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#REDIRECT [[Software remastering#98lite]]
[[Image:98liteme.png|thumb|right|250px|98lite Windows Me Desktop]]
[[Image:98liteeos.png|thumb|right|250px|98lite Windows Me manually further minimalized from 98micro to extremely tiny GUI and LFN preserving footprint with GUI command prompt only (more in Wikibooks in [[b:Windows Me boot and Windows 2000 boot|Windows Me/2000 boot]] article)]]
[[Image:98litedos.png|thumb|right|250px|98lite Windows Me manually further minimalized from 98micro to extremely tiny CLI and SFN preserving footprint with CLI command prompt only (more in Wikibooks in [[b:Windows Me boot and Windows 2000 boot|Windows Me/2000 boot]] article)]]


{{R from merge|Software remastering}}
'''98lite''' is a utility for [[Windows 98]] and [[Windows Me]] written by [[Shane Brooks]]. It removes [[Internet Explorer]] 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 [[United States v. Microsoft|antitrust proceedings]], that IE is integrated into Windows and cannot be removed without breaking other features.
{{R to section}}

== History ==
98lite was created by [[Shane Brooks]] in the second half on 1998 just after the original release of [[Windows 98]]. The idea simply came out of necessity, at the time Brooks had a slower [[laptop]] computer that ran the [[Windows 95]] 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]] 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]]. 98lite exists in Pro and Enterprise flavors, and there exists software superior to 98lite called 98EOS. [http://www.litepc.com/matrix.html Here] are listed all flavors of 98lite-related software.
98lite was presented to the [[United States Department of Justice]] as evidence that Microsoft was monopolizing the browser market.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Following the release of [[Windows XP]], [[2000-XPLite]] was released as a way of removing unwanted components including the Internet Explorer browser from [[Windows 2000]] 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. [http://www.embeddingwindows.com/8mb_windows98.html] There are also many free alternatives to this, such as [http://winimize.com/ Mindows] and [http://www.etek.chalmers.se/~e8gus/nano98 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 [[XPLite]]. 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]]. 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 [http://www.etek.chalmers.se/~e8gus/nano98 Nano98].

== External links ==
*[[b:Windows Me boot and Windows 2000 boot|Windows Me boot and Windows 2000 boot]] - GUI and CLI based minimalizations of Windows Me and introducing of separate real DOS 8.00 boot option to Windows Me
*[http://www.edm2.com/index.php/RIPLing_Windows_Millennium_Edition RIPLing Windows Millennium Edition] - Binary editing of COMMAND.COM
*[http://litepc.com/ LitePC] - Home of 98lite and 2000-XPlite
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20030812144638/http://www.litepc.com/support/kb.cgi?view=51 Installing DirectX under 98lite] - DirectX installation requirements under 98lited Windows
*[http://toastytech.com/guis/indexwindows.html GUI Gallery] - Screenshots of 98lite on Windows 98 and Windows Me available
*[http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite] - Removal of Windows 2000, XP, and [[Windows Server 2003|2003]] components at install
*[http://www.howden.net.nz/wiki/index.php/98_Lite 98Lite Review]
*[http://vorck.com/remove-ie.html Vorck.com] - Manual removal of Windows 2000 components at install
*[http://snoopy81.ifrance.com/rom2.htm Revenge of Mozilla] - Remove IE in original 98 and 98SE. No longer supported or maintained.

[[Category:System software]]
[[Category:Operating systems]]
[[Category:Windows 98]]
[[Category:Windows Me]]

Latest revision as of 16:28, 23 March 2023

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