Office 98 with Win XP?

[Jukeboxs]

My friend currently has Win98SE with Office 98, and wants to upgrade the operating system to Win XP Pro. To save him buying Office XP and spending £150, is there any harm in continuing the use Office 98 with the Win XP Pro operating system? Would the mismatch cause instability issues?

Many thanks,

Jukeboxs.

[sdkfz]

Assuming you mean office 97 and win 98 migating to win xp, there is no issue on compatibilty. I have had that combiniation running on a machine with no problems.

[HAL9000]

Same here.... Office 97 does everything we need it to do in this household, so I'm not upgrading.

[Jukeboxs]

I was all for recommending Windows XP, which I use - I have found it very reliable. However, some guys in the office here are arguing for Windows 2000.

Before my friend goes out and buys Windows XP (probably the Home version), are there advantages (apart from the obvious add-ons) to XP over any previous version of Windows (e.g. 2000)? E.g. Is it more stable?

Thanks again,

Jukeboxs.

[Statica]

Stability of Windows 2k and XP are relatively the same, again its not just the OS stability that you need to account for, it is also stability of the system loaded with all the software and devices that your friend will be using.
The real OS consideration comes from the other benifits. WindowsXP is a newer OS, and as such will be the recipient of frequent updates. Again it isnt just updates from Microsoft that is the issue here, it is updates and support from manufacturers of other devices. As such, most devices that will come out will be designed to run optimally on XP first, and then any previous versions. (for example, most WiFi manufacturers are slow to come out with WPA supplicant applications, however XP with the WiFi update provides for WPA supplicant using the wireless 0 configuration utility - if your friend were to use Win2k, he would have to wait for the device mfger to come out with such an application)
The only situations that I would find myself recommending Windows 2000 over XP home are the following:
1) The user has needs for specific security, network or admin settings that are unavailable in XP home. Of course, if that is the case, then he'd be better of investing in XP Pro (that is if the person already has Win2k).
2) The user specifically has software that is incompatible with XP but compatible with 2k.
3) The user already has Windows 2000, but would need to buy XP. However, if the person has to buy an OS be it 2k or XP, then I'd recommend spending money on a new OS.