If you've used Windows 95, you and Windows 98 should get along just fine, thank you. Sure, this new version is chock full of changes large and small. But you aren't likely to find anything in Windows 98 that throws you for a loop. Many of these improvements are internal tweaks that only technology jockeys find interesting, but that help your system run faster, smoother, and more efficiently. And there are plenty of new and improved goodies for average users who just want to get their work done without any extra fuss.
Anyone who has messed around with the Internet's World Wide Web knows just how easy it can be to click links to move from page to page; it really is a quick, intuitive way to get from here to there. The Microsoft programmers have given us more of a good thing in Windows 98, with their "Web integration" design. In Windows 98, you move through the system, files, and folders just as you move through the Web--click here, jump there. Web integration alters the Windows landscape in the following ways:
Figure 1 The My Computer folder in Web view: a nicer look and "live" icons, to boot.
Cross Reference For full details on Web integration and the Active Desktop, see Chapter 3, "Making Something Happen: Launching and Switching Programs," p. 25, and Chapter 9, "Webtop Windows: Web Integration and the Active Desktop," p. 85.
Figure 2 This ain't no Windows 95 wallpaper: The Active Desktop can display interactive and updatable content.
The Internet is where all the action is these days, and Windows 98 has carved out its own seat on the bandwagon. If you're itching to get online, Windows 98 has a ton of top-notch tools for getting you on the Internet and keeping you there:
Cross Reference For more information about the Internet Connection Wizard and the Online Services folder, see Chapter 15, "How to Get Connected to the Internet," p. 163.
Cross Reference For additional information, see "Leaping from Link to Link: Navigating the Web," p. 198, in Chapter 17, "Wandering the Web with Internet Explorer."
Figure 3 The Internet: Think of it as a really big hard disk!
Cross Reference For the nitty-gritty about Explorer 4.0's features, see Chapter 17, p. 195.
Cross Reference For more information about Windows 98's Internet tools, see Chapter 16, "Can We Talk? Email, Newsgroups, and Internet Phone Calls," p. 177, and Chapter 18, "Becoming a Webmaster with FrontPage Express and Other Page Publishing Tools," p. 219.
Computers are fairly reliable machines these days, but that doesn't mean that trouble never rears its ugly head. You can help lessen the chances of a problem arising by performing regular system maintenance. That's not as much of a burden as it might seem because Windows 98 has some excellent tools for the job:
Cross Reference For more information, see "Getting the Latest and Greatest from the Windows Update Web Site," p. 311, in Chapter 23, "Tools for Keeping Your System in Tiptop Shape."
Cross Reference To learn how Windows 98 makes backing up a breeze, head for Chapter 24, "Keeping Your Data Safe and Sound with Backup," p. 315.
Figure 4 The new Maintenance Wizard.
Cross Reference To learn all about this wizard, see the "Using the Maintenance Wizard to Get Your System Firing On All Cylinders" section, p. 309, in Chapter 23.
If the right side of your brain is wondering, "Hey, what's in this for me?" tell it not to worry--Windows 98 has no shortage of multimedia marvels:
Cross Reference For the full scoop, see Chapter 23's "Doubling Your Disk Space Pleasure with DriveSpace" section, p. 304.
Cross Reference For more information, flip to Chapter 21, "Bells and Whistles: Multimedia and Windows 98," and read the "Small-Screen Windows: Watching TV" section, p. 278.
Figure 5 The NetShow player lets you eyeball videos and live feeds from the Web in real time.
Cross Reference To learn how Net-Show works, check out Chapter 17's "The Inter-net Show Must Go On: Using the NetShow Player" section, p. 213.
Cross Reference To learn more, scan Chapter 20, "Image Is Everything: Windows 98's Graphics Tools," p. 255
One of Windows' goals is to make it easy for you to interact with the devices attached to your computer. The hardware manufacturers have been busy over the past couple of years, and Windows 98 has been beefed up to handle a wide variety of recent hardware innovations. You probably don't want to know much about things like the Universal Serial Bus and FireWire, and thanks to Windows 98's support for these initiatives, you won't have to. Here's a list of a few of the hardware-related features that Windows 98 is friendly with:
Cross Reference For more information, see the "Manipulating the Mouse" section, p. 19 in Chapter 2, "Windows 98: The 50¢ Tour."
Cross Reference To learn more about all of this, see Chapter 22, "Windows 98's Notebook Knickknacks," p. 283.
Cross Reference For more information, read the "Zip and Jaz: Floppy Disks on Steroids" section, p. 159, in Chapter 14, "Storage Solutions: Working with Folders and Floppy Disks."
To finish our look at what's new in the Windows 98 world, here's a list of a few miscellaneous improvements:
Cross Reference For more information, see the "Taking Advantage of the My Documents Folder" section, p. 62, in Chapter 6, "A Few Workaday Document Chores."
Cross Reference For a more detailed explanation of this technique, see the "Reconstructing the Start Menu" section, p. 107, in Chapter 10, "Customizing the Desktop and Taskbar."
Figure 6 The Accessibility Wizard makes it easier than ever to customize Windows for users with special needs.
Lots of people will be heading into Windows 98 having already struggled with the intricacies of Windows 3.1. That's a good start, but Windows 98 is different enough that you'll face a bit of a learning curve.
The overall design of Windows 98 is simpler and cleaner than that of Windows 3.1. Launching programs is more straightforward, and the things you need are much easier to find. For my money, though, Windows 98's Most Valuable Feature Award definitely goes to its support for longer filenames. That's right--no more trying to shoehorn a meaningful name into a measly eight-plus-three characters. Now you can go crazy because the limit has been bumped up to a positively verbose 255 characters! (One word of warning, though: Only programs designed for Windows 95 or Windows 98 can understand these long-winded names.)
By far the most annoying thing about Windows 3.1 was its perverse tendency to go up in flames whenever an important deadline or meeting loomed large. Windows 98 was designed from the ground up to be more stable and not give up the ghost as easily as Windows 3.1 did. (Again, however, you'll need to use programs created specifically for Windows 95 or Windows 98 to get semi-bullet-proof operations.)
Directories? Nope--Folders
You may as well remove the word "directory" from your Windows vocabulary. Directories are called "folders" in Windows 98.
To give you an idea of what to expect from your new operating system, the following table names a few common Windows 3.1 tasks (and some DOS 6 ones, too), tells you the Windows 98 equivalents, and points you to the relevant chapters in the book.
| Task | Windows 3.1/DOS 6 | Windows 98 | Chapter(s) |
| Launch a program | Program Manager | Start menu | |
| Switch programs | Alt+Tab | Taskbar or Alt+Tab | |
| Word processing | Write | WordPad | |
| Create pictures | Paintbrush | Paint | |
| Work with files | File Manager | Windows Explorer | 12-14 |
| Find files | File | Search in File Manager | Start | Find | 13 |
| Undelete a file | UNDELETE (DOS) | Recycle Bin | |
| Repair a disk | SCANDISK (DOS) | ScanDisk | |
| Defragment files | DEFRAG (DOS) | Disk Defragmenter | |
| Compress files | DRVSPACE (DOS) | DriveSpace | |
| Back up files | BACKUP (DOS) | Backup | |
| Control print jobs | Print Manager | Printers folder | |
| Customize Windows | Control Panel group | Control Panel folder | 9-11 |
| Connect computers | INTERLNK (DOS) | Direct Cable Connection | |
| Use accessories | Accessories group | Start | Programs | Accessories | 3 |
| Get help | Help menu in Program | Start | Help | 8 |
| Manager | |||
| Exit Windows | File | Exit in Program Manager | Start | Shut Down | 2 |
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