Windows Me. The operating system that everyone just loves to hate. Yes, today we’re going to be
talking all about the version of Windows that many consider to be the worst of all time. It
was released only one year after Windows 2000, and was the very last version of Windows to be built
on top of MS-DOS, before Microsoft completely moved on from the 9x kernel with the release of
Windows XP in 2001. This also makes Windows Me one of the shortest-lived releases of Windows EVER,
as it took only a year for it to be superseded. But despite its reputation,
it did bring some welcomed improvements to Windows. It incorporated a lot of the visual
elements introduced with Windows 2000. And even introduced new features like System Restore,
something that is still included with modern versions of Windows today. It
had high hopes of being a viable successor to its predecessor, Windows 98 Second Edition.
But due to compatibility and stability issues at launch, many consumers ended up sticking with
Windows 98, or even upgrading to Windows 2000 instead. Over the years it's been the subject
of endless criticism, garnering it the name “Mistake Edition”, and is widely considered
to be one of Microsoft’s biggest failures. But what exactly earned it this reputation? What
went wrong with Windows Me? In today’s video, we’re going to take a look at the development
process behind the infamous operating system. I’ll be taking you through 4 development builds,
each one compiled at a different stage in the development process. Let’s get started!
We don’t have to go very far back in time to discover the origins of Windows Me,
as its development began just over a year before its final release. In fact, the operating system
was initially not going to even exist. In 1998, Bill Gates announced that Windows 98 was going
to be the last release of Windows built on top of MS-DOS. Microsoft had already been using the NT
kernel for their business line of operating systems for years, and wanted to bring that
technology over to the consumer side of things. But the company later reversed this decision,
by releasing Windows 98 Second Edition in 1999. Although this isn’t really considered an entirely
new version of Windows, but more a major set of updates for Windows 98. But that same year,
Microsoft announced that they would be creating one more release of Windows based
on the 9x kernel. And it was eventually given the codename “Windows Millenium”. Now Microsoft
had a lot going on around this time. Windows Neptune and Odyssey were also being worked on,
both intended to be the next major releases of Windows. Odyssey was planned to supersede
Windows 2000, and Neptune was slated to be the first consumer release of Windows based
on NT. Both of these projects would eventually be merged to create Whistler, which I talk about in
my Windows XP Development History video. But it's important to mention Neptune, because
the developers of Windows Millenium initially wanted to incorporate some of its features. And
these efforts can be seen in some of the early development builds. So let’s talk about them.
We’re going to start off with the earliest known build of Windows Me,
2332.2, which is a Pre-Beta build, compiled on July 13th 1999. This was only 2 months
after the release of Windows 98 Second Edition. But we can see in the initial setup that most
of the branding has been changed to say “Windows Millenium”, the codename for the operating system.
This is one of the few releases of Windows whose final release name is the same as its codename,
at least close enough. Even though it was released as Windows Me, the “Me” was an
acronym that stood for “Millenium Edition” as seen in the final release’s setup screen.
And yes, Microsoft intended for the "Me" in Windows Me
to be pronounced just like the word: Me.
As evident in their adverting and marketing campaigns from that time.
The design of the setup largely resembles Windows 98,
even in the final release, and as such, we won’t see many other changes here. After
the first phase of setup finishes, we’ll be presented with the new boot screen,
identifying the OS as a Developer Release of Windows Millenium.
Upon logging in, you’ll see the build string at the bottom right, and the
new icons from Windows 2000 which have already been implemented.
And this was one of the major visual changes made in Windows Me.
Taking a lot of the Windows 2000 visual elements and
bringing them over to the consumer side of things.
There are also some branding changes made to certain about boxes,
but the system still identifies itself as Windows 98 in some places. But visual changes
were not the ONLY changes. As I mentioned earlier, there are actually a few builds
of Millenium that contain some files from Windows Neptune. And this is one of them.
However it only contains some system files, not any functional features like the Activity Centers.
