Microsoft shuts down Windows 98 - PBX Info :: Your Free PBX, PABX and Telephone Information Resource

***JulianW*** · 07-11-2006, 05:41 AM

Microsoft is urging an estimated 70 million users of Windows 98 to upgrade as it ends support for the software.

From 11 July, Microsoft will no longer help users over the phone with any problems they have with the ageing operating system.
The firm will also stop providing security updates for Windows 98 from the same date.
Support for the software was originally due to end in 2003, but was extended following customer protests.

Shutting down
Products affected by closing down the support system include Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me (Millennium Edition). Analyst firm IDC believes that more than 70 million users will be hit by the change.
The majority of these people are likely to be using the operating system at home, as by now most large businesses have phased out machines running the software. Many small firms are also believed to be users of the product.
Microsoft ended free support for this trio of products in late 2003 but continued to offer paid support and provide critical security updates. This too will now stop.

The change means that those still using Windows 98 and Me after 11 July could become more vulnerable to many security risks, as bug fixes for loopholes exploited by hackers will no longer become available.
In a statement Microsoft said it was "ending support for these products because they are outdated and these older operating systems can expose customers to security risks".
Mikko Hyponnen from Finnish security firm F-Secure said that it was still providing updates for Windows 98 users who run its anti-virus package.
"In fact, 98 users are not at that great a risk as people might think: most of the new malware we see simply won't run there," he said.
"Nevertheless, if you want to be safe with 98: don't go online. Or upgrade to something that is supported with security patches," he added.

According to computer security firm Secure Science, at least one hi-tech crime gang based in Eastern Europe specialises in Windows 98 and produces viruses that prey on the software's weaknesses.
This is because users of it tend to have little knowledge of potential dangers - and are older, so are more likely to have substantial financial assets worth stealing.

Users of Windows 98 who have problems with the software may find an answer to their query themselves by hunting through the support information collected on the Microsoft website.
The software giant said this data will be kept live until "at least 11 July 2007".
It urged users to upgrade to a more secure operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible.
This could mean buying a new PC for those running a machine bought eight years ago with Windows 98 pre-installed. This is because the hardware specifications for Windows 98 fall far short of the minimum required to run Windows XP.
It may also mean they have to replace or update any peripherals they use with that ageing machine.
The turn off for Windows 98 was originally due to fall in late 2003. However, protests from many developing regions of the world where, at that time, the software was widely used prompted Microsoft to reverse its decision.

Java_Bob · 07-11-2006, 09:01 AM

70 million x upgrade cost = billions for Mr. Gates

**rixride** · 07-11-2006, 09:42 AM

70 Million is a huge number, mostly overseas I would guage, people who can't afford to upgrade.

Gates should just make that Free Windows software for third world countries or something since they use it anyways.

Oh Well Times are changing, I hear Microsoft may be moving away from "Windows" and looking to rebrand a new line of software.

Anyone else here that?

***JulianW*** · 07-11-2006, 09:44 AM

What I have heard is what a great marketing mistake they've just made, shouldn't they have waited until the release of Vista before killing off 98? That would have been a way to create an instant market for the new operating system.

***JulianW*** · 07-12-2006, 09:16 AM

WINDOWS 98 has crashed. And burned. Its pixels are growing dark. It has been deep-sixed. The operating system has been given the boot.
In the ominous words of its maker Microsoft, it has "transitioned to a non-supported status".
The patient is not technically dead, but has had its life support system switched off. Permanently. Microsoft will no longer provide technical support or security updates. It has already had one reprieve in 2003, when public pressure stopped Microsoft pulling the plug. But the decision taken this year is final.
For a while there has been new software that will not run properly on the system. And now nothing will be done to patch up holes that could be exploited by malicious hackers.

Nostalgia trip
While few will mourn the recalcitrant eight-year-old, many computer users will harbour fond memories of Windows 98. In automobile terms, it could be likened to a Volvo 240, a cumbersome but useful vehicle, with problems that were well-known but solvable.
For the world into which Windows 98 (and cousins Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Me) was born is very different to today. The internet was something that made a strange weebley noise while establishing a connection. Now broadband rules the roost.
And those determined to administer CPR to keep the venerable operating system ticking over will find it harder and harder to maintain a pulse as software makers turn their backs on it.
Its plain blue default background is now giving away to the green hills and blue sky of XP.
No e-flowers please.

Tributes to Win98.

Another 1 bytes the dust.
Tim G, London

Word to word, crashes to crashes, dos to dos.
Dan, Surrey

So it's curtains for Windows 98.
Matthew, Edinburgh

Rest In PC.
JP, Swindon

Windows is shutting down...................
Alan, London

A pane-ful demise.
Mark G, Maidenhead

Ctrl Alt Defeat
Candace, New Jersey

Gone to the Pearly Bill Gates.
Mike , Newcastle upon Tyne

Had its chips
Clive, Nottingham

And on its tombstone it shall read:

MSMARKETING caused a general protection fault in module WIN98.DRV at 0012:072006dead
Ian, Birmingham

***rwhite*** · 07-12-2006, 09:49 AM

Marketing mistake? That's a first for Mickysoft- they've always been great at marketing. Coding mistakes......now that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Rachelle · 07-12-2006, 11:59 AM

My WIN98 box at home started to have communications problems with my cable modem a few nights ago. Now, it doesn't talk at all and I can't get anything communications with the network. I can talk to the modem. The cable company can talk to the modem. We just can't talk to each other.

I suppose that in light of this post, I should just put the thing on the curb and buy a new Mac. Time to start shopping!

rlc

norteltx · 07-12-2006, 09:59 PM

"In automobile terms, it could be likened to a Volvo 240, a cumbersome but useful vehicle, with problems that were well-known but solvable."

I'd kill for a solid 240. Had 3 in the 80's and they were bulletproof.

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