Windows 98 - Not Dead Just Yet...

[HolyMoly]

Now, hehe, personally, I think the reason why Microsoft decided to continue support for Win98 until 2006 is because they realize WinXP hasn't "taken off" as quickly as they wanted it to (except with owners of newer computers where it was pre-installed). But, Microsoft has their own version of why they extended support. Following that, read a ZD-net article that suggests another reason:

Microsoft to Extend Support for Windows

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. will extend support for Windows 98, Windows 98 S.E. and Windows Millennium Edition through June 30, 2006, the company said Monday, reversing a decision from last month.

Support for Windows 98 and Windows 98 S.E. had been scheduled to expire on Friday, and for Windows Me on Dec. 31, but the software giant decided to keep supporting those systems in large part because some customers in developing countries were not aware it was ending.

"While we've done an excellent job communicating our life cycle policy for most of our products, we have found that we could use more time to communicate those guidelines in a handful of smaller markets," including Kazakhstan, the Ivory Coast and Slovenia, Microsoft spokesman Matt Pilla said.

During the extended support period, the company will offer paid phone support and review security threats to determine whether it will provide customers with security patches.

About 20 percent of all Windows-based computers still run Windows 95 or 98, according to International Data Corp., a technology market research firm. Support for Windows 95 ended Dec. 31, 2001.

Since Oct. 15, 2002, Microsoft has offered seven years of support for its new products. Before that, it offered four.

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...now...the ZD-Net version...

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Linux threat behind Microsoft reversal

By Munir Kotadia (ZD-Net UK)

The growing threat from Linux is responsible for Microsoft's last-minute decision to extend the life of Windows 98. Analysts say there has never been a better time to try and negotiate a deal on the company's software.

Various research indicates that Windows 98 is still installed on about a quarter of all PCs, meaning that if Microsoft had stopped supporting the operating system as planned, the next time that a security bug was discovered, millions of PCs would be left vulnerable and users would be left with the option of either upgrading to a newer version of Windows, or looking for an alternative. Although many companies would upgrade because their applications or hardware require Windows, a significant chunk would be free to consider alternatives, such as Linux.

Lars Ahlgren, a senior marketing manager at Microsoft, told ZDNet UK that although Microsoft has not made any money from Windows 98 for some time, the company is keen to hold onto its customers and is hoping another couple of years getting used to the Windows look and feel will tie them in for life. "The more they are used to working one way, the more [it is] likely they will want to continue working that way, so it plays to our advantage. If they move to another operating system, they will need to rethink and relearn. For some people, that is painful. This is also why so many people are resisting an upgrade from Windows 98," he said.

James Governor, a principal analyst at RedMonk, said Microsoft didn't have much choice but to extend support for Windows 98, for two reasons. First, he said, Linux has become a real threat, and although it wouldn't have swallowed up all the old Windows 98 users, it would make a difference. "I'm not going to say a large chunk of the install base would have moved to Linux, but certainly there is an alternative there--but I don't want to overstate that," he said. Governor also pointed out that unlike the dot-com boom years, companies simply can't afford to invest in new hardware in order to upgrade their operating system: "Given the terrible state that budgets have been in over the past few years and continue to be in, we are not seeing a lot of money being freed up. Companies are saying 'this is good enough so why should we change?'," he said.

Gary Barnett, research director at Ovum, said that although Linux is not a viable alternative for mainstream users at the moment, he expects that it will be in a year's time. This means, according to Barnett, that Microsoft is going to find it increasingly difficult to maintain its unfeasibly high profit margins. "Microsoft has always publicly said it does not negotiate or do special deals on price, but the truth is that Microsoft is going to be obliged to do an increasing number of them. We have already seen it in the Asia-Pacific region, where they hugely discounted Office. Linux has a crucial role in giving people choice and also [in] curbing the incredible margins Microsoft has been making out of Office," he said.

Governor agrees that Microsoft is going to take a hit when it comes to profit margins and advises firms to start negotiating: "With licensing issues, there is no way Microsoft is going to have its own way at the moment. Microsoft is and will respond to user pressure around software pricing. If users have felt in the past that they can't negotiate, now is the time because there is some real competition in desktops and that can only be good for customers," he said.

However, Annette Jump, analyst at Gartner said Microsoft will continue to have a huge advantage over Linux because so many companies have long term commitments to Windows-based applications, meaning the cost of migrating those applications would overshadow any Microsoft licensing fees: "When companies start seriously thinking about Linux, they quickly realize that it is not simple.

Generally, a company or department with 1,000 PCs will have around 100 applications that would need to be moved over to Linux. They would immediately save on the cost of operating system license but they will have to spend money on educating their users and migrating their systems," she said.

[Shawn]

Actually, my pet theory is that they wanted to put a better effort into Paladium than they do their o/s's. If their 'trusted computing' DRM model is strong, they have a whole new market.

[HolyMoly]

I think the real bugaboo for Microsoft is, as the ZD-Net article stated:

Various research indicates that Windows 98 is still installed on about a quarter of all PCs...

When a software developer abandons Win98, he abandons 25% of his market. That's a significant chunk of money ... and is why most of the software I still see in stores is Win98 compatible. It's not Microsoft that drives the OS market, it's the consumer. And developers are like any other business person and tailor what they develop to the maximum possible marketplace. There are even some developers out there who make software that is still Win95-friendly.

My son still uses Win95 on his computer and it does everything he wants it to do. I've offered to upgrade him to Win98 or ME (I have both upgrade disks) but he tells me to go fish, hehe. And, one of my hosting clients still uses Win3.11 running on a Pentium 90 with an 850 meg hard drive and 24 megs RAM. I could upgrade her to Win98SE since 24 megs is the "minimum" requirement. But, I've advised her to upgrade to a new(er) system with at least 128 megs of RAM and at least a 20-gig hard drive. She's still thinking about it ... but, like my son, finds that her computer does everything she wants it to do. It's hard to fight individual practicality (grin) ... and not everyone is enthralled with the newest thing on the block.