Let’s move on to Build 2348, another Pre-Beta build compiled about a month after 2332.2. This
build contains some new features, but we won’t see them until after the OS has been installed,
as the setup screens have remained unchanged. The boot screen also still identifies the build as a
developer release. 2 major features introduced in this build are System Restore and System
File Protection. Both of which can be enabled by modifying keys in the Windows Registry. System
Restore allows users to revert their system back to a previous point in time in the event of any
problems. It would become a signature feature of Windows Me. The files for this feature are
located in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE, but running the executable just results in a “PCHealth Error”.
Interestingly enough, there’s an additional “Survey” button on error messages that doesn’t do
anything. Also included in this folder is a ReadMe document. It makes reference to batch files stored
on a network share, presumably on an internal Microsoft network. The 2 other executables don’t
launch system restore either, as the feature is non functional in this build. A Beta 1 Build,
2394, contains the first fully working implementation of System Restore. We’ve also got
System File Protection. This is another extremely useful feature that is easily forgotten about, as
it runs in the background without any user input. If any critical system files are ever removed from
the system, Windows can now restore them using a cached copy. The feature was also seen in Windows
XP and 2000 as Windows File Protection. Now that system restore error made reference to
a program called PCHealth, which is working in this build. It appears to be a predecessor of the
modern day Windows Troubleshooting tool. You can specify a problem, and the program would provide
a link to the necessary troubleshooter, which is contained in the Help application. It asks you for
a more specific description of the problem you’re having, and gives you tips on how to fix it. And
if that doesn’t resolve the problem, the last step allows you to get help from a “support engineer”
who would look over the info you submitted and send you an email with info on a possible fix.
It reminds me of the “Remote Assistance” feature that we would see in XP, just through email with
a Microsoft representative. But we’re not done yet. Because there is another feature seen in
this build that would not be seen in a final release of Windows. The Activity Centers. Yes,
those Activity Centers, the ones from Microsoft Neptune. You’re able to get access to them in
this build, similar to how you do so in Neptune 5111. However you have to add a DWORD value to a
registry key first before running a REGSVR32 command. The files are stored in the same
directory, C:\WINDOWS\START. And the UI has a bit of a different design, along with Windows
MIllenium branding. But this branding was also seen in the Neptune version of the Activity
Centers, which indicates that certain components could have been shared between the development
teams. And keep in mind, this build was compiled about 4 months before Neptune Build 5111. So we
can assume that Neptune was in development during this time. The interface is not fully functional
though as many of the links are broken or nonexistent. Eventually, the Activity Centers were
dropped as Microsoft shifted their focus for both the Millenium and Neptune projects. Neptune was
merged with Odyssey to form the Whistler project sometime later on. And it was decided that Windows
Me would serve more as an intermediary release, by simply improving upon Windows 98. Instead
of drastically changing the user interface with something like the Activity Centers.
Let’s jump ahead to January of 2000, when Windows Millenium Build 2452 was compiled.
This is a Beta 2 build, which introduces some more visual modifications. It also
changes the name of the folder where setup files are stored on the CD from “Win9x” to
“WinMe”. While the initial portion of setup looks exactly the same, it does update the
text blurbs to make mention of some of the new features, including Windows Movie Maker.
The second phase gets a new background that would not be seen in the final release. The boot screen
retains the same design, but loses the “Developer Release” branding, making for a more minimal look.
There has also been a change in WinVer, as the system now identifies itself as simply
“Windows” but other about boxes and the system properties panel retain the Millenium branding.
But there is some branding that still says Windows 98, like in the “Welcome” program,
which has remained unchanged. Although it is not set to start automatically at login. The
Survey button on error messages is still here as well, but actually works now. It brings up a
feedback panel when clicked. Here, the user can submit feedback to the developers if the error
message is too vague or maybe not necessary. This is similar to the “Comments?” Button
seen in Neptune and Whistler builds. Opening up the start menu and going into the games
folder reveals the inclusion of the Internet Games, which would be formally introduced in
Windows Me. System Restore also gets a new design, looking much closer to the final implementation.
