Upgrading Win for .NET (Win98/Off97SR2)

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I’m currently at Win98SE and Office97SR2.
I understand that I can’t install VB.NET until I get to Win2000 or later.
I noted Gwenda’s problems with installing WinXP after installing .NET (required a reformat?)

If any of you were doing it all over again,and you were migrating from Win98/Off97, to what or to what combination would you upgrade?
1) Win2000?
2) WinXP?
3) Win2003?
4) other

a) Office 2000?
Office XP?
c) Office 2003?
d) other

I’m particularly worried about the business of having to re-obtain a key to re-install. I’ve gotten into the habit of re-installing Windows et al every nine or twelve months ago, as the easiest way of cleaning out my hard drive and registry. I had a beta-XP that was a pain, requiring a ‘phone call if I wanted to re-install.

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Unless you need the features of a server, I would recommend WinXP – otherwise Win2003 (depending on edition: Web, Enterprise, Small Business Server, etc). You can get away with using Win2000 for .NET, but I would trust WinXP to be much more stable with .NET functionality since it was built with that in mind.

I’ve never had any problems with product activation via the internet. Keep in mind that the activation process includes information about your system’s hardware. Microsoft only counts the activation against your limit if you’re using a different computer (as determined by some unknown hardware algorithm developed by Microsoft). Therefore you can activate a copy of WinXP as many times as you wish as long as it’s on the same system.

I would also suggest Office 2003 to have the best chance to support Visual Studio Tools for Office (assuming that’s still in the works); plus, Office 2003 has some nice features that are worth the upgrade, in my opinion.

By the way, if you think you would qualify to be a Microsoft Partner (i.e. if you’re a consultant that deals with Microsoft products – aren’t we all!), you could take advantage of the Microsoft ActionPack Subscription. For $200 per year ($300 for the first year), you will receive over $10,000 of licensed software from Microsoft (Server 2003, 10 licenses for WinXP, 10 licenses for Office 2003, SQL Server 2000, Communications Server 2003, CRM 1.2, etc…). You get quarterly updates of the latest and greatest software. The only thing you don’t get is MSDN/Development software (like Visual Studio). I’ve been on this for over a year and it makes my life MUCH easier!

Hope this helps!

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This partner program is really interesting. The lengthy Program Guide (PDF) says:[indent]

---

Consider joining the program if:

• Your company provides services, develops solutions, and/or distributes software based on Microsoft technologies. Services may include, but are not limited to, consulting, implementation, training, custom application development, software migration, application architecture design, systems integration, e-commerce solution development, Web and application hosting, and/or maintenance and support. Solutions may include both hardware and software solutions.[/list]
  

  ---

  [/indent]That does seem to include quite a lot of people. And at the basic “Registered Member” level there are no fees to join. They do ask some very sensitive questions about your business, which might be too intrusive for some people. Hmmm.

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The registered member level doesn’t provide software/hardware. It only gives you access to resources that aren’t “publicly” available. I’m a registered member, but since I registered my personal consulting business, I don’t qualify for the rest of the goodies because I have less than 5 employees.

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The registered member level doesn’t provide software/hardware. It only gives you access to resources that aren’t “publicly” available. I’m a registered member, but since I registered my personal consulting business, I don’t qualify for the rest of the goodies because I have less than 5 employees.

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This partner program is really interesting. The lengthy Program Guide (PDF) says:[indent]

---

Consider joining the program if:

• Your company provides services, develops solutions, and/or distributes software based on Microsoft technologies. Services may include, but are not limited to, consulting, implementation, training, custom application development, software migration, application architecture design, systems integration, e-commerce solution development, Web and application hosting, and/or maintenance and support. Solutions may include both hardware and software solutions.[/list]
  

  ---

  [/indent]That does seem to include quite a lot of people. And at the basic “Registered Member” level there are no fees to join. They do ask some very sensitive questions about your business, which might be too intrusive for some people. Hmmm.

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Thanks, Mark, for this response. Not 2000, but 2003 or Xp. It sounds as if you are recommending 2003.

I have been in the habit of rebuilding the software installation on my machine every year or so; that’s what scared me out of the Xp registration scheme. I bought twin 80G drives last month, so there should be little hardware change from now on.

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Microsoft has always been very quiet about the details of the hardware scheme checking. I think changing video cards, adding hard drives, adding memory, etc. would be fine. Something like switching a Motherboard or CPU could possibly trigger the change. Even if the automatic registration process is “rejected” (due to hardware changes), you can always call and explain the situation. I’ve never heard of anyone being turned down after explaining their case to MS.

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Microsoft has always been very quiet about the details of the hardware scheme checking. I think changing video cards, adding hard drives, adding memory, etc. would be fine. Something like switching a Motherboard or CPU could possibly trigger the change. Even if the automatic registration process is “rejected” (due to hardware changes), you can always call and explain the situation. I’ve never heard of anyone being turned down after explaining their case to MS.

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Thanks, Mark, for this response. Not 2000, but 2003 or Xp. It sounds as if you are recommending 2003.

I have been in the habit of rebuilding the software installation on my machine every year or so; that’s what scared me out of the Xp registration scheme. I bought twin 80G drives last month, so there should be little hardware change from now on.

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> , if you think you would qualify to be a Microsoft Partner

The whole scheme baulked for me at “Microsoft Certified Professional ID (If applicable)” I don’t have a MCP Id, so It’s not applicable, right? But I can’t get past this step.

I was a tad disappointed that the basic form can’t remember my street address from one screen to another. I know that they don’t save my data until the form is complete, but it is aggravating to perform boring and repetitive tasks that the computer should be doing for me.

