RE: OT? NT4 op sys - Any Probs

[Scott Havens <SHavens -at- Elcotel -dot- com>]

Hi, all!

I have a couple of observations, mostly based on the fact that I have the
only NT4 computer in my department.  (The rest are Win 95, except for one
other, which is Win 98.  Don't ask...)   :-[

My first comment is that, whatever OS you're using, you should make sure ALL
computers in a given group (such as a business or at least the Tech Comm
Dept.) are running the same one!  I've lost track of the times that someone
from MIS has come along to do a routine upgrade and, seeing my PC, says
something like, "Oh, you're running NT, eh?  Well, I guess we'll have to
skip you for now!"  (Unfortunately, I sometimes end up being skipped, and
therefore incompatible with "the rest of the world," for long periods of
time.)  I've also found that some "standard" software won't work on NT, even
though everyone else can run it with no trouble, and that you frequently
need new drivers to get documents to print from the software that does work.
(I STILL can't print to the department's color printer, even though I
supposedly have the new driver.)

And this leads me to my next comment.  Unless you're an MIS guru, it's just
too d*mn hard to change anything once the system is set up.  I could at
least fumble my way through the necessary procedures to add hardware and
programs under Win 3.1/95, but with Win NT it has become a major ordeal.
Nothing works the way it used to (or so it seems)!

So my advice would be this:  if your current OS is working well, then leave
it alone!  Given my "druthers," I only upgrade when I absolutely have to.
Win NT may be "more stable," but that added stability just isn't worth the
hassles, at least for me.

SRH (whose mental stability sometimes seems inversely proportional to NT's
operational stability)
Tampa Bay, FL