MS Soon To Cut Off Win 9x And ME Users

Microsoft has begun reminding users of Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium that it will cut off all support for the aging operating systems in July.

I'm going to post some more of my comments later as I've got to go... read the full article here: http://www.informationweek.com/archives.asp?newsandcommentary=yes=

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don't we all know that? M$ already cutted Windows 2000 support 2 years ago. I thought they already cut Win98/ME...xboxrulz

Yea I thought they had too, and I mean... it's not like anyone still uses ME anyways haha

Yeah I am pretty sure they have discontinued support for Windows ME sometime last year or the year before.I actually used to like Windows ME until the file handle limit started giving me trouble with some applications I was programming that needed to use alot of visual controls, I later upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional and now I am using Windows XP Home with Service Pack 1 intergrated.I thought they still supported Windows 2000 though.

This is YET another great reason to run Linux. All Microsuck sees out of EVERYTHING is $$$$... darn it, isn't William rich ENOUGH?? Well, personally, MS should have coded the previous versions correctly instead of releasing Windows with 200,000,000,000,000 security holes and another 200,000,000,000,000,000 bugs.Of course, I can't exactly complain because I could never code an operating system. That's why there's alternatives such as Linux! As far as I'm concered, you can still be running Red Hat 2 and Red Hat is still going to support you. I like laughing at MS because of the rate they "discontinue support" for their customers.. It's amazing how many complaints there are about Windows yet NO ONE does ANYTHING about it except continue to support MS...[N]F

Windows XP alone has been around for how long now? 5 years or more, and your'e ranting because they are dropping support for older operating systems......I think after so long it is pretty fair to drop support for them, if that's what they want to do, some people might be left on older Windows Operating Systems but unless they are running ancient hardware I can't see any good reason as to why.

It's logical, really, for Microsoft to cut off support for old systems. After all, I don't think those operating systems are being sold anymore, at least those that aren't secondhand. In any case, though Microsoft has said they will be dropping support for those products, I don't think they'll be removing any 98/ME KB articles from their website. They'll only stop releasing security patches. And 98 and ME users will still have support, of a sort, from the thousands of amateur techies that abound the Web. =^^=

 

nightfox: While I'm relatively anti-Microsoft myself, I think saying Microsoft released Windows with that many bugs was too over exaggerated. And yeah, I know you meant the number as an exaggeration, but it still delivers a misconception. Technology is constantly evolving, and many of the bugs we see today in 98, ME and, yes, even XP, just weren't bugs at the time of their release. Well, okay, maybe ME is an exception. =^^= A lot of the technology today didn't exist even just 5 years ago, so those bugs weren't an issue then. Now they are.

 

The same goes for Linux, really. Linux isn't some bug-free programming marvel that some people like to think. Sure, it is a marvel, but in a different way. The difference between Linux and Windows is that the Linux bugs don't take on the same sense of urgency that Windows has — and that's primarily because with Windows as the predominant Operating System, Linux just isn't targeted as much. So what happens is that the Linux code guys have practically all the time in the world to catch and fix their bugs before some malicious hacker attacks the weakness, and they get to release their fixes without all the fanfare that accompanies the discovery of a new Windows bug. =^^=

 

And as for Redhat 2 users still getting support... you do realize that Redhat — and Linux in particular — is relatively younger that the MS Operating Systems mentioned in article? Also, as far as I know, I don't think there are any new patches for the older versions of Linux. Given that Linux is opensource freeware, it's relatively easier (and cheaper) for a person using old versions of Linux to upgrade to newer versions. Therefore, there really isn't any vital need for the Linux community to release patches for those really old Linux versions when the new ones are available for free. =^^=

My Dad found that out earlier when he went to get new antivirus software and none of them supported Win 98 and got a notice from the Tax people that his accounting program will no longer support Windows 98 after its last release. As far as support for outdated systems, DEC and SUN are two names that come to mind. I was working at a business once that was still running it's inventory software on Solaris 2. When it broke, Sun sent someone out to fix it. That was in 1998 or 1999 (can't remember now). I think they installed the computer system back in the in 1980's. Granted, you pay through the nose up front and later for those support contracts.Win 98 has been around for 8 years. Most consumers have upgraded their systems by now or will be forced to soon as their systems have been obsolete for quite sometime. My Dad will be buying a new computer this year and proably will be another Windows box. I use Macintosh myself, but with the current switchover to Intel chips and software lagging, I'm not sure if Quicken has new versions out for Mactel yet.

