Surprisingly, Win 98 isn't much different from Win 95. It comes with some long-awaited tweaks to the interface, support for new hardware, and several new features for power users. But although some features won't be available until the new OS ships (see the section "Features You'll Have to Wait For"), you don't have to wait for Win 98 to get them all. I'll show you how to beef up Win 95 to make it look and act more like Win 98 -- without the expense and headache of installing the new OS

Looks For all the big things that change in an OS, it is often the little things that can make working with your computer more pleasant -- or miserable. Win 98 adds several subtle user interface (UI) conveniences. The new My Documents folder Win 98 puts on your Desktop, for instance, is a small but nice addition. Win 98 applets use this directory pretty consistently to store your documents. If you change your third-party applications to use that directory (or a subdirectory under it) as well, it will be much easier to back up your critical data. The new Web-oriented UI, most of which you've already seen in Internet Explorer 4.0, will be the source of much love-hate debate. The new browser-like single-click option is less awkward than double-clicking with many pointing devices. If you've become accustomed to double-clicking, you can stay with the classic Win 95 double-click approach. The Web-like interface makes you break some other old Windows habits. Instead of the old click-pause-click trick to rename a file, you now must right-click and select Rename from the menu, or hover over the item with the mouse to select it, and press F2 to rename it. Selecting multiple files is also much trickier with hover-select than with the old Shift+click or Control+click methods. Marquee selection -- where you drag your mouse over a rectangular region that includes the files you want -- works best, and you can still use the Control and Shift keys to lasso multiple files. It's just not very intuitive. Microsoft needs to work on that. The version of IE that ships with Win 98 is a lightly patched version of IE 4.0, equivalent to the recently released Service Pack 1 for IE 4.01 on Win 95. It is probably the best browser out there, especially in its support of advanced technologies like dynamic hypertext markup language (DHTML). But it also has a few maddening quirks that should have been fixed long ago. The space allotted on the status bar for the URL is too small, so it's tough to tell where a link will take you without clicking on it. The Organize Favorites dialog box doesn't make it easy to organize favorites, and you can't use the browser while that dialog box is active. On the bright side, the dialog box uses some cool, stretchable boxes. With IE 4.0 on Win 95 you're stuck with the default dialog size, but on Win 98 you can enlarge the dialog box to see and drag more of your shortcuts. Taskbar and Toolbars The taskbar, one of Win 95's smarter innovations, is even better in IE 4.0 and Win 98. Microsoft has hewn the new, improved version closely to the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" school of thought. There's been no mind-bending, radical overhaul, but rather the addition of significant and useful enhancements. For example, you'll find the new Web-savvy features helpful (though new users may think they complicate matters). You'll find the Favorites folder on the Start menu. Under the Find folder, a "Find ... On the Internet" choice whisks you to Microsoft's search site. The Start menu additions are notable, but the taskbar itself is where the action is. Microsoft finally heeded the cries of Win 95 users who crave the ability to drag-and-drop document, application, and folder shortcuts directly onto the taskbar, the way they can with the Office 97 Shortcut bar. In fact, Office 97 users may find themselves tossing the Office 97 Shortcut bar in favor of the pumped-up taskbar. You can define toolbar sets using the taskbar, just as you can with the Office 97 Shortcut bar. Office's toolbars are essentially limited to shortcuts, but toolbars defined by the taskbar can contain anything Windows handles: shortcuts, URLs, folders, applications, disks, network connections -- the works. For example, a predefined IE 4.0 toolbar provides buttons that launch Outlook Express, IE 4.0, and the WebCast channels screen. A fourth Desktop button minimizes all open windows, giving you a clear view of the Active Desktop content. To create a new toolbar, right-click on the taskbar, select Toolbars, then choose New Toolbar. A dialog box appears, asking you to "Choose a folder or type an Internet address." Alternatively, you can create a toolbar set by dragging and dropping any folder onto the taskbar. Dragging individual shortcuts or applications to the taskbar generates entries within an existing toolbar set. Each toolbar set is movable and resizable. A right-click on any toolbar entry pops up a context-sensitive menu. For instance, right-clicking on a taskbar folder icon reveals the same menu you'd get by right-clicking on any Desktop folder icon. In addition, a new button on the taskbar addresses a complaint many Windows users voiced: Open apps and folders hide the Desktop. The new Instant Desktop button on the taskbar minimizes all open windows. Click it again to restore everything. If you're an advanced user, you'll love launching URLs and other applications via the taskbar's "address bar," the Win 98 combination Run command dialog, DOS prompt, and URL window.

Interface

The most striking thing about Windows 98 is how similar it is to Windows 95. "Windows 98 is basically Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 4.0," said Mike DaLuz. Windows 98 does not slap a revolutionary new look on the screen. Most testers mentioned how much it looked and worked like Windows 95, not how different it was -- an important reason why they were so comfortable with this new operating system's interface. More than two-thirds rated it as somewhat easy, easy, or very easy to operate. The most common praise for the interface, oddly enough, dealt with its smallest changes. "I enjoyed the one-click process," said Steve Hill of Escondido, California, alluding to Windows 98's capability to launch programs with a single click. And like many new interface elements, this single click is something users can turn off -- a feature testers appreciated, since even tiny changes can interrupt long-time Windows habits. But Windows 98 holds -- and hides -- other interface changes. Many are minor, such as additions to the Start menu and the new links on the Taskbar for launching programs. Others are important, like the Taskbar area for addressing Web pages.