This build also contains an early version of Windows Movie Maker, specifically Build
1200. There aren’t any included transitions or effects and there definitely are some bugs.
But Movie Maker, along with the new version of Windows Media Player, and the Internet Games,
helped shape Windows Me as a digital media focused release of the operating system.
Now, we've got one more one more build to take a look at.
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Our last build to discuss in this video is 2525.6. This is the official Release Candidate 1 build
that was compiled in May of 2000. By this time, most visual elements and interfaces have been
finalized, as we’re only a couple of months away from the release to manufacturing. We
can first see this in the setup process, where the system now identifies itself as “Windows
Millenium Edition”. All of the artwork and text blurbs during setup has been completed as well.
The final boot screen is present, along with the second phase setup design. The largest change by
far is the new welcome video that is seen upon first login. It’s not the same as the one in the
final release. But once it’s finished it will take you to an interactive media application,
where you can learn more about some of Windows Me’s features. And since this is the RC1 build,
the new branding has taken effect systemwide, and the OS is looking rather complete.
The final build of Windows Me, Build 3000 was released to manufacturing in June of
2000, and to general availability 3 months later. But was it really the worst operating
system of all time like many have said? Like I showcased in the development builds, Windows
Me introduced many useful features that seem to have been forgotten about. Like System Restore
and System File Protection. And even though they may not be the most visible and exciting things,
they serve as extremely useful under the hood improvements. On the more visible side,
Windows Me introduced the Internet Games, a new version of Media Player, and brought Windows Movie
Maker to Windows for the first time. And keep in mind, all of these features were implemented in
just about a year. And I think that on its own is an impressive achievement. But it can be argued
that this short development cycle is what set Windows Me up for failure. There were reported
compatibility issues with drivers around the time Windows Me launched. And it's logical to say that
more time would have allowed these issues to be worked out. However this requires cooperation
between Microsoft and hardware vendors. One of the other problems users had with Windows Me was
its removal of Real Mode DOS. This got rid of the “Restart in MS-DOS” mode option from the shutdown
menu. But there was a reason for this. Removing Real DOS Mode sped up the system’s boot time,
by allowing the OS to bypass the processing of certain DOS files like CONFIG.SYS during
bootup. Which was great! The downside was, you lost the ability to restart into MS-DOS
mode. So if you relied heavily on DOS based programs, or played a lot of DOS games,
this wasn’t so great. Now you could run these programs by using the DOS prompt within Windows,
but it wasn’t exactly the same experience. But there is a case for why Microsoft did this,
beyond just speeding up boot times. I mean think about it. Windows XP didn’t have a Real DOS Mode
either. It was impossible since it was NT based. But we all got used to it. Sure, there were
growing pains, no doubt. But NT was the future of Windows, and I think the removal of Real Mode DOS
gave everyone a little push forward. It can be compared to Apple removing the 3.5 inch floppy
disk drive from the iMac G3. If you used a lot of floppy disks, it sucked. But it helped to move the
industry forward. Because CDs were the future. And eventually, other computer manufacturers
did the same. Look, I’m not trying to make a “it took courage” argument, but I think this gives
a long-term view as to why Microsoft did this. Obviously we can’t know for sure though. Windows
Me absolutely had its problems. And it's easy to see why many users just stuck with 98 SE or even
chose to upgrade to 2000 instead. Though I think it's fair to say that calling it the “worst OS of
all time” is a bit of an exaggeration. But I want to hear what you think. What was your experience
with Windows Me like? Be sure to leave a comment down below. That’s gonna wrap it up for today’s
video! I hope you enjoyed this one, and if you did, be sure to give it a like and get subscribed.
And as always, I want to thank you all so much for watching and I will see you in the next video.