All the legacy hardware from Windows 95 is still supported and forthcoming hardware will be supported through the new Windows Driver Model (WDM). However the operating system has been enhanced to support several new technologies already. Some of the technologies are ones that Windows 95 supports through either the Service Releases or though third party drivers. We are covering all the main technologies that are built into Windows 98 that weren't built into the original Windows 95, but marking new or improved support with the new feature logo.

Intel MMX processors

The MMX processor instructions are actually supplied via the API set from DirectX 5. In this manner MMX support was supplied to Windows 95 users, but because DirectX 5 is built into Windows 98, the MMX support is guaranteed on all Windows 98 systems. This does not mean that Windows 98 requires an MMX processor, but means that any program that uses DirectX and uses a process that can be accelerated via the improved MMX instruction set will benefit from the MMX support. If the same process is accessed on a non-MMX machine then the non-MMX support is used. Again, this does not mean that MMX-specific programs (the few that exist!) will run on non-MMX systems; purely that the same version of DirectX will make use of MMX processes if available.

Multiple monitor support

It has been a long time coming. So long in fact that some third parties have created video cards that support multiple outputs. However Windows 98 now supports multiple monitors throughout the OS. To use this feature you need two video cards and two monitors. Attach both sets, and then boot the system. The main video card acts as the control screen with the Start menu and Taskbar. The second and any additional screens are then supplementary work areas. (If when you boot up Windows 98 the wrong video card has been selected as controller, swap the slots over.)

You can drag windows between screens, move dockable toolbars from one screen to the next and even hang them over the two, though that makes it hard to work. The screens can have different resolutions and so totally different graphics cards can be used - you don't need two the same. This feature has been around on other platforms for years, but the support in Windows 98 means that games companies can use it - Flight Simulator 98 for example can have rear or side views displayed on the second monitor - and that serious users will find they have more space to work. Even larger monitors and Desktops get cluttered. This way you could for example have an HTML editor in one screen and a browser on another for constant previewing, or video work with source files and output on separate screens.

OnNow - advanced power support

Microsoft has worked out that it takes too long to start a PC. The new accelerated BIOSs make some speed improvements as do the improvements to the Windows 98 boot process. However the OnNow feature is the next best thing to a faster boot - it is a Standby mode. Using the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) technology used by new hardware, Windows 98 can actually control the state of the hardware through its drivers. This allows it to power down hard drives, monitors, internal modems, etc so that they don't use much power, but remain in a state that can be recovered from almost instantly. (The Standby mode is a term used deliberately by Microsoft to draw the easy parallel with TVs and VCRs.) Not only will the OS be able to power down after a period of inactivity (determined either by user settings or by the choice of one of three schemes: Always on, Home/Office Desk or Laptop), there are also machines with Sleep buttons on them that can instantly place the PC in Standby mode.

Unlike VCRs though (except perhaps when in Timer Record mode!) the PC will power up if it receives a command. Not only will it start if you move the mouse, tap the keyboard, etc, it will also wake up if the fax modem detects an incoming fax or if it is set to retrieve subscribed WWW pages or e-mail, etc.

The other advantage of the ACPI technology is that it will allow Windows 98 to power down devices that are not used while the rest of the system is, which is especially useful for laptop users as it could improve battery life. See also Power Management

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

USB is an interface that is supported by Windows 95 thanks to a patch. Windows 98 comes with the support built in, allowing PCs with the new technology to access the ports. While the difference in support is hard to evaluate, mainly because of the shortage of USB devices, Microsoft claims that the Windows 95 support is limited, but the Windows 98 support is comprehensive. Technically USB devices can be anything from keyboards and speakers to digital video cameras and scanners. The advantages are that the same interface can be used for any USB device and devices can be added while the PC is powered on, detected by Windows 98 and installed ready for use without a restart. (It is this feature that caused some embarrassment to Bill Gates recently. When demonstrating it publicly the preview version of Windows 98 unceremoniously "blue screened" with a Windows Protection Fault.) USB can support up to 127 devices daisy-chained (PCs tend to come with two USB ports) and have transfer rates of up to 12Mb/sec. See also IEEE 1394 (Firewire)

Digital Versatile Discs (DVD)

Support for DVD has been supplied by third party drivers and software under Windows 95 since it started to appear as a technology. More and more PCs are starting to be shipped with DVD-ROM drives in the UK, but the US has seen the technology made more widely available. Now that DVD movies are officially launched in the UK the same is likely to happen over here. Like USB, Windows 98 promises a more integrated and complete support for the technology. The main advantage of DVD is capacity, with a dual-layered, dual-sided DVD storing up to 17GB as opposed to the CD-ROM limit of 650Mb. DVD-RAM is already in development to allow writable DVDs, but as standards are still evolving, it will be back to relying on third party drivers.

