Agreed, 98 is highly unstable, very easy to crash. Out of XP and 2000, I'd say 2000 has the edge when it comes to stability. XP is nothing like as unstable as 98 of cause, or heavens forbid, ME. But it is less stable then 2000 simply because of the graphical enhancements they've made to the shell. I've almost never had windows 2000 professional crash on me, while using applications like Truespace 4, Blender 3D, Milkshape 3D, and various games like Bridge Commander, SWAT 4, Oblivion and command and conqure, however each of these games have crashed XP Pro.
On another subject, I've managed to get Windows Vista running smoothly and at a reasonable rate. I've changed the themes from windows default back to windows classic. The transparancy effects of Vistas default theme, and unnessassary special effects such as glowing, flashing progress bars, really does take a staggering amount of memory and processing time. It's very pretty and all, but I don't buy an OS because it looks pretty, I buy it so I can run programs and the lastest software.
I've installed DarkBASIC Professional, and the good news is, the compiler does produce programs. Yay!, and I've got a simple:
Print "Hello World!!"
Wait Key
End
Program running just fine. But I've also compiled a graphics program which basically reads a set of data statements, then creates a cube object for each location specified. This program threw up the standard "This application has failed to start because d3ddx9_28.dll was not found. Re-installing the applications may fix this problem."
Now the good news is that there is a 64-bit version of the Direct X 9.0c SDK 2006. I installed this on Windows Vista Beta 2, and the compiled programs run just fine. I tested this with the following code.
set window on
set display mode 640,480,32
autocam off
sync on
sync rate 60
global obj as integer
obj=1
global map as DWORD
Data 1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1
Data 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
Data 1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,0,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,0,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,0,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1
Data 1,0,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,0,1
Data 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
Data 1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1
set window on
set display mode 640,480,32
autocam off
sync on
sync rate 0
global obj as integer
dim map(24,24)
make light 1
color light 1,RGB(255,255,128)
position light 1,4,0,50
position camera 4,-25,100 : point camera 4,0,0
nextlevel()
wait key
end
function restart()
RESTORE
endfunction
function nextlevel()
sync rate 0
obj=1
make object box obj,100,100,1
position object obj,4,0,0
color object obj,rgb(0,0,0)
for x = 0 to 24
for y = 0 to 24
quickexit()
read map(x,y)
next y
next x
for x = 0 to 24
for y = 0 to 24
if map(x,y)=1
obj=obj+1
make object box obj,4,2,4
position object obj,(x*4)-44,(y*4)-48,5
color object obj,rgb(0,255,0)
endif
quickexit()
sync
next y
next x
for x = 0 to 24
for y = 0 to 24
if map(x,y)=2
obj=obj+1
make object box obj,2,4,4
position object obj,(x*4)-44,(y*4)-48,5
color object obj,rgb(0,255,0)
endif
quickexit()
sync
next y
next x
for x = 0 to 24
for y = 0 to 24
if map(x,y)=0
obj=obj+1
make object sphere obj,1.1
position object obj,(x*4)-44,(y*4)-48,5
color object obj,rgb(0,255,0)
endif
quickexit()
sync
next y
next x
endfunction
function ClearLevel()
for x = 0 to 999
delete object x
quickexit()
sync
next x
endfunction
So all is not lost for DarkBASIC Professional. It remains to be seen however, how these newly installed files will affect Vista, but so far I've seen no problems. After the installation of 2006 SDK, I did receive an error message from Vista claiming that the files didn't install correctly, and if I sould use the recommended settings. Cancel this, and you should get trouble free operation.
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