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Print 36 comment(s) - last by timmiser.. on Apr 20 at 3:04 PM
This is the last stop

For those of you still puttin' around on Windows 98 or Windows 98 SE, you'll be cut-off from Microsoft in July. If you're still running Windows Millennium, well I'm sorry to hear that.

Customers will no longer be provided with critical security updates after July 11, 2006. From Microsoft's Help and Support site:

Microsoft is ending support for these products because they are outdated and these older operating systems can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows Me upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible.

Although Microsoft is ending the release of updates for the aforementioned operating systems, online self-help support will still be available at from Microsoft's support site until at least July 11, 2007.

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Buh Bye...
By retrospooty on 4/18/2006 3:29:36 PM , Rating: 3
Its about time. Hopefully this will help push the rest of the stragglers off it.




RE: Buh Bye...
By morcegovermelho on 4/18/2006 3:46:47 PM , Rating: 4
If you don't like it, don't use it. The choice of operating system is not a question of "what is the latest" but a question of "does it get the job done?". BTW, windows 98 SE is only 2 years older than windows XP (1999 and 2001)

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default...


RE: Buh Bye...
By theprodigalrebel on 4/18/2006 11:32:56 PM , Rating: 2
9 Years is almost like a hundred in dog..eh..computing years, my friend! ;) (1997-2006) If you consider Win98 SE to be two years newer, so is XP SP2.
One of my friends uses Win 98 on a PIII 500 with 64MB RAM (His other 64MB stick died...never bothered buying more). Its still snappy but its funny how a generic USB pen drive needs drivers to be recognized in Windows!


RE: Buh Bye...
By morcegovermelho on 4/19/2006 6:32:56 AM , Rating: 2
Follow the link (again):

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default...

windows 98 - June 30, 1998
windows 98 SE - June 30, 1999
windows XP - December 31, 2001

The dates are from microsoft's site


RE: Buh Bye...
By Caligynemania on 4/18/2006 3:48:06 PM , Rating: 2
Those of us still running Windows 98 could probably care less that Microsoft has discontinued support. The only customers that might be affected are businesses who are glacially slow at updating their systems. Incidentally, when was the last time a critical security flaw applied to Windows 98?


RE: Buh Bye...
By scorp508 on 4/18/2006 9:10:54 PM , Rating: 2
Um, do the 3 critical and 1 important this month for 98/98SE/Me count? Check the affected software. The updates are only available via Windows Update though.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin...


RE: Buh Bye...
By tkengland on 4/18/2006 3:49:51 PM , Rating: 2
Anybody that's still using 98 is probably not the type of person to go checking Microsoft's support policies. I'd wager the largest percentage of people still using it are people who bought an email/web browser machine with 98 loaded, and don't have the slightest idea about actually installing an os, or what the differences are between them all.


RE: Buh Bye...
By fj34r on 4/18/2006 4:22:33 PM , Rating: 2
or people who use such outdated systems that Windows XP would just be _rediculous_ to install it on. Not everyone can afford new computer parts.


RE: Buh Bye...
By marvdmartian on 4/18/2006 4:47:08 PM , Rating: 2
Aw, come on......don't you believe that that old celery 400 with 128mb of pc100 ram can run a full-featured version of XP pro??? LOL

Honestly, I'm surprised it lasted this long, and doubt we'll see many people crying about it. Those that do, go check out Dell's deals, and buy your 2nd computer in a decade! ;)


RE: Buh Bye...
By Kuroyama on 4/18/2006 7:25:58 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I'm running XP-Pro on an old PII-300 laptop with 196MB memory. The old computers are no so bad if you put in a new hard drive, once I put a new 5200RPM laptop drive in it was like night and day compared to the 6 year old drive that was in here before. Wouldn't try gaming on this, but it's fine for my LaTeX, internet, word processing, etc. I leave the fun stuff to my desktop. Back on topic, point being this was a Win98 (not even 98SE) computer, but it works just fine with XP, so I don't think even computer age is likely to prevent many people from running XP if they add a bit more RAM and a good hard drive.


And so?
By Clauzii on 4/18/2006 5:02:48 PM , Rating: 2
I have both systems in my house - 98se is the best of the two... More stable, less cluttered and it does what it should. XP has so much onboard s..t that for people just using a computer, they don´t realize that... For us using 98se - we dig it...