At a recent conference Microsoft did outline a new technology codenamed "Chrome" that will be added which will offer enhanced support for high end DVD PCs:

"At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 98), Microsoft demonstrated a technology preview of advanced Microsoft Windows multimedia technology, code-named "Chrome." Chrome is a future enhancement to the Windows operating system that unlocks a new range of high-performance multimedia content for DVDs, CD-ROM titles, and Web sites. End users with Pentium II 350 MHz-class or better systems with the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) will experience higher fidelity 3D graphics and sophisticated interactivity in multimedia applications. Developers get a simple way to create higher-performing multimedia content using DirectX and the Extensible Markup Language (XML). This document outlines the key benefits of this exciting technology to end users, developers, and hardware manufacturers."

"Today, users often complain about the quality of multimedia content and the time it takes to download multimedia content from the Web. Chrome will offer users with high-performance Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0-based PCs the benefits of richly interactive DVD, CD-ROM, and Web multimedia content. Chrome-based DVD titles will offer enhanced content that supplements and is synchronized with the DVD video. In the case of Web multimedia content, users will experience much higher performance when viewing Chrome-based content, as download times will be significantly shorter and display will be optimized for the underlying Windows-based PC hardware."

Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)

Making more of an impact is AGP, the new graphics slot from Intel that has been around for over a year, but has only recently seen video cards appearing that use it. Technically the new port can pass data twice as fast as PCI slots, but results from all the cards to date have been disappointing (see the video card Buyers' Guide in PC Plus, Issue 140). As with DVD, the drivers for AGP have not been integrated into Windows before, but are with Windows 98.

FAT32

This is not actually support for new hardware, but instead better use of existing hardware. With OSR2 of Windows 95, Microsoft trialled FAT32, the new file system, by supporting it on clean drives but not supplying any utility to allow users to upgrade existing machines (OSR2 was after all only for new PCs). The 16-bit file system that is used by Windows 95 has severe limitations both in terms of the physical size of the hard drive it can support and also in the manner it accesses them.

The 16-bit file system uses different cluster sizes depending on the size of the drive. The cluster size is the smallest portion of the drive that can be used by any one file. Files do not simply occupy the number of bytes that make up the file, but have to use a multiplication of clusters. On large drives the cluster size would be 32Kb, so any file (even a 1Kb temporary Internet file), uses 32Kb of disk space. Similarly a 48Kb file needs two clusters and therefore uses 64Kb of space.

The 32-bit file system, FAT32, changes this and allows all drives to have 4Kb clusters. New in Windows 98 is a utility called Drive Converter which allows users to change FAT16 drives to FAT32 drives on the fly without having to re-format or lose data. Previously only third party applications, like Partition Magic 3, were able to perform this. Converting the file system has three significant effects.

Firstly you can regain literally hundreds of Mbs of previously wasted space made unusable by the larger cluster size. If you want to see exactly how much space you could regain on your own drive, then you can run the FAT32 Conversion Information utility from Microsoft that is included here (click the FAT32 icon, right). It will scan a FAT16 drive and report how much space could be recovered if converted to FAT32.

Secondly it enables the OS to optimise the system for faster application loading. If you don't convert to FAT32 then some of the other Windows 98 improvements won't be noticeable.

Thirdly, the file system also allows PCs access to larger capacity drives. FAT32x, the true name of the file system used, enables FAT32 partitions to exist beyond 1024 cylinders. The 1024 cylinder limit is the cause of the "mystical" 8Gb hard drive limit.  Windows 95 versions 'B' (OSR2) and later and Windows 98 are the only operating systems currently using FAT32x partitions.  The movement to drives that have more than 1024 translated cylinders (i.e. 8Gb and larger) has been the catalyst for this development.

Working in FAT32x partitions is essentially the same as working in FAT32 partitions. However, when attempting to manipulate a FAT32x partition, problems may occur.   Procedures such as copying, imaging, resizing, and moving FAT32x partitions require different methods than those used for FAT32 partitions.

Many new computers have pre-installed FAT32x partitions.  This has created numerous problems for individuals wishing to modify their partitions on their new systems. FAT32x partitions have a different file system flag in the partition table.  Sometimes a FAT32x partition is erroneously created entirely within 1024 cylinders. This can be corrected, in some cases, by using a disk editing utility. See also Demystifying the 8Gb limit

The 32-bit file system is already running into problems though. The choice of a 32-bit file system over a 64-bit one has baffled some people.

FAT32x information courtesy of PowerQuest. Originally written by David Steinberg, Technical Support for The Partition Magician newsletter.  For more information: http://www.powerquest.com

InfraRed Many new PC devices, mostly laptops and handhelds and some printers, are now coming with InfraRed ports. Like your TV remote control this allows information to be transmitted via infrared light. With PCs though these devices can also receive and it means that you have a wireless way to communicate between machines. Paradoxically the Windows 95 support for Ir was made available through a patch that then allows you to communicate using the Direct Cable Connection application that uses a virtual port set up by the patch! No cable is required, though, just the virtual one between the ports.

