My very first experience of using a computer might have been at my primary school, where the students got the chance to enter their names using the keyboard for the very first time. This must have been Windows 95, which was an operating system with many issues. It was a very exciting time to be using the new technology for the very first time.
The primary school got a computer suite for the very first time. What I can remember is a room full of Windows 98 machines, which we would use to do our school work on. Despite the issues with both Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE, I cannot remember experiencing the issues too much. The only thing I remember is the slow speeds and slow waiting times.
My mum got a home computer for her work, she was even using floppy discs for documents. I remember going on the Windows 95 computer just to go on Microsoft Paint and draw something. I would get in trouble for using the home printer and wasting the ink. We even got a new Windows 98 machine later on, which we had the game preinstalled - Quake II (1997). This was my early first experience of computer gaming and I absolutely loved it!
At first my mother was concerned with me playing Quake II (1997) as the game looked bloody and violent. Yet I was allowed to play the video game, thankfully. I really enjoyed progressing through the various levels of the alien world. As a child I was not very good at the game, but I still really enjoyed the experience.
Since I grew up with Windows 98 SE, I have a strange fondness for the old Windows 9x operating system. The only purpose it would really have for modern times is either playing 90s video games or if there was specific software which only worked on Windows 9x operating systems.
I am thankful with the work in which people under go to keep these old operating systems alive and up to date, but do admit it is very limited. The problems that one can run into with old hardware turns people away. Some old hardware is very expensive today online and there is no guarantee that it is going to work correctly. Old motherboard capacitors can break easily and unless you are good with DIY, they can be a pain to fix.