RE: And so?
By Wonga on 4/18/2006 5:33:17 PM , Rating: 2
Well, each to his own, but I've found WinXP to be the most stable Microsoft operating system I've ever used.

I realise that it doesn't help 3rd party software makers, but having all the 'bloatware', as people like to call it, installed certainly makes my life easier.


RE: And so?
By breethon on 4/18/2006 6:17:56 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, your Win98 is more stable until a program crashes....then you have to reboot. I just click ok, and go on with life. That to me, is the difference. Of course, new hardware is something I enjoy getting, so I am not so stuck on how many resources that XP (and soon Vista) will waste. The only thing I wish is that I could still play my original Command & Conquer game again on my XP......


RE: And so?
By mxzrider2 on 4/18/2006 10:06:34 PM , Rating: 2
i can still play the oringinal c&C hmm
hell i can still play dos games. well not really on this machin as its x64 and it doesnt do dos, but older windows titles play just fine


RE: And so?
By Bonrock on 4/18/2006 11:56:09 PM , Rating: 2
Have you tried DOSBox?

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

I haven't tried it with C&C, but I've been able to use it to run other DOS games under Windows XP.


RE: And so?
By stmok on 4/19/2006 6:10:30 AM , Rating: 2
You can also play C&C with DOSBox in Linux as well. I have no problems running the good old C&C and Red Alert.

I use WINE in Linux for Red Alert (Windows version) and RA2. (Its currently a bit flakey, due to the DirectX implementation they have).


RE: And so?
By INeedCache on 4/19/2006 4:34:33 AM , Rating: 2
Unless your XP install is bad, or you're trying to run very old programs on it under compatability mode, I find it hard to digest that your 98 is more stable than XP.


Free Windows Open Source Replacement
By SpamSlayer on 4/18/2006 8:12:22 PM , Rating: 2
All you Win98 users, you could use those old machines to run an Open Source replacement of Windows...

http://www.reactos.org/xhtml/en/index.html

It's a pretty awesome development... those of you who don't have the money to purchase the latest Windows OS can now run a similar OS, compatible with all Windows programs.

Did I mention it's free?




RE: Free Windows Open Source Replacement
By hans007 on 4/18/2006 11:22:09 PM , Rating: 2
win98 does need to be killed now.

i think xp came out in 2002 actually and 98 in 1997 so that is actually 5 years.

honestly win2k was the most revolutionary MS OS ever.

i still run XP with all the effects off, its just snappier. i guess its like running a linux shell.

i have vista test boxes at work which are the lastest build, and i even tunr off all the aero stuff on that. it just is annoying waste.


By Samus on 4/19/2006 2:36:52 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you're still running Windows Millennium, well I'm sorry to hear that.


Hell, if you're still running Windows Millennium, well, that's fucking amazing. I haven't seen an installation of that run for more than a year without explorer crashing or BSOD'ing on startup...etc.


By morcegovermelho on 4/19/2006 6:35:41 AM , Rating: 2
Follow the link (again):

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default...

windows 98 - June 30, 1998
windows 98 SE - June 30, 1999
windows XP - December 31, 2001

The dates are from microsoft's site.


By stmok on 4/19/2006 6:26:36 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
All you Win98 users, you could use those old machines to run an Open Source replacement of Windows...

http://www.reactos.org/xhtml/en/index.html

It's a pretty awesome development... those of you who don't have the money to purchase the latest Windows OS can now run a similar OS, compatible with all Windows programs.

Did I mention it's free?


(1) compatible with all Windows programs. ???
What nonsense. Have you even tried ReactOS?

(2) Its alpha status. Do you know what that means? It means it ain't ready for the typical Windows user yet. => Please bear in mind that ReactOS is still in alpha stage and is not recommended for everyday use.

In layman's terms, its not ready and requires A LOT of development effort to make it usable. How about you wait for another 3 yrs or so, before making such claims as compatible with all Windows programs.

(3) Very few applications work with ReactOS. I know, I've tried ver 0.2.9

When they show MS Office installing, it just does that. It installs, but it doesn't run. Standard Windows apps have trouble running or installing. What does this say? IT'S NOT READY!

(4) Because of fear of contamination of MS code, they are auditing the code. At this time, its 71% complete. As a result, no new version has been released.


