What are the advantages and disadvantages of Windows 97?

Answer 1

Windows 98 has had no bug fixes or security updates since 2006.

Most hardware manufacturers no longer supply drivers for Windows 98.

Most software developers no longer work to ensure compatibility of their programs with Windows 98.

Windows 98 has limited memory protection and no resource tracking, making it prone to crashes.

Windows 98 cannot boot on a computer with more than 512 MB of RAM without unofficial (and very buggy) patches.

Windows 98 does not support more than one processor core.

Answer 2

For modern usage, Windows 98 has only one real practical advantage - the ability to run certain legacy programs that can't be replaced and don't run properly on newer systems. For most other purposes, Windows 98 is less reliable than newer alternatives and has numerous security vulnerabilities.

Answer 3

Windows 98 has countless limitations (as do most other operating systems). The most glaring are lack of privilege separation, poor memory management, and a limited file system.

Privilege separation is the ability for an operating system to limit users in what they can and cannot do. Any user in Windows 98 can install and run programs or modify system files. While this makes a system somewhat simpler for a single user, it is impractical for multiple users, and makes it easier for viruses and malware to infect the computer.

As a 32-bit operating system, Windows 98 should be able to address about 4 GB of RAM. In practice, Windows 98 has severe problems handling over 512 MB. Without patches, more than 1 GB of RAM is impossible to use.

Windows 98 uses the FAT32 file system. While easy to implement, it has two nagging flaws. The first is that files cannot be over 4 GB in size. The second is that you cannot create a partition over 2 TB in size (unless using unofficial cluster sizes). These limit Windows 98's usefulness in video playback and editing, as well as file storage.

Answer 4

A disadvantage of Windows 98 is that newer software does not run on this operating system. Another disadvantage is that there is not anymore support available to do updates.