The end of innocence....

[pofnlice]

Today MS has officially ceased all support of win98 & 98SE, also service pack 1 is no longer supported either. Can you feel the waters swelling?

[Calum]

who cares? what good did microsoft support ever do anyway?

[pofnlice]

It's all part o the bigger plan. Forced upgrades until there is nothing in Windowsworld but XP and eventually Vista.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Hopefully they will eliminate everything but Vi$ta

[bedouin]

I'm not an MS fan, but once you stick a Windows box behind a firewall/router and switch to Firefox it's secure enough for someone who doesn't run any executable in sight.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Not really ... with all that you said and lots of adware removers, and trojan removers, and virus scan, and tweaks to patch holes in Window$'s armor (so to speak) ... (imagine an armor made of swiss cheeze ... yummy, but not particularly useful for defending yourself). Viruses and trojans still got in, and lots of malware and adware and shit ... nah, I wouldn't call it secure enough for anyone in their right mind ... but it might just be me ?

It really was ridiculous right near the time before I switched to Linux ... my computer was overflowing with bullshit, and it just couldn't be stopped ... except by formatting

And you do realize that you do have to re-install Window$ every 1-2 years (and no it's not easy, cuz of all the maintainance software, like an old man that needs life support to live, Window$ must have maintainance software, so it can stay alive for just a few more years ... and then terminal cancer sets in and it dies !) ... just for your pleasure ... nah, just cuz it's a piece of shit ! It isn't really an operating system it's a self-torture device ... it brings you pain every day, as if you didn't have enough. But hey there are people who enjoy it ... who am I to disagree ?

Dammit I'm ranting again

Window$ is to dieing old man on life support as Linux is to World Champion athlete (and yeah, don't forget about BSD, if you ever figure out how to use it)

[GenuineAdvantage]

I think that's an exaggeration. Windows sucks, sure, but it's usable, not to mention it has all the hardware support and other software trinkets. The company that makes it is the real piece of trash.

[Calum]

Hopefully they will eliminate everything but Vi$ta

i would agree with everything you said except that final two words.

[RaZoR1394]

Not really ... with all that you said and lots of adware removers, and trojan removers, and virus scan, and tweaks to patch holes in Window$'s armor (so to speak) ... (imagine an armor made of swiss cheeze ... yummy, but not particularly useful for defending yourself). Viruses and trojans still got in, and lots of malware and adware and shit ... nah, I wouldn't call it secure enough for anyone in their right mind ... but it might just be me ?

It really was ridiculous right near the time before I switched to Linux ... my computer was overflowing with bullshit, and it just couldn't be stopped ... except by formatting

And you do realize that you do have to re-install Window$ every 1-2 years (and no it's not easy, cuz of all the maintainance software, like an old man that needs life support to live, Window$ must have maintainance software, so it can stay alive for just a few more years ... and then terminal cancer sets in and it dies !) ... just for your pleasure ... nah, just cuz it's a piece of shit ! It isn't really an operating system it's a self-torture device ... it brings you pain every day, as if you didn't have enough. But hey there are people who enjoy it ... who am I to disagree ?

Dammit I'm ranting again

Window$ is to dieing old man on life support as Linux is to World Champion athlete (and yeah, don't forget about BSD, if you ever figure out how to use it)

I totally agree. I've been very carefull in treating my Windows install but after constant uninstalls and new installs as I try many games and apps the machine becomes slower because of registry entries, program files, temp files and so on that never gets cleaned up. Only way to fix it is to use apps like Tuneup utilities but those some times mess up more than they help.

And I've used Spybot search and destroy together with Nod32 and shit sometimes still got in.
The OS is just screaming "I need better hardware! I'm dying, please help me!" and that's just what MS wants.

However these abandonings are normal. They're seen in all kinds businesses. What they should do is to release the OS GPL or something similar just like ID does with their old games. In that way at least the OS community can support it.

[Jack2000]

dunno what u guys are all stressed up about
let them drop support for win98 & 98SE
i do not need them bugging me any way
it is one more step to them getting and abondonware status
:]
and some 1 said that even pached and protected 98 still sucked

do not think so + when you install the service pack for 98 it gets even better!
(yes there is a service pack for 98 , just not an official one)

[piratePenguin]

when you install the service pack for 98 it gets even better!

omg congrats microsoft!

(yes there is a service pack for 98 , just not an official one)

oh, that explains it..