The Verse - Volume 26
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Tech Tips - End of support for Windows 98 and Windows Me

Last month (July 2006) brought a close to Microsoft’s support for the Windows 98 and Windows Me operating systems. The software company has retired public and technical support, including security updates.

According to Microsoft, they have retired support for these products because they are outdated and can expose customers to security risks. They 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.

While the Windows 98 operating system may have debuted eight years ago, it's easy to forget that Windows 98 was still selling to consumers and small businesses as recently as the fall of 2001, when Windows XP finally debuted.

Microsoft had planned to stop supporting the older versions in January 2004, but it extended support to give customers and businesses more time to upgrade to newer versions of Windows.

According to market-research firm IDC, licensed installations of Windows 98 and Windows Me made up more than 13 percent of Microsoft's user base at the end of 2005. IDC estimates that about 48 million computers were still running licensed versions of Windows 98 at the end of last year, and 25 million were running Windows ME.

Many Windows 98 users remember the operating system’s failure to shut down properly, displaying the text "Windows 98 is now shutting down." The PC never did and it became a running joke, as did the “blue screen of death,” a popular name for the screen displayed by Microsoft's Windows operating system when it cannot recover from, or is in danger of being unable to recover from, a system error. Windows Me was even worse and no amount of technical support could alleviate the pain of running this bug-ridden version of Windows.

However, for many small businesses, Windows 98 was a workhorse operating system.
Industry experts now estimate that over 80% of small businesses have switched to Windows XP as their core operating systems, with much better results than 98 or Me provided.

Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer for the SANS Internet Storm Center, said "Windows 98 and Me systems are already unsafe to run, and I don't think there is a real safe way for people to continue using older versions of Windows.”

While upgrading to Windows XP is the best solution, those small businesses who can't afford a complete replacement can still receive support from third party technical services providers, like your friendly purple guys at Versent.