Games for Windows

[Dan]

I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not Windows
98 Second Edition. Is the reason just because Windows 2000 still gets
updates for its video and sound drivers and is still officially supported by
Microsoft and/or are there other reasons. I look forward to your replies.

[FromTheRafters]

"Dan" > wrote in message
...
>I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not Windows
> 98 Second Edition.

If you were a software developer, would you aim
for a market that is soon to run out of air? These
OSes are not of the same line. The OS provides
the environment for a program - as the environment
changes, so should the program. It's the evolutionary
process of the technology that requires some things
to go extinct.

> Is the reason just because Windows 2000 still gets
> updates for its video and sound drivers and is still officially supported
> by
> Microsoft and/or are there other reasons. I look forward to your replies.

That is part of the equation. You see, to some extent,
it is the games that drive the technology always toward
the bigger better faster. It is the gamer that drives 98 to
extinction.

[Don Phillipson[_5_]]

"Dan" > wrote in message
...

> I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not
Windows
> 98 Second Edition.

It is the other way round . . . Games are programmed
to be run by (i.e. to display images and play sounds
generated by) specific operating systems (e.g. Win98 or WinME).
If we are lucky they may run under other OSs, but this is never
guaranteed -- hence the fine print on the outside of each box.
Hence also WinXP's "compatibility" arrangements, to enable
earlier software to run under a later OS: but these cannot work
backwards, i.e. are not designed to make an earlier OS (that
lacks certain features) run a later game (that demands just
these features.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[Dan]

Thanks for your replies. Has anyone managed to safely hack computer games
designed for Windows 2000 Professional to make them work for Windows 98
Second Edition? I am asking since I know Windows ME drivers and Windows 2000
Professional drivers can sometimes work in Windows 98 Second Edition as my HP
drivers are actually Windows 2000 drivers and my ATI drivers are actually
Windows ME drivers on the Windows 98 Second Edition side of my multi-boot
system. Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition is in FAT32 and Windows XP
Professional is in NTFS File System on 2 separate Western Digital hard drives.

"Don Phillipson" wrote:

> "Dan" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not
> Windows
> > 98 Second Edition.
>
> It is the other way round . . . Games are programmed
> to be run by (i.e. to display images and play sounds
> generated by) specific operating systems (e.g. Win98 or WinME).
> If we are lucky they may run under other OSs, but this is never
> guaranteed -- hence the fine print on the outside of each box.
> Hence also WinXP's "compatibility" arrangements, to enable
> earlier software to run under a later OS: but these cannot work
> backwards, i.e. are not designed to make an earlier OS (that
> lacks certain features) run a later game (that demands just
> these features.)
>
> --
> Don Phillipson
> Carlsbad Springs
> (Ottawa, Canada)
>
>
>

[FromTheRafters]

"Dan" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for your replies. Has anyone managed to safely hack computer games
> designed for Windows 2000 Professional to make them work for Windows 98
> Second Edition?

FYI
When a program written for one platform is reworked
to work on some other platform, it is called "porting".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porting

Seldom is it done to take such a large step backward.

I'm sure some diehard Win98 fans have ported some
games to run on Win98 - but it seems such a waste of
time. You could use Win98 to emulate or otherwise
mimic the environment the game was written for, but
that's alot of overhead and the game may be even more
sluggish than it would be on the native Win98 had it been
ported.

[Dan]

Thank you for the correct terminology and for the information. I really
appreciate it.

