Windows Me: The WORST Version of Windows

Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me, was widely panned for being an unstable, buggy mess. Why was it so bad?

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[BrentJohn]

You know an operating system is terrible when you can memorize the entire 25-character license key from installing it so many times.

[Flytrap]

I worked in Tech Support during the ME days. We had an entire floor of software folks working on solutions to keep the thing stable enough for people to use it. I ran it with few issues, but I did breathe a BIG sigh of relief when XP launched. I actually beta-tested XP and liked it so much, even in beta, that I ditched ME.

[rparl]

I used to have the paranoid fantasy that there were two development teams, which alternated producing the releases. One team made good ones and the other team spit out lemons.

[Gravionk]

Windows ME was the bain of my existence as a 13 year old. Dealing with ME and its mountain of issues taught me a great deal of IT skills I'd never needed with 98SE, lmao.

[Barot]

ME did stink on ice. XP was great because it was bug fixed very fast and Microsoft actually paid the beta testers they used rather than use customers as beta testers.

[matthaeussolinvictus]

I had Windows ME as a child, I had fun clicking around and playing with some pre installed games, screensavers, themes etc. My first real games were Project IGI, Max Payne and The Sims.. I have good memories even though Max Payne gave me nightmares haha. But I'm sure the IT savy people of then disliked Windows Me.

[UncertaintyPopsicle]

Windows ME and trying to play aoe2 on the MSN gaming zone in grade school is why I learned how computers work. I probably wouldn’t have the career I have today if it worked without issues. Thanks Billy!!!

[championxxlNL]

Fun fact a lot of blue screens came because developers had to manually clear old data from the ram if they didn't do this the pc would simply run out of resources and crash. Bluescreens were partly Microsoft fault but could also be due to bad software design from third-party apps you were using

[ironic]

Windows 98 will forever be jank but will ALWAYS have a place in my heart as the first OS I used and the start of my interest in computers!

[MastersofCriminology]

I remember ME and I loved it. Never had issues with this version of windows. But really loved the NT platform and with it was move available sooner than it was for personal market.

[gabmandoo]

I'm one of those who have fond memories of Windows ME. Maybe i was one of the lucky ones, but I never considered it to be more buggy than other versions of the Windows that time. So I never regretted to pirating it.

[MageThief]

I have used every OS that Windows "shipped", basically upgrading as soon as they were launched. I have now a high-stress tolerance. 😄

[roflTiMeX]

I wonder why Windows 2000 gets swept under the rug so often, it came out in February of 2000 and was actually pretty good. Also already used NT 5.0 according to Wikipedia.

[tihzho]

I knew an engineer that still uses Windows 95 BETA (!) on an vintage PC. This goes hand in hand with many engineer's websites which look uber 1990's.

[QueenSaffryn]

I distinctly remember trying to run windows me on my own PC back then, and seeing the cursor hop across the monitor like it was a slideshow, that was enough for me to never try it again ><

[Javikazi]

WIndows ME was the main reason I forced myself to understand at least the hardware aspect of a PC. Glad to figure out more RAM helped.

[mrw]

This video brought ME some awful nostalgia, it even teared my eyes bringing back the memories of how I had to summon task manager as soon as the OS loaded, in order to close programs and rubbish that started for no reason at boot, XP was like a bucket of ice in the middle of the Sahara, and I kept it for so long that when I finally stopped using it, I moved to 7

[theFLCLguy]

Windows ME also had a bug that it wouldn't actually delete certain temporary files but would say they did. So at some point your hard drive would get full and cause there system to become unstable.

I had to reformat yearly because of it.

[ShadowGirl-]

I had a good time with ME. Having lived through all the versions, the worst was actually 95. It wasn't uncommon to have to reinstall windows each month because of how messed up it would get.

[modimihir]

I used Me a lot, upgrading from 95 & 98. Never faced issues more than previous versions and actually really enjoyed using it. Never understood why it got so much hate.