End of Support for Windows 98 and ME

[DynamicTech]

I just read it, and I can't believe it. I first certified on 98.
On july 11, 2006 "Microsoft will no longer provode any incident support options or security updates." It's sad to see an era closing. It makes me feel so................OLD. I ran across this information while *attempting* to update a 98 machine this afternoon. (windows update was not working).

[edfair]

Pretty soon you will get to the point that the passing of another one won't bother you.

[TwoRails]

I sure won't miss ME, but I still run a 98.2 box or two...

[GaryRouth]

Even though Microsoft discontinues the active Windows Update service for older versions, they usually still have the Security Updates (up to the most recent for that version) available for download manually at their download site. You can still download patches for Win95 machines, if you look around a bit for them.

Of course, Microsoft generally stops developing any further patches for the oldies (but the malware writers will usually have moved on as well - they want a large installation base).

One of the things that killed 98/98se/Me's viability for today's computing needs was the rise of malware = making some fairly serious multitasking a necessity (a dozen security processes running all the time is a heavier load than 9x was made to carry). The resource issue is it's Achilles heel.

But Achilles ran pretty well when he could.
. . . Gary