Microsoft to stop W98 support..

Amoeba · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:08

I know this should probably be in the Windows forum but I feel I will get a more diverse response in here, obviously it can be moved if the mods feel it is bad in here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5164450.stm

So, Microsoft is to stop Windows 98 support. I personally see this as perfectly acceptable as after all - Microsoft is a business and they are not obliged to provide support after a fair amount of time. It is commendable they have offered W98 support for 8 years to be honest. However on the BBC website a fair amount of people are complaining and making comments such as 'Why should I be forced to upgrade to XP when what I have currently (98) works fine?'. In many cases people will have to buy new hardware etc to run XP. I think these people are missing the point - they are not being *forced* to upgrade, afterall their PC will not explode if they don't stop running 98. Furthermore most people who still run W98 will not be aware of things like Windows Update etc and so will probably not be affected (I know some people running Windows 98 and they probably have no clue they can 'update' their OS).

Other comments on the BBC site seem to be bashing Microsoft for writing 'buggy and vunerable code', and are therefore reluctant to buy XP. These people however need to realise that coding something as massive as an OS is an incredible task and would be impossible to complete with no bugs etc. I have a lot of respect for Microsoft and I think it's time people stop slagging them off for everything they do. Seriously - if Windows didn't exist either the IT world would not be where it is today, or another company would be in the same place as MS is.

So what are your opinions? Anyone still in 98? Think MS is right or wrong to stop support?

Oblivious · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:10

Its fine.

How can you expect any company to support software, that is now long out of date. Any company that hasnt upgraded from Win98 by now deserves no support. Not like it has come without warning either.

ElRazur · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:11

I think it is right, it wont cost that much to get a new version unless im mistaken.

Oh perhaps thread is suited for computer section?

axe · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:11

right

Duke · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:14

Great post Amoeba, I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm glad to see the back of 98.. the more people onto XP the better imo.

Jimmeh · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:15

I'm quite surprised this didn't happen sooner. Didn't the various anti-virus suppliers stop releasing updates/patches for Win98 3-4 years ago?

This ought to be moved BTW.

Amoeba · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:17

Jimmeh said:
This ought to be moved BTW.

Yeh I thought people might say that, as I said in the OP I posted in here as there is a larger memberbase and therefore would get a more interesting response. Also the software forums seem mainly to be about software support and queries, this is more about opinions and discussion

MR_Punk · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:20

Its about time tbh its been out 8 years and times move forward.

No more windows ME lol woooooo

+44

Lagz · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:21

How soon is Vista actually due out? Any chance its a cynical ploy to get people to upgrade to XP just before Vista comes out, and then upgrade again to Vista itself?

noob · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:24

Lagz said:
How soon is Vista actually due out? Any chance its a cynical ploy to get people to upgrade to XP just before Vista comes out, and then upgrade again to Vista itself?

Doubt it, Microsoft wanted to pull the plug in 2003 but backed down due to pressure.

Bezinator · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:26

Vista is out im guessing later this year start of next year.

Ekim · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:27

Lagz said:
How soon is Vista actually due out? Any chance its a cynical ploy to get people to upgrade to XP just before Vista comes out, and then upgrade again to Vista itself?

To be honest if someone who is still running Windows 98 at the moment upgrades to XP, I can't see them making a quick dash over to Vista any time soon. Perhaps in another 8 years, they might upgrade but not in under a year.

SpicyDuck · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:29

Lots of people are going to upgrade to XP now, only for Vista to come out soon after. That'll **** them off!

No swearing.

Otacon

Scania · 11 Jul 2006 at 20:29

Great! Millions (literally) of computer users around the world (many using our cast offs) are now left high & dry by M$.

Incredible that a customer base of so many is dropped.

Don't forget, XP runs crap on systems with low memory.

I have a friend who's still happily using Win95 on a p2 266 with 64MB RAM - I wonder if he's bothered?