"FromTheRafters" wrote:

>
> "Dan" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thanks for your replies. Has anyone managed to safely hack computer games
> > designed for Windows 2000 Professional to make them work for Windows 98
> > Second Edition?
>
> FYI
> When a program written for one platform is reworked
> to work on some other platform, it is called "porting".
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porting
>
> Seldom is it done to take such a large step backward.
>
> I'm sure some diehard Win98 fans have ported some
> games to run on Win98 - but it seems such a waste of
> time. You could use Win98 to emulate or otherwise
> mimic the environment the game was written for, but
> that's alot of overhead and the game may be even more
> sluggish than it would be on the native Win98 had it been
> ported.
>
>
>

[Dan]

I found this after reading up on Wikipedia. Has anyone tried using this
compatibility layer to get Windows XP games and/or programs to run with
Windows 98 Second Edition?

http://www.msfn.org/board/KernelEx-v035-released-t71476.html


"FromTheRafters" wrote:

>
> "Dan" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not Windows
> > 98 Second Edition.
>
> If you were a software developer, would you aim
> for a market that is soon to run out of air? These
> OSes are not of the same line. The OS provides
> the environment for a program - as the environment
> changes, so should the program. It's the evolutionary
> process of the technology that requires some things
> to go extinct.
>
> > Is the reason just because Windows 2000 still gets
> > updates for its video and sound drivers and is still officially supported
> > by
> > Microsoft and/or are there other reasons. I look forward to your replies.
>
> That is part of the equation. You see, to some extent,
> it is the games that drive the technology always toward
> the bigger better faster. It is the gamer that drives 98 to
> extinction.
>
>
>

[teebo]

> I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not
> Windows
> 98 Second Edition.

yeah it is strange that window2000 is supported, since it have as small
marketshare as win98 and linux and other os'es with just some percents
users.

the reason to not support any windows variant other than winXP
(that "everybody" uses) is afterall because they don't want to have
to do yet even more testing... it is lots of work allready with tests on
lots of different hardwares etc. Or do they actually just *hope*
win2000 works since it is as similar to winXP and they don't really
test with it?


I suppose you could get more games have official support for win98
if you do the testing on that platform for them, for free, and in
a professional way. (and you accept to take all users win98-related
problems for free too)

[Dan]

I agree but who would be willing to do that much for free especially when
many of us have jobs and families to attend to that is our priority because
hopefully our families care for us and love us and our jobs provide us with
money to live our lives. Anyway, I was able to get a SanDisk Cruzer Micro
flash drive with 8 gigabytes to work in Windows 98 Second Edition. I just
downloaded and ran the Cruzer Family 98SE Driver and installed that and reset
my computer. I had the unknown driver and so I updated the driver and chose
San Disk as the manufacturer and chose the SanDisk Micro Driver in the list.
I said okay about the warning that the driver was not specifically compatible
and it installed fine. Next, I did a full format of the flash drive in
Windows 98 Second Edition to remove all the junk that I did not need on the
flash drive anyway. I have tried and successfully saved and changed a *.txt
file to make sure it was working properly.
I am glad that I was able to successfully hack the SanDisk Cruzer Micro with
8 Gigabytes for a USB 2.0 Flash Drive. The specifications list Linux, Mac
and Windows 2000 SP4, XP and Vista and so this makes me continue to wonder
how many products that work for Windows 2000 that users can successfully hack
to work with Windows 98 Second Edition. It appears that products for Windows
ME and Windows 2000 Professional can be successfully hacked to work for
Windows 98 Second Edition if you know what you are doing. Thus, with Windows
2000 Professional being supported until 2010 means that some Windows 98
Second Edition users can continue going along with more challenges of course
but still workable solutions. Finally, remember that Windows 98 Second
Edition and Windows 2000 Professional both use the Windows Driver Model.
"teebo" wrote:

>
> > I am puzzled as to why some games will support Windows 2000 but not
> > Windows
> > 98 Second Edition.
>
> yeah it is strange that window2000 is supported, since it have as small
> marketshare as win98 and linux and other os'es with just some percents
> users.
>
> the reason to not support any windows variant other than winXP
> (that "everybody" uses) is afterall because they don't want to have
> to do yet even more testing... it is lots of work allready with tests on
> lots of different hardwares etc. Or do they actually just *hope*
> win2000 works since it is as similar to winXP and they don't really
> test with it?
>
>
> I suppose you could get more games have official support for win98
> if you do the testing on that platform for them, for free, and in
> a professional way. (and you accept to take all users win98-related
> problems for free too)
>
>
>
>