While the Direct Cable connection works (and can still be used to connect a Windows 98 and Windows 95 machine), it's inelegant and time consuming - one PC needs to be set up as a host and the other as a guest and File Sharing has to be turned on. With Windows 98, the Infrared support is built in from the ground up. The Control Panel has been updated and a new icon appears in My Computer (and in the right mouse button Send To menu). The Infrared Recipient is not an Explorer window, but a transfer application that needs to be started on both PCs. With that running, you simply start the Infrared recipient and then select a file to send it. The files received by your PC in this manner go into a Received files folder which is like any other folder on your PC. If you receive a file from PC in this manner, then by default there will be an audible warning and the Received Files folder will open automatically on the desktop to display the new file. Transfer by Infrared is reasonably fast, around 1Kb/sec in tests, but you must make sure that transfer is not interrupted by the line of sight between the Infrared ports being blocked mid-transfer. If this happens then a different warning will sound - transfer will continue when the two PCs reconnect. See also Infrared in Control Panel

ISDN

This is also an area that had been added to Windows 95 as a patch but now comes with integrated support. The system has a Configuration Wizard, one of the fifteen new troubleshooting Wizards in Windows 98, that guides you through the process of setting up your hardware. Many of the hardware devices use a Wizard system to ease setup. See also Control Panel

IEEE 1394 (Firewire)

USB is considered old hat by certain developers as it doesn't offer the transfer speeds they want. The catchily-titled IEEE 1394 interface (thankfully given the rather cooler nickname of "Firewire") is designed for high bandwidth devices. The 100-400Mb/sec (yup, that's right) transfer is being used to develop video cameras, video recorders, scanners and videodisc players. Like USB you can add devices while the system is running, but in comparison to the 127 USB devices, Firewire can have a maximum of 63 devices connected. The hope is for devices like digital VCRs that could create tape backups of data and would allow editing of video data with video editors (e.g. see DDClip on this month's SuperCD C).

PCMCIA

The PCMCIA enhancements were included in OSR2, but not made available by a patch. The system can now support PC Card32 devices which mean high speed transfers for the likes of video capture or 100Mb/sec networking. It also added support for lower power consumption devices running at 3.3V instead of 5V and for multifunction PCMCIA cards so that integrated modem/LAN cards are possible, which saves on slot usage. See also OnNow, Power Management

Multilink Channel Aggregation

This is a system that allows you to connect two communication devices, such as two modems or two ISDN cards, to the PC to double the potential speed of your connection. It essentially combines available dial-up lines for faster service. It seems unlikely that Internet Services Providers are going to want to support this because it will mean one user tying up multiple modems at the server side, and given that lack of modems is one of the main reasons that connections fail, it seems unlikely that ISPs will want to allow the same user to use two of their lines. Well, not without extra charges, anyway.... It will however be useful for mobile users or people working from home who need to dial into a corporate LAN. As long as the company can support it, you can double your transfer rate using Dial-Up networking to access the company Network over the phone line.

PCI and IDE enhancements

No, not a joke. While PCI has been supported by Windows 95 from the start, OSR2 added in support for PCI docking stations (the part used to expand a laptop into a fully expandable desktop unit by housing certain peripherals - the laptop can then be docked and removed at will). It also added support for PCI interrupt routers.

Individual IDE drives (hard drives and CD-ROM drives) can now be manually set use the DMA access feature which is much faster than PIO (Programmed Input/Output) transfers. DMA compatible devices control the transfer rather than the processor, which therefore reduces CPU usage and speeds up performance when both CPU and CD data transfer are needed at the same time. The option will come turned on by default in OEM versions of Windows 98, because new hardware is being used, but turned off by default in the upgrade version because if DMA access is used on hardware that is not compatible, data loss could occur. You can turn it on manually, however, if you know your drive supports it. The feature is accessed from the System Control Panel. See also Multimedia

Intellimouse

Intellimice are the ones which include a third wheel in the middle of the mouse, between the buttons. This wheel can act as a third button or be mapped as a double click, but you can also roll it to scroll vertically up and down pages on the active application on screen. Not all applications support Intellimouse scrolling - Microsoft Office does and Internet Explorer 4 does. Some third party utilities have been written to expand Intellimouse support to the entire operating system and all applications running under it. Under Windows 95 Intellimouse support was added in by a set of drivers that came with the mouse. This included an icon that was added to your system tray which would open a configuration utility that added in more options than the simple Mouse Control Panel, such as configuring the wheel as third button or operator. In Windows 98, the drivers come as standard so that all you have to do is plug in the mouse and it will be recognised and used. However, the chance to configure the mouse has been lost and the wheel button is now fixed in use. When you click on it an icon appears that denotes you are now in scrolling mode and you can move the mouse up or down to scroll the window. This is just another way of doing what the wheel itself does. To release this mode, you click the wheel button again. However, the support for the wheel has now been improved so that it works in any OS window - before it would only work with HTML pages in IE4, but now the standard Explorer view can also be scrolled. This extends to other programs too so that ones that didn't work before, like Notepad, now do.