First of all, Microsoft included DirectX 7. They would not have done so if their newest OS wasn´t meant to run games as well.
Second, Windows 9x crashes far too often. I´m still waiting for W2k to crash. As you guess, it never did.
Third, every good game runs flawlessly under Win2000. The games that won´t were never worth playing anyway.
Fourth, games run faster under Win2k than they did using Win9x (about 20% faster on my system).
Fifth, Windows 2000 has the best of all software DVD players built right into the OS. The best in playback quality, that is. Playing Matrix with WinDVD or PowerDVD is a pain in the ass because it just hangs on heavy duty action scenes. DVDplay works like a charm. (OK, so this is not gaming related but I had to write it anyway )

Why serious gamers shouldn't...yet...

SBLive drivers are crap.

Otherwise, I agree with everything you say.

:}

Is the DVD software on the Win 2000 CD? When I put a DVD in the drive it says I don't have any software installed. I guess I'll have to go look on that Win 2K cd tonight. I just always boot into Win 98 to play DVD's. Any help would be appreciated.

The best thing to do to watch the matrix in Win2000 is to install the latest PowerDvd, then install PCFriendly off the matrix dvd. Then watch the movie through PCFriendly(which will use the PowerDVD decoder software) and it works great, with no slow down in the action scences. PCFriendly crashes occasionally but at least the movie works fine.

Dragon-Lord :
did you try the DELL Liveware drivers?

ledzeppel :
go to the \WINNT\SYSTEM32 subdirectory and look for dvdplay.exe

------------------
Celeron 300A @ 450
256 MB SD-RAM
40 GB HD
SB-Live! Value
3Com 905 TX
AVM Fritz! Classic
GeForce 256 DDR (Annihilator Pro)
Adaptec 2940 SCSI-2
Pioneer DVD-303 SCSI

Yes, some time ago, but I assume that since their source was creative to begin with, there seemed little point in keeping them.

BTW, I just pulled the SBLive! (with Digital I/O card) from my system and replaced it with a CL Blaster 16, and my machine has been working flawlessly ever since. I made the assumption that this card had been around long enough that NT/SMP issues in the drivers were resolved some time ago. Seems as though I was correct.

I'll try the SBLive! again when the new drivers come out *and* a hundred people on this group say they rock... :}

:}

A creative source is always something good, but if the source is Creative you´re doomed. Star Trek Armada for example is unplayable, sound stutters like crazy. Reducing the acceleration level for my soundcard won´t fix the problem either. I guess Armada is what I described in the third paragraph "never worth playing anyway".

Armada runs flawless on my comp =).. runs fast at 1024x768. I have no probs with my old SB AWE32.. still works fine.. i'm not gonna upgrade that ever!!!..

i have a sblive card and the latest drivers work like charm on my system, playing counter-strike and rogue spear, it's sounds sooo awesome. especially compared to my roommates awe64 card. I haven't had any problems with the sound or anything. Overall i think win2k is a better gaming system then win98

Ahhahahhahahhaha!

(this post has no relevance)