The hidden cost
However, while many hailed the decision to extend Windows 98 support as an unambiguous victory for the consumer, others said there is a definite cost to both businesses and consumers who choose to stay with the older software.
Continued support from Microsoft will likely keep Windows 98 machines around longer, which means other software developers will have to support the OS longer, said Ray Vizzone, chief technology officer of Recommended Test Labs. Vizzone, whose company helps software makers determine which operating systems they need to test their products against, said that schools, in particular, won't upgrade until they have to.
"Education tends to stay with older OSes longer," Vizzone said. "Those developing for the education market would like not to test on so many operating systems."
But with Microsoft prolonging support, Vizzone said, Windows 98 is likely to remain fairly prevalent in schools. "As we go back to our clients, we're advising them that Windows 98 really can't be removed from your testing matrix."
Companies will need to spend money to ensure backward compatibility that could otherwise go into developing new features.
Another cost comes in the danger of crying wolf, argued Michael Cherry, an analyst at research firm Directions on Microsoft. "Some customers have gone to management and in good faith said, 'we need to upgrade because support is going to end,'" he said.
With Microsoft's about-face on Windows 98 support, the next time an end-of-life deadline looms, companies may decide to delay their upgrade to see if Microsoft blinks.
"I fully believe Microsoft has a right to set these end-of-life dates," Cherry said. However, he added, they should be more fixed. "This sort of trial balloon lifecycle is just no good for anybody."
Microsoft, for its part, points out that the end-of-life dates are always minimum support commitments, meaning the company could choose to extend support beyond those dates. The company said it has received only positive responses to the change, though a representative said that in the future, if Microsoft has to change its support plans for a product, it will do so earlier.
Talkback
I use Win98se and purchased WinXP some 18 months ago but have been reluctant to install it due to negative feedback, "XP is like big brother... I had to buy new hardware when I upgraded', was the general comments from friends.
I thought I would give XP a try by running both Win98 and WinXP on different machines, I also installed a firewall just to keep tabs on what the two OS's were up to!
Without going into great detail the result is this.
XP is being placed in the bin, its not that it doesn't work, it's just infuriating to told by MS what it is and is not going to allow me to do on MY PC!
I will continue to use Win98 for the present but with severe restraint on its access to the net and I'm going to take another look at 'Lindows'.
I have a more relaxed attitude towards Microsoft spying on me. I let it all hang out there. I'll move to alternative OS'es the moment I am restricted in what I want to do.
Chances are that will happen. There are so many ludicrous business models out there that are enforced by technology. (Ink more expensive than inkjet printers, DRM and so on)
Here is wishing our Microsoft user friends the very best of "luck" in the future....
I just knew they would have to review the support for 98, 98SE and Me. It's going to hit Microsoft too much not to continue support.
Also they need to review their prices as a version of XP Home gets you 1p change from £90, way too dear for an ordinary UK home user. I have used it once, the version I had was shipped with all ports OPEN, would you believe, so that when I booted up and got Windows loaded, it connected straight to the Internet and I got it with Blaster and this was before I had chance to install my firewall or anti-virus software so use XP ... NO WAY, Jose!!!!!