Of *course* it's about the money!Gates didn't found Microsoft out of the goodness of his kind and generous heart. He did it because he wanted to make money - and apparently he did something right along the way, seeing as he's still a multi-billionaire and the overwhelming majority of computer users use his programs.Honestly? If I were in Gates's position I would drop support for older operating systems too. Devote the resources to newer software, especially since Vista's release date is less than a year away, and hopefully have enough resources to work the bugs out as quickly as possible.

That's very true, but claims of his very buggy software isn't too far from the truth, at a programmers and even your basic ends users point of view.There are many flaws in the Operating System that have always been present in earlier versions and I know for a fact many of them have nothing to do with the hardware what so ever. Some of the problems from a programmers perspective are actually easily fixed but they won't fix it.....One example is the Windows File Open Dialog (explorer version), the box that contains your selected filenames has a hard character limit of around 65500, which is about 200 files depending on how many characters each file has in it's name. Microsoft could have easily released an update that used a Rich text like control that can hold more characters as opposed to the one they use now.And yet the problem is still in Windows XP......

Hraefn, there were some bugs that were just found right after the release, that was why SP1 came out so close from the launch date. Although we can say that we have technology now that we don't 5 years ago is true in some ways but doesn't mean that back then we didn't know how to plug those holes.xboxrulz

This is very old news. Although, I agree on the person commenting on LiNUX here. Even if the LiNUX community has its share of trolls and n00b haters, you are most likely to get the most out of any distribution, and that's saying the least.

I'm going to post some more of my comments later as I've got to go... read the full article here: http://www.informationweek.com/archives.asp?newsandcommentary=yes=

 

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Try having 100 windows NT servers still in your datacenters and getting patches for that

Or better yet, tell your customers that they have to pay for MS premium support for NT4 patches.

 

Always great to be on the line when sales tells that to a customer.

 

"But our apps run fine on nt4"

Well develop them for 2003

This is YET another great reason to run Linux. All Microsuck sees out of EVERYTHING is $$$$... darn it, isn't William rich ENOUGH?? Well, personally, MS should have coded the previous versions correctly instead of releasing Windows with 200,000,000,000,000 security holes and another 200,000,000,000,000,000 bugs.

 

Of course, I can't exactly complain because I could never code an operating system. That's why there's alternatives such as Linux!

 

As far as I'm concered, you can still be running Red Hat 2 and Red Hat is still going to support you. I like laughing at MS because of the rate they "discontinue support" for their customers.. It's amazing how many complaints there are about Windows yet NO ONE does ANYTHING about it except continue to support MS...

 

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didn't they cut it already, i never noticed they support win98 or win Me users at all, and never heared about that.

isn't it strange that linux communities is more interested in supporting linux users more?, they are not official companies "i mean most" but they never stop supporting an old distro users, isn't it more than enough for microsoft to be around?, they will not stand more anyway.

Note : Windows vista requires 1 GB Ram, LOoOL

Here's an interesting point. Most people that use windows are the general public. That being said most of those users are point and click users that know only how to use their applications (and that is saying alot). Now with that out of the way most of the users of LiNUX are ones that are truely interested in learning how to proplerly use their computer and how to learn how to use their operating system.Windows is made for those that don't want to "delve" to deep into their computers and how they operate while LiNUX, even those distros that have GUI's, are still for those powerusers that like to have total control of their systems and know how to do basic system support for themselves and are technically oriented.The whole idea that M$ should keep supporting OS's that are over 8 years old, from a techs perspective, is kinda rediculous. The reason I feel this way is that most programs that people use stop supporting OS's that have not been released on a "new box" computer in the last 5 years. These days a "basic" computer package can be gott'n for around 600 US. If you use a computer that still runs Win '98 then its time to update. The fact that M$ still supports products that are around 5 years old is nice, concidering that if you call up a company and ask for help with, say a radio, that is 7 years old and no longer made or sold new, then they pretty much say, "sorry, we can't help you."Yes Windows has been release, in its many versions, have been buggy. Yet hasn't LiNUX also been buggy? The only real difference I see between the 2 operating systems is this...One is made for people that like to point and click, the other is made for people that want to be able to control and know how things work. Both have had many problems but since one costs alot of money and the other is free, people complain about having to pay lots of money and then load fixs for it.