[Shinsa]

There is a MAJOR difference in the way the NT based OSes use resources compared to Win 95/95/Me. The latter OSes resources are limited to the amount of memory available in the original 640k of RAM.

I don't really understand why there is this limit, except it is built in to the older systems. In windows 9x based systems, when you are running low on system resources, you have used up too much of that 640k block of RAM. You can see this happen very quickly by opening as many programs as you can. MS Word is a big resource hog. Also, all those little icons next to the clock in the System Tray use up system resources. If you are having strange problems, like icons all look a like in every folder, or some windows seem to have invisible parts, or a closed window leaves a shadow of itself, that is a sign of low resources.

My experience has been ANYTIME resources have been lower than 70% problems would begin. Lower than 40%, and many programs have sevre display problems, lower than 25%, and the system is so unstable it is useless to try to continue.

After switching to XP, I have NEVER had a problem with resources being low. There is not even a meter to measure it by. I have had 20 word docs open, Photoshop, Powerpoint, IE, downloading files on the internet, Winamp, Nero Burning ROM burning a CD, watching a DVD, ALL AT THE SAME TIME (just to see if I could) and still had no problems other than slow response when switching tasks. Doing about 1/3rd of that on a Win9x system would have caused a crash.