Microsoft UK is not holding a launch party for the latest version of Windows, which goes on sale today. It isn't even holding a wake, though Windows Millennium Edition - Me for short - is the last of the line. After this, Microsoft hopes everyone will move on to the more powerful, more reliable, and more expensive New Technology of Windows NT/2000, leaving the old world of Microsoft MS-Dos computing behind.
Of course, that was supposed to happen after Windows 98, which was quickly followed by Windows 98 Second Edition, and Me is basically Windows 98 Third Edition. It hasn't changed much, which is why Microsoft is offering Windows 98 and SE users a half price upgrade - about £40. Whether it is worth it is another matter.
Me is also the first version of Windows designed specially for home users. The most obvious signs are the multimedia elements. Me includes the all-purpose Windows Media Player 7, Movie Maker video editing software, and Windows Image Acquisition software to grab pictures from digital cameras.
Windows Explorer has also been given an extra View menu option, Thumbnails, which shows what files look like. Indeed, when you first save an image, it opens automatically in the Thumbnails view in the My Pictures folder inside My Documents. This is one of many cute tricks that Me pulls. They are great if they do what you want, and very annoying if they don't.
Another factor is that home users rarely follow the rules of "safe hex". They promiscuously load all sorts of rubbish from computer magazine cover discs, and they tend to delete or update vital files without doing proper back-ups or testing. Windows Me tries to solve these problems by protecting about 80 of its files: it will restore and replace them if they are tampered with. Me can also download its own updates from the web.
If the worst happens, Me offers System Restore, a sort of snapshot facility. If your PC doesn't work as well as it used to, Me lets you revert to an earlier state.
Me also makes home networking and internet sharing easier - a big thing in the US, now so many homes have multiple PCs. My Network Places (formerly called Network Neighborhood) includes a Home Networking Wizard to take you through the process. Connect the Me machine to the net and the Wizard will create floppy disks to set up other Me, Windows 98 and Windows 95 PCs.
The networking theme continues with five new games - backgammon, checkers, hearts, spades and reversi - that let you play against other people at Microsoft's Gaming Zone. There is also a good patience game, Spider Solitaire, to join Solitaire and Freecell.
But Me is not all good news. The main drawbacks? It is slower and perhaps slightly less solid than 98SE, which is the best of the 9x line. The speed loss is presumably due to the molly-coddling file tracking, and to the inclusion of Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows Media Player 7: both are big.
To be fair, my home PC, used for testing, is only a 200MHz Pentium MMX with 64 megabytes of memory. This is more powerful than Microsoft's suggested minimum for running Me, but frankly, a 350MHz Pentium II is a more appropriate beast. If your PC is faster than that, you may not notice the loss of speed.
Me may also duplicate software that you already have installed and c lash with it. For example, you may be running ConfigSafe or GoBack to provide a "system restore" function, or ACDSee 32 or Thumbs Plus as a graphical viewer with thumbnails.
To improve stability, Microsoft has tried to get rid of some of the long-standing problems caused by antique programs and peripherals that use the Disk Operating System launched with the IBM PC in 1981. Me therefore blocks access to "real mode" MS-Dos, though you can still run DOS programs in Windows, and you don't have to be very geeky to figure out how to get back to it.
Support for old networking systems has been dumped too, though Microsoft brought back Novell support following an outcry during Me's beta testing phase.
So is Me for you?
If you are still running Windows 95, forget it. Me would be a big improvement, but your PC is probably not powerful enough to run it comfortably.
If you are running Windows 98 or 98SE and already have accessory programs such as ConfigSafe, GoBack, ACDSee and so on, then Me does not add much. If you want newer versions of Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Windows Media Player, they are available, free, on the Microsoft website.
However, if you don't have any accessory programs, or you are particularly accident prone, then Windows Me is a cheap upgrade for as long as the half-price offer lasts.
The upgrade may also be worthwhile if your PC has problems running 98/98SE, especially if it slows to a crawl and crashes when it runs out of resources (see Start|Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Resource Meter). Me handles low resources better. However, if 98/98SE runs well then it is probably not worth the effort.
But if you are buying a new PC, then Me does provide some improvements, and there is no obvious reason to avoid it. In fact, most copies of Me will undoubtedly be sold with new PCs, rather than as upgrade packages, and that is the way to go.
• The US launch party for Windows ME is being webcast today at 10am PDT at www.microsoft.com/windowsme
