98lite - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

98lite is a utility for Windows 98

Windows 98

Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...

and Windows Me

Windows Me

Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....

written by Shane Brooks without Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

. Components from Windows along with several operating system components that require IE to be present. 98lite was one of the first programs to provide a method for removing Internet Explorer. It was written in response to Microsoft's claim, in antitrust proceedings

United States v. Microsoft

United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...

, that IE is integrated into Windows and cannot be removed without breaking other features.

History

98lite was created by Shane Brooks in the second half on 1998 just after the original release of Windows 98

Windows 98

. The idea simply came out of necessity, at the time Brooks had a slower laptop

Laptop

A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

computer that ran the Windows 95

Windows 95

Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...

operating system fine but Windows 98 was simply too slow. Brooks liked the stability Windows 98 offered as well as some of the new features but had no need for the Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

browser.
The original 98lite was a simple DOS based installer that ran before the Windows 98 installation, this installer made modifications to a fresh installation of Windows preventing the installation of Internet Explorer and the Active Desktop. Installation of the first release of 98lite required the user to extract certain files from a Windows 95 disk as 98lite uses the Windows 95 shell. A second program called Shell Swap swapped the Explorer shell with the Windows 95 Explorer, which does not contain the web features of Me's and 98's Explorer and is therefore considerably faster and more lightweight, this was designed for existing installations of Windows 98 where the original 98lite was designed for a new installation of Windows. A third program converted "required" components into addable and removable options. With version 2.0 of 98lite, the three programs were merged and combined into a single, easy-to-use program. The IE remover was combined with the components converter, making IE uninstallable and reinstallable with the Add/Remove Programs control panel applet as with the other components, the user could also choose the Windows 95 shell and keep Internet Explorer installed. The user now had three installation options, the "sleek" option allowed the user to install 98lite with the Windows 95 shell like in the original release or the user could choose "chubby" which used the Windows 98 shell with some Active Desktop features disabled. The final option was "overweight," the overweight option installed 98lite with the Windows 98 shell and nothing disabled but Internet Explorer still removed. Version 3.0 added support for Windows 98 Second Edition, an upgraded version of Windows 98 with Internet Explorer 5.0 which made 98lite 1.0 through 2.0 obsolete. The current 4.x line has many improvements, including bugfixes and support for Windows Me

Windows Me

. 98lite exists in Pro and Enterprise flavors, and there exists software superior to 98lite called 98EOS. Here are listed all flavors of 98lite-related software.
98lite was presented to the United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

as evidence that Microsoft was monopolizing the browser market.
Following the release of Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

, 2000-XPLite

XPLite

2000-XPLite is a computer program produced by Shane Brooks based on 98lite which removes components of the Windows 98/Me operating systems that are not intended to be removable...

was released as a way of removing unwanted components including the Internet Explorer browser from Windows 2000

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...

and Windows XP. 2000-XPLite does not use the text interface of a previous 98lite.

Alternatives to 98lite

Revenge of Mozilla is another, free, application that removes Internet Explorer from Windows 98 and restores the Windows 95 explorer.exe. There are two versions of this, one for the original Windows 98 release, and another for Win98 SE; there is no version for Windows Me. This is no longer supported, and not being updated.

There is also a company spun off from Lite-PC that produces Windows 98 and Me installations which are small enough to easily fit on embedded microchips; as small as 8MB, using 98EOS. There are also many free alternatives to this, such as Mindows and Nano98, which can provide either smaller file sizes, or more broad functionality.

Compatibility

Removing Windows components can adversely affect software which assumes they are present. Notably, installing any version of DirectX under 98lited Windows requires at least temporary presence of PC Health. Otherwise DirectX refuses to install, finishing installation attempt with error message "DirectX did not copy a required file".

Windows NT component removal

With the success of 98lite, Shane Brooks decided to make a similar functionality with 2000-XPLite

XPLite

2000-XPLite is a computer program produced by Shane Brooks based on 98lite which removes components of the Windows 98/Me operating systems that are not intended to be removable...

. It can remove similar "mandatory" components from Windows 2000

Windows 2000

and Windows XP

Windows XP

. Unlike 98lite, 2000-XPlite will not install Windows without the components. Also unlike 98lite, alternatives to 2000-XPLite already exist, such as NLite

NLite

nLite and vLite are freeware applications which create customized installation CDs or DVDs for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. nLite lets users customize and remove components from their Windows installation disc thus creating a custom version, this is...

. NLite prevents components from being installed rather than removing them from an already-installed system. The Windows NT system is also not as 'shrinkable' as the 9x base; with few NT5+ minimization projects falling below 100MB; compared to the slightly more than 5MB (or less than UPX'ed 5MB) of Nano98.

External links

LitePC - Home of 98lite and 2000-XPlite
Installing DirectX under 98lite - DirectX installation requirements under 98lited Windows
GUI Gallery - Screenshots of 98lite on Windows 98 and Windows Me available
nLite - Removal of Windows 2000, XP, and 2003
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...

components at install
Vorck.com - Manual removal of Windows 2000 components at install
Revenge of Mozilla - Remove IE in original 98 and 98SE. No longer supported or maintained.
Revenge of Mozilla DELUXE - Deluxe version for 98SE only, different than above as this copy does not need a Windows 95 CD to install.

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