98lite
Encyclopedia : 9 : 98 : 98L : 98lite
98lite is a utility made by Shane Brooks in order to remove components from Windows 98 and Windows Me which Microsoft claims are integrated and non-removable. Brooks first made a method of removing Internet Explorer in response to the claim that IE is non-removable and integrated into Windows in the antitrust case.
History
Shane Brooks believes that Windows 98 has many advantages to its predecessor, Windows 95, in many ways besides just in its appearance. However, he does not believe that there is justification for requiring Internet Explorer to be installed at all times. He discovered a way of removing IE manually and presented it to the United States Department of Justice as evidence that Microsoft was monopolizing the browser market. Later, he made a series of programs collectively called 98lite. Its main selling point was the ability of one of its programs to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 98. A second program swapped the Explorer shell with the Windows 95 Explorer, which does not contain the web features of 98's Explorer and is therefore considerably faster and more lightweight. 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. 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.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. Many people, however, will prefer to use 98lite because it gives greater flexibility, and there is no separate versions for different editions and versions of Windows.Alternatively, there is 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. [link]
With the success of 98lite, Shane Brooks decided to make a similar functionality to 98lite. It can remove similar "mandatory" components from Windows 2000 and 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. These, however, prevent components from being installed rather than removing them from an already-installed system.
External links
- [LitePC] - Home of 98lite and 2000-XPlite
- [GUI Gallery] - Screenshots of 98lite on Windows 98 and Windows Me available
- [nLite] - Removal of Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 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.
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