The idea of ReactOS is interesting, but you're clearly not aware of how young this project is, and what its up to.

Making bold claims and conveying that its some sort of saviour for Win98/etc users right now, is extremely foolish.

I'm gonna say it again. Its NOT READY. DO NOT TRY IT! (Unless you're a developer wanting to commit some code, OR want to help test it).


98
By Xonoahbin on 4/18/2006 6:18:05 PM , Rating: 2
I'm still running Windows 98. My computer is a worthless piece of s..t and it's not worth it to upgrade to XP. I don't have enough money to upgrade anything at all, even though I have the skill to. Generalizations that people still running 98 are unskilled and don't know what they're doing are improper, I'd say. By the way, Win 98 isn't horrible, I just hate how it has nothing going for it in the appearance department.




RE: 98
By Last on 4/18/2006 7:49:40 PM , Rating: 3
Don't feel bad... there are people (lots)who make their XP look like 2000/9x all the time!!

They like the retro look and simplicity!!



RE: 98
By SpamSlayer on 4/18/2006 8:14:53 PM , Rating: 2
Absolutely, that's what I do with all my WinXP machines, and the machines of my IT clients... all the eye candy just gets in the way and slows you down.

You can make WinXP look just like Win2k... it's a quick, clean interface.


RE: 98
By timmiser on 4/20/2006 3:04:56 PM , Rating: 2
Make that two people. I loved Me. :)


gg
By rqle on 4/18/2006 4:21:31 PM , Rating: 2
Glad to hear. Windows 98/ME is so radically different then the fully 32bit 2000/XP. Glad its gone. Hopefully they can spend more time on XP/Vista support. Been over 7 years already.




RE: gg
By Homerboy on 4/18/2006 4:32:12 PM , Rating: 2
yes... because the support for older operating systems has been what has hampered the development of Vista. MS only has those 12 programers and IT staff to do all their tasks.


RE: gg
By Bonrock on 4/18/2006 11:53:43 PM , Rating: 4
I don't know how many engineers Microsoft had assigned to Windows 9x patching and support, and I don't think you know either. However, I can assure you that developing and testing these patches--especially when they have to work properly on hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of systems--is a much more difficult process than you think it is.


Windows
By goku on 4/18/2006 4:47:43 PM , Rating: 1
I don't understand why people rejoyce when microsoft pulls support from older operating systems, the only people this benefits is microsoft.. You realize they're going to do the same thing with 2000 and XP, right? Even though they're advanced operating systems and do the job fine, microsoft is going to treat them as they did with the 9X series OSs... Personally, I think you're more secure with windows 98 nowadays than with XP or 2000 because virus writers just aren't writing for those Os' anymore.. Sure it's 'technically more unsecure' but like I said, it's not a target OS anymore like it used to be. What would be nice though is if microsoft were to release more updates to the OS so it wasn't so damned unstable...




RE: Windows
By bbomb on 4/18/2006 5:22:18 PM , Rating: 2
MS cant continue support for all their OS's for forever. It has to end sometime. People that will complain should also complain that game developers no longer update previous versions of games. Software has a life cycle and I beleive that anything pre-Win 2000 should go. When they release Vista support for 2000 should cease as well.



RE: Windows
By poohbear on 4/19/2006 10:15:01 PM , Rating: 2
i believe they said they're pulling support for winxp in 2010, so we still got got some life in it.


Wow
By brshoemak on 4/18/2006 5:35:04 PM , Rating: 2
What amazes me the most about Microsoft's comment is that they actually admit to the existence of Windows Me. That takes some serious stones, I don't know if I could face the computing public at large and say "Yes, we created Windows Me" and then go on to admit that some people may actually be using it to this day. May God have mercy on their souls.




RE: Wow
By Maximilian on 4/18/2006 6:05:39 PM , Rating: 2
Windows ME
By AaronAxvig on 4/18/2006 6:08:37 PM , Rating: 2
Windows ME never treated me wrong. I used it for years, and it chugged along happily on my 266 PII for over a year (with few crashes). Now I know other people think it's the devil, but I would just like let Microsoft know that at least one person out there found it to be useful.




Leave what's there alone
By Gooberslot on 4/19/2006 8:51:48 PM , Rating: 2
I can understand dropping support for new patches for Win98 but I think they should leave what's already there alone. There's no reason to take down the KB or WU for Win98.




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