Duke · 11 Jul 2006 at 21:19

R124/LA420 said:
Great! Millions (literally) of computer users around the world (many using our cast offs) are now left high & dry by M$.

Incredible that a customer base of so many is dropped.

Don't forget, XP runs crap on systems with low memory.

I have a friend who's still happily using Win95 on a p2 266 with 64MB RAM - I wonder if he's bothered?

If people haven't upgraded to XP already and are quite happy with 95/98 then let them be. If they want to move onto a more modern, secure, reliable system then they can upgrade. I've seen XP run fine on a P3 800MHz, so I'm sure most just need some more RAM. 256MB is under £20 now.

Scania · 11 Jul 2006 at 21:26

Duke said:
256MB is under £20 now.

Not in the 3rd World it isn't which was my main point, many old PC's are used overseas, we don't know how lucky we are living in the cheap west.

Macro · 11 Jul 2006 at 21:45

Hmmmm....

personaly I don't think an 8 year "warranty" is bad at all and compares well with other mainstream consumer products.

All the existing hotfixes and web support articles remain available, you just can't call MS direct and speak to a techy about it or ask for a new hotfix anymore. That said you'd have thought most bugs that warrent a hotfix or KB article have been found by now.

As for security there's only so much you can do to secure an 8 year old OS based on a 11 year old OS that started being written 13 years ago when todays world of cheap and pervasive ( not to mention largely un ringfenced compared to say Compuserve, CIX and Genie etc at the time) intenet access was a long way from reality.

MS is a business and I don't think we get bad support for what is usually a £60 - £100 purchase compared to most other industries.

Just my 2c

~J~ · 11 Jul 2006 at 21:57

8 year warranty with free upgrades, a company that admits its mistakes, fixes its own bugs, again free of charge and with NOT a great deal of bandwidth.

And people moan!

Windows 98 was WAY ahead of it's time in 1998, technology has changed to unrecognisable standards now and I think the Kernal of 98 can safely be retired knowing it's done a damn good job.

Berserker · 11 Jul 2006 at 23:21

The fact is, the older a piece of software gets, the harder (read: more expensive) it is to maintain for ever diminishing returns. So, there's 70 million people who run Windows 98. How many of them request (paid) support from Microsoft. I'd wager pretty much none.

Eight years support for any piece of software is a damn good run rate for the software industry. The average is five years or less unless someone pays big wads of $$$ or £££ for long-term support. That's highly unlikely in this case as most companies have already moved on. Actually, in the corporate world this is more of a problem for Windows NT 4.0, which ended support a few years ago with barely a whimper.

Microsoft have already said that recent security issues would require re-writing Explorer on Windows 98. Can you imagine the cost of doing that? Also, an interesting fact is that quite a large percentage of viruses don't even work on Windows 98, and that number is only going to grow. Virus writers target the most popular operating systems because they're the most likely to reap whatever plan they have. Plus, a lot of programmers don't even take account of Windows 95/98/Me differences (I still do, but not for much longer).

Summary: I wholeheartedly support the decision. Mind you, I'm of the opinion that Windows Me support should have ceased before it was released. Windows 98 was OK, but not a patch on Windows NT/2000/XP (or OS/2 Warp for that matter :eek:

)

Mason64 · 12 Jul 2006 at 00:35

AM GLAD!!! so happy its no more! so so happy. i work in a computer shop and so many problems with new hardware with drivers for 98 and new motherboards and so on.

i have looked on many sites now and all these people moaning! i cant beleave them i bet they are old people or people with old rubbish computers who are to tight to upgrade there systems to run XP. Get your money out will u spend some cash on overclockers! get some new hardware for xp / vista !!!

i still get people in to my repair shop with windows 95 on there system i just ring them up and say sorry we dont work on pc's with windows 95 or 98 no more your system is far to old to run anything that we even have in our shop they come out with it used to run fine 9 years ago why has it gone so slow i have added 32 meg of memory its a really good pc

i cant beleave people are so tight not to spend on there computers!!!