ScuzzBlog: Diaries May 2021
Entry 23rd May 2021: Post 1: Evesham Vale - Pentium 550 Windows 98 era.
Evesham Vale - Pentium 550 Windows 98 era.
Regular readers may be little shocked when you see my top three
list of computers, OS, top six games and top three consoles.
Best Computer:
01: HP i7 Win7 computer
02: Evesham Vale P550 Win98 computer
03: Colossus P120 Win95 computer
Best OS:
01: Windows7
02: Windows98
03: Windows95
Best Video Game:
01: World of Warcraft: Lich King
02: Tera: The Exiled Realm of Arborea
03: Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns
04: Bayonetta
05: Hitman: Absolution
06: Final Fantasy VII
Best Gaming Console:
01: PlayStation 2
02: PlayStation - original
03: Playstaion 3
Best Developer:
01: Square Enix
02: Blizzard Entertainment
03: Riot Games
Worst computer related anything:
01: Google
02: Apple
03: Facebook
Best Computer Game Moment:
01: Defeating Bhunivelze final boss Lightning Returns.
02: Discovering there were twenty levels in Manic Miner.
03: Getting my flying mount in TBC.
OK! So what was the point of all that. Simple. There was no ref
to any Amiga in the list of my most memorable computer related
past. So why is that ? I have explained this before, but the
Amiga 1200 was my prime computer from early 1994 to summer 1996.
My Amstrad PCW9512 lasted as my main machine from 1988 to 1993.
The Windows95 computer was my main computer from July 96 - Dec 99.
The Windows98 machine was in service as my main from Jan 2000 all
the way to April 2008. And this very wonderful Win7 machine which
is the best of the best has lasted from Feb 2011 to today. 10 years.
I am unable to fault the Win7 machine. She fell over with a broken
graphics card in 2017 but I fixed her. The Windows 98 machine did
catch on fire in May 2006 but I replaced the motherboard, PSU,
loom and CPU plus hard drives and she gave me another two years
before she was de-commissioned.
In respect of the Amiga, whilst she still works, she hasn't been
my main machine since July 1996. She was in service for just two
and a half years. I have consoles that have had more years.
I believe that MS had real winners with Windows7 and Windows98.
The basic format they used worked very well for me. It is not
perfect by any means, but I was able to adapt and utilise what
they had without much complaint.
The HP i7 has been a most magical computer and continues to serve
me well even though MS no longer supports the OS.
I never did think that any computer would surpass the eight years
provided by the Evesham Vale Windows 98 machine, but the Win 7
computer just goes on and on.
It is strange to reflect on the fact that when I first started
using the Win98 machine I was still using video tape cassettes as
my primary recording media. Further, when I started using the
Win98 machine I was buying and playing new releases for the
PlayStation .. the original version. And yet at the end of the
Win98 era I was playing new games on the PlayStation 3.
The whole era of the Win98 machine was my main period for putting
together my retro collection. My service on line was always via
dial-up modem. In truth it was broadband and the desire to play
online games that forced me away from the Windows98 machine.
Anyhoo... this last month I have been servicing and upgrading
the local network on twenty PCs. YES ! 20 PC style tin boxes. I
have a number of switches/Ethernet hubs stationed in various
locations and all PCs including the Amiga networked to each
other. Sadly last year a couple of the PCs started to play up
and I have taken the time to swap out graphics cards and rebuild
the OS with new hard drives.
The Pentium 550 Evesham Vale had a dodgy ZIP drive that needed
some attention. She still looks immaculate inside even after all
the years. The connectors and drive bays still give me the old
goose bumps when I open up. Tin boxes may not be attractive
but internally they are a wonderful concoction of wires, ribbons
and card slots. I do enjoy my time in tin boxes. Mainly cus they
do not frighten me. There is 'ALWAYS' a way to fix a tin box,
unlike the problematic retro gear that needs more effort.
Say what you like about the tin box, but even the most basic of
PCs from any era can run rings round an Amiga 1200 with graphics,
internet, CD-ROM/DvD and writers, MP3, MP4 and even flash. I do
sometimes have to question why I even bother with the Amiga given
that the tin box just does stuff without any fuss.
Whilst checking over the Win98 machine I came across Aki Ross the
star of the Final Fantasy Spirits Within. Crap film but interesting
computer generated graphics. What I did was take her image and
create a start page for one of my books called ' The Truth is
Believing in Nothing '. Aki became a bit of a Clara on the Win 98
machine.
I also discovered my inbox for Outlook Express and marvelled at
the numbers of mails I had from the various Amiga user groups.
Most of my AMOS mail had yet to be opened. Man was it busy in those
days on the Amiga Groups. Magical times.
The Amiga will always have a very special place in my heart, but
if I was given a challenge today to build a rocket to the moon
and I could only use one computer it would be the Intel based PC
or the ZX81....
Going now. I can't back that ZX81 thing up by the way. Not with
a wobbly 16K expansion pack. I mean duh !!
Evesham Vale - Pentium 550 Windows 98 era.
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