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I’m not a MCP (yet). I was able to complete the registration process without the MCP ID… I wonder if they’ve changed the “rules” since I joined??

You will, however, need a Microsoft Passport.

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I’m not a MCP (yet). I was able to complete the registration process without the MCP ID… I wonder if they’ve changed the “rules” since I joined??

You will, however, need a Microsoft Passport.

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Unless you need the features of a server, I would recommend WinXP – otherwise Win2003 (depending on edition: Web, Enterprise, Small Business Server, etc). You can get away with using Win2000 for .NET, but I would trust WinXP to be much more stable with .NET functionality since it was built with that in mind.

I’ve never had any problems with product activation via the internet. Keep in mind that the activation process includes information about your system’s hardware. Microsoft only counts the activation against your limit if you’re using a different computer (as determined by some unknown hardware algorithm developed by Microsoft). Therefore you can activate a copy of WinXP as many times as you wish as long as it’s on the same system.

I would also suggest Office 2003 to have the best chance to support Visual Studio Tools for Office (assuming that’s still in the works); plus, Office 2003 has some nice features that are worth the upgrade, in my opinion.

By the way, if you think you would qualify to be a Microsoft Partner (i.e. if you’re a consultant that deals with Microsoft products – aren’t we all!), you could take advantage of the Microsoft ActionPack Subscription. For $200 per year ($300 for the first year), you will receive over $10,000 of licensed software from Microsoft (Server 2003, 10 licenses for WinXP, 10 licenses for Office 2003, SQL Server 2000, Communications Server 2003, CRM 1.2, etc…). You get quarterly updates of the latest and greatest software. The only thing you don’t get is MSDN/Development software (like Visual Studio). I’ve been on this for over a year and it makes my life MUCH easier!

Hope this helps!

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Make sure that your machine is up to .Net. It’s a serious resource hog- their minimum requirement machine is probably not enough for serious applications.

We have big applications where I work. The machines seemed OK until the size of the applications grew. You could have learnt another languages while waiting for complies.

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> You could have learnt another languages while waiting for complies.

I always wondered why they invented C#.

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> You could have learnt another languages while waiting for complies.

I always wondered why they invented C#.

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I use .NET on a Pentium II 400, which is below the recommended minimum.
But I do have 768MB memory.

Only untolerable slowdown is when upgrading a VB 6 project to .NET, if it uses Office libraries. Takes longer than forever to convert.
Using VSTO is much faster as the hooks to Office are already built-in.

However, until Office is fully .NET-ized, IMHO, VSTO is not so useful as one cannot yet write Office macros with .Net languages.

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> Make sure that your machine is up to .Net. It’s a serious resource hog-

733MHz, 320MB, 80GB enough for ya? I had been considering retiring this box and using it solely as a jukebox, buying a new machine, but I’d ratehr not.

OTOH given the comments about regiustration of Windows and installation of .NET as the last step, if I am to upgrade the hardware at all, I should do it now.

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> Make sure that your machine is up to .Net. It’s a serious resource hog-

733MHz, 320MB, 80GB enough for ya? I had been considering retiring this box and using it solely as a jukebox, buying a new machine, but I’d ratehr not.

OTOH given the comments about regiustration of Windows and installation of .NET as the last step, if I am to upgrade the hardware at all, I should do it now.

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Hah! You could learn another language while Visual Studio.Net is *installing*!

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Hah! You could learn another language while Visual Studio.Net is *installing*!

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Make sure that your machine is up to .Net. It’s a serious resource hog- their minimum requirement machine is probably not enough for serious applications.

We have big applications where I work. The machines seemed OK until the size of the applications grew. You could have learnt another languages while waiting for complies.

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I put .NET on then tried to upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional. It was a nightmare – i think i cried a lot .I would recommend Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003 with Office XP or 2003 and then .NET. Are you going to format your harddrive or try upgrading? I had Office 2003 installed but now I’m back using Office XP because that’s my current customer’s platform.

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>I put .NET on then tried to upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional. It was a nightmare

OK. Install .NET after the dust has settled. Got that.

> I would recommend Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003 with Office XP or 2003

… and my tendency is towards 2003 products at this stage …

> Are you going to format your harddrive or try upgrading?

Last month I upgraded to twin 80G drives (one is main, one is a slide-in backup on rails), and my program of transcribing my CDs onto the drive is chewing up space as we squeak. (I conced too that it was a mistake going to the Goon Show site.)

When I make this move, I’ll almost certainly re-format the main drive and do a squeaky-clean install by the book – Win, Office, Lotus, Corel, then .NET and run with that for a week or two before adding all the cute relatives that make my life easier. My daily boot sequence includes a PKZIPped copy of System.Dat and User.Dat, so it’s relatively easy to undo registry messes.

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>I put .NET on then tried to upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional. It was a nightmare

OK. Install .NET after the dust has settled. Got that.

> I would recommend Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003 with Office XP or 2003

… and my tendency is towards 2003 products at this stage …

> Are you going to format your harddrive or try upgrading?

Last month I upgraded to twin 80G drives (one is main, one is a slide-in backup on rails), and my program of transcribing my CDs onto the drive is chewing up space as we squeak. (I conced too that it was a mistake going to the Goon Show site.)

When I make this move, I’ll almost certainly re-format the main drive and do a squeaky-clean install by the book – Win, Office, Lotus, Corel, then .NET and run with that for a week or two before adding all the cute relatives that make my life easier. My daily boot sequence includes a PKZIPped copy of System.Dat and User.Dat, so it’s relatively easy to undo registry messes.

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