98lite
 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. |
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. Brooks was one of the first to author a method for removing Internet Explorer. He did so in response to Microsoft's claim, in antitrust proceedings, that IE is integrated into Windows and cannot be removed without breaking other features.
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.[citation needed] 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. 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. [1] There are also many free alternatives to this, such as Mindows and nano 98, which can provide either smaller file sizes, or more broad functionality.
Windows NT component removal
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. 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 less than 5MB of nano 98.
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.