This recently came up in the IL2 Sturmovik forum. Though I wouldn't touch an OS with the 9X kernel, this comparison shows 98 giving better performance for games than XP,
http://www.devhardware.com/index2.ph...ge=0&hide_js=1
Not nearly enough for me to bother with it, or even to run a dual boot again as I did when I first got XP.
The Overclockers.com 3D Mark team seem to be convinced that 2000 will give you a little bit better score than XP, even with as many unnecessary services turned of as possible with XP.
I think the Windows 9X operating systems were bug ridden because of their basic architecture (too much baggage from the past) so I personally feel that 2000 or XP are the right choice.