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Windows 98 can still be a good choice

John Sheesley Tech Republic

Published: 28 Jan 2004 16:05 GMT

If you've ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you've probably seen the "Bring Out Your Dead" skit. Sometimes, life does indeed imitate art. As much as Microsoft would love for you to toss out your old copies of Windows 98 like the old man in that sketch, if you listen closely enough you can probably hear Windows 98 saying "But I'm not dead yet!"

Microsoft may be phasing out support for Windows 98, but it doesn't mean that you necessarily are going to, as well. Here are some of the reasons why Windows 98 isn't dead yet and some of my opinions on why you may not want to run out and upgrade right away.

What about Windows 95 and Windows Me?
For the purposes of this discussion, I'm focusing on Windows 98 -- primarily my favorite version, Second Edition. Although Windows 95 was an extremely popular business operating system, especially Windows 95b, many new applications won't work with it. Likewise, Windows Me was primarily a home-user operating system ill-equipped and too bloated to be an effective business operating system.

Why would I use an operating system that's several versions old?
By definition, Windows 98 is over five years old. In the computer world that's downright ancient. It's been superseded by Windows Me, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP. Longhorn, XP's successor, is already on the horizon.

For obvious financial reasons, Microsoft would love for you to upgrade all of your workstations to Windows XP Professional. Technology publications, TechRepublic included, sometimes have a tendency to embrace the newness of a solution such as Windows XP. (See Greg Shultz's article "Top five reasons to leave Windows 9x behind"). However, there are several good reasons why you should stick with Windows 98. Some of them include:

Software upgrade costs
Hardware upgrade costs
Application compatibility
Hardware compatibility
Training issues
General support issues