Re: Preaching to the choir

[mike808@users.sourceforge.net]

Lee wrote:
> MS did not discontinue support for W98 - the only dropped W98 retail (first 
> edition). W98SE is still supported, last I checked.

Apparently, you didn't RTFA.

Quoting http://www.archlug.org/kwiki/Windows98Support

> See for yourself: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;[ln];lifeprodw

From that page for Windows 98 Second Edition:

> Mainstream Support Retired: 30-Jun-2003
> Extended Support Retired:   16-Jan-2004 (Review note 1 below)

Review Note 1:
> Extended hotfix support ends 30-Jun-2003.
> After 16-Jan-2004, this product will be obsolete and assisted support 
> will no longer be available from Microsoft. Online self-help support will 
> continue to be available until at least 30-Jun-2006.

That's pretty clear to me. After this Friday (Jan 16, 2004), Win98SE will be 
"obsolete and assisted support will no longer be available".

Where are you getting your information from?

Whether or not "online self-help support" means the "Windows Update" feature
will continue to be "updated" itself, remains to be seen. It could just mean
that they'll *allow* you to access the knowledgebase and any *existing*
downloads, and that any future updates to the online support content will be
also discontinued.

But my point wasn't really about that. My interest was more in what impact does
that have for projects like WINE, as Microsoft has really closed the door for
WINE-like efforts on their later OSes, through their increasingly abusive and
coercive EULAs and in the post-DMCA environment.

What I'm hoping for is that people who purchase Microsoft licenses will find
that they are increasingly and more frequently being "abandonded" and 
"cornered" into a proprietary software "lock-in" model that clearly leads to
failure and great risk once Microsoft decides that your licensed product - their
OS, and your business' IT lifeblood - is effectively terminated.

Just look to NASA and the "end-of-life" for the Space Shuttles for an example of
the difficult situation you might find yourself if you think your business might
be around more than 5 years from now. From the above noted table, you can see
that Microsoft has implemented a a 5-year "lifetime" for their "commercial" OSes
(Win2KPro).

Mike/

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