my constant and
ongoing experience with this product makes this Web site the
most valuable Windows Me resource anywhere. Think about it:
Do you want to know what Microsoft wants you to know, or do
you want to know the truth? With a knowledge of the
way this product has developed over time, I can offer readers
an unparalleled understanding of why things are the way they
are. Microsoft doesn't want you to know this and other sites
simply don't have the historical perspective.
However, an undocumented feature in Windows Me was recently revealed that
lets you add the FILES=xxx functionality. What you need to do is
add the line PerVMFiles=60 to the [386Enh] section of system.ini.
PC makers will include the necessary drivers for hibernation in their
Windows Me systems.
If you had hibernation working and it suddenly disappeared, it's
probably because of a new driver installation: Many hardware drivers
aren't compatible with hibernation. Check nohiber.txt in c:\windows
for details.
Q: When was Windows Me released?
A: Microsoft shipped
Windows Me to manufacturing on June 19, 2000. It became available in retail
stores on September 14, 2000.
Q: What is the build number of the final release?
A: 4.90.3000. There is some confusion about "differences" between
4.90.3000 and 4.90.3000.2: They're the same. You never see the .2 anywhere
in the UI.
Q: I've heard of a Microsoft Research project called
"Millennium." Is this the same thing?
A: No. Microsoft
Research is currently working on a prototype operating system
called, unfortunately, Millennium,
which was absolutely nothing to do with Windows Millennium
Edition ("Windows Me"). The
Microsoft Research project is designed for a future of ubiquitous
networking with machines that interact with their users in ways that
are just not possible today.
Q: I heard that Windows Me would not use DOS as its base
and would, in fact, be a full 32-bit operating system like Windows
NT. Is this true?
No. Windows Millennium Edition, like Windows 95 and Windows 98 before
it, is based on DOS and is therefore a 16/32-bit operating system.
Microsoft is doing what it can to hide the MS-DOS prompt in Windows
Me in an effort to simplify the OS, but DOS is as fully
entrenched in Windows Me as it was in earlier versions of Windows
9x.
What's missing in Windows Me is support for 16-bit Real Mode DOS, which is rarely, if ever, used
anymore anyway.
Q: So do DOS games like DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D still run in
Millennium?
A: Yes, absolutely. Every DOS game should run in Windows Me.
Q: I heard that Windows Me is "code sharing" with
Windows 2000. Does this mean that Windows Me is part of the Windows
2000 family of products?
A: First of all, Windows Me is not "code-sharing"
with Windows 2000, other than superficial user interface
enhancements. The core of Windows Me is based on Windows 98, not
Windows 2000. Windows Me nothing to do with Windows
2000 and is not part of the Windows 2000 family of products. Windows
Millennium Edition is, rather, a way to extend the Windows 9x line on more
year so that Microsoft can increase its revenue stream by releasing
yet another version of Windows while it waits for Whistler (a future
Consumer Windows based on Windows 2000) to come together.
Q: What about legacy I/O devices, such as ISA cards and the like?
A: Windows Millennium Edition will still support legacy I/O devices,
though you'll have to jump through some hoops to get them installed
because Microsoft has implemented a new driver signing scheme to
ensure the integrity of all drivers installed on the system.
Microsoft did this for a good reason--improperly written drivers
are the single biggest cause of instability in Windows--but they
will provide a way for users to install any drivers they'd like in a
continuing bid to provide the highest level of compatibility
possible.
Q: What's the upgrade path for Windows Me?
A: You can upgrade Windows 95, Windows
98, or Windows 98 Second Edition to Windows Millennium Edition
(Windows Me). You can not upgrade any version of Windows NT or Windows 2000 to Windows Me.
Not that you'd want to anyway.
Q: Does Windows Me support multiple microprocessors (CPUs)?
A: No, because Windows Me is simply the next version of
Windows 98, it is based on the Windows 9x kernel, which does not
support multiple processors. To use two or more processors in the
same machine, you'd need to run Windows 2000.
Q: Will there be a version of Plus! for Windows Me?
A: No. Though Microsoft released Plus Packs for both Windows
95 and Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition is only a point
upgrade to Windows 98, as is Windows 98 SE. So there's no need for a
new Plus Pack. However, there is some good news: Virtually every
single feature of Plus! 98 is included Windows Me already. So
there's really no need to buy Plus! 98 if you're getting the new
Windows.
Q: Will there be a new Resource Kit for Windows Me?
A: No.
Q: How can I get Windows Me?
A: Now that Windows Me has been released, you'll have to get it at retail
or with a new machine purchase. Microsoft never offered any beta version
of Windows Me to the public.
Q: What are the minimum hardware requirements for Windows
Me?A:
Microsoft says that a Pentium 150 or better with at least 32 MB of
RAM is the minimum system required to run Millennium. However, I
recommend at least a 300 MHz Pentium II processor with at least 64
MB of RAM.
Q: Were you on the Windows Me beta? How do you know all of this stuff?
No, I'm not on the Windows Me beta, though I was,
briefly, right when it began. As a member of the press,
I'm not eligible to participate in Microsoft technical
beta programs, but because I've not signed an NDA for
these products, I can talk about them freely. I get my
information directly from Microsoft product managers and Waggener Edstrom,
Microsoft's PR firm. Microsoft supplies
me with all of the major builds and beta guides so that I can
review and publicize these products before they are released.
Therefore, I'm privy to information that is unavailable to
beta testers (such as internal release date information) and
other end-users.
Q: Can I upgrade Windows Me to Windows 2000?
No. But you can upgrade Windows Me to the next
version of Windows 2000, Windows.NET 1.0 (code-named "Whistler"),
when it's released in late 2001.
Q: Can I upgrade to Windows Me from Windows 3.x? How
about NT or Windows 2000?
No. You can upgrade Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows 98 SE
to Windows Me. MS-DOS, Windows 1.x-3.x, or any version of Windows
NT/2000 will not work.
Q: I heard that Windows Me doesn't ship with the final versions
of Internet Explorer 5.5 or Windows Media Player 7. Is this true?
Yes. Windows Me ships with near-final versions of both of these
products, but you can easily update Windows Me to the final versions
of both WMP7 and IE 5.5 via the Windows Update Web site.
Q: When I edit CONFIG.SYS, the changes get blown away and the OS
doesn't seem to process any of my commands. I need to add a line such
as FILES=120 in CONFIG.SYS. How can I do this?
Supposedly, you can't. Windows Me does away with Real Mode DOS and therefore
doesn't process CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT at startup. Instead, these
files are maintained internally by Windows Me for backwards compatibility
with applications that expect to find them there. But any changes you
make to either file will be overwritten each time the system boots.
Q: Is there be a Windows Me Device Driver Kit (DDK)?
Yes. Microsoft's new Windows DDK includes support for Windows Me.
Check it out on the DDK Web site.
Q: Can I dual boot Windows Me with Windows 95/98?
No. Windows Me is designed to replace Windows 95 and 98. You can, however
dual boot Windows Me with Windows 2000, or use a third party utility,
such as System Commander or BootIt Direct, if you wish to dual boot Windows Me with Win9x.
Q: Can Windows Me boot to a DOS prompt?
No. Windows Me doesn't include Real Mode DOS, so it's impossible
to boot the system into DOS mode or reboot the system into DOS mode.
You can, however, use a Windows Me boot disk to boot into a command
prompt.
Q: The Personalized Start Menu is driving me insane. How can I turn it off?
Right-click the taskbar and choose Properties. Then uncheck the
option called "Use Personalized Menus." Incidentally, the Favorites
Menu in IE has an even more diabolical "Personalized" feature. To turn
that off, open IE and choose Tools then Internet Options. On the
Advanced tab, uncheck the option called "Enable Personalized Favorites
Menu".
Q: How come Windows Me doesn't support the Hibernate power management feature?
Actually, Windows Me does support Hibernate, which allows you to
save the contents of RAM to the hard drive and then recover it all
when the system comes out of hibernation: This allows you to leave
programs running and then have them return to normal when the system
comes back up. But Hibernation in Windows Me is very restrictive and
it won't work on all systems. First, you need an ACPI-compliant BIOS,
as you do in Windows 2000. But then the complications set it: If any
of the drivers on your system are not hibernation compatible, the feature
will not work, or even appear in the UI. At this point in time, most
installs of Windows Me do not include hibernation.
Q: I'm having weird problems with my IntelliMouse in Windows Me and
the current version of IntelliType (the software for the IntelliMouse
series) doesn't support Windows Me. What gives?
Microsoft has released new IntelliType software that is
compatible with Windows Me.
Q: I have [hardware device name]. How come it doesn't work with
Windows Me? It worked fine in Windows 98!
Windows Me has its own Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), which
you should definitely check out before you install the product. There
are two versions of the HCL, a simple text file and a Web-based version
that's searchable. Pick your poison.