thanks jafo.

harpo

His name wouldn't be Wayne, would it?  Yeah, when I was Living in Tassie, a former neighbour of mine [named Wayne] refused point blank to upgrade to XP, much less Vista at the time.  More to the point, he never used any AV or anti-malware products, yet amazingly he never got caught with any nasties.  Yup, one strange guy when it came to computers, but a really good bloke who'd do what he could to help people.

I don't use any AV or anti-malware products...didn't on Vista, 7, or 8 (aside from the MSE that comes with it, but I don't ever run it)...

Never had a problem or caught anything...recently installed some programs to demonstrate I truly did have a clean computer in order to win a bet with a friend (who still owes me some money, but that's another story)...I'll probably uninstall it all since I have no need for it...

I once installed an OS [XP] went online to do the usual updates and was hit within 20 seconds.

Last 'issue' was checking a dl link on these forums and my AV went ballistic over it  'trojan activity' ...that was less than 24 hours ago.

Good luck to those without 'protection'...but that's why there are so many bastard children in this world...

harpo

Nah, I suppose it was just the coincidence rather than a true enquiry.  I mean, XP hanger oners, yeah, but 98 hanger oners would have to be a rare breed, me thinks.  In fact, Wayne was that old-hat, he even dabbled with 95 on an old rig that wasn't internet connected, mostly as storage and a media centre for his music, movies and photos.

now starkers, I also have three 95 osr2.1 systems, three win98osr2.5 systems, four xp sp3 only systems, a vista triple boot (xp & v32 &v64), a vista 32 bit laptop, two win7 64bit only, one w764 dual boot(two different setups of w764bit) and a triple boot laptop (xp, w732 bit & wHATE64 bit), and several different linux boxes, and ALL of them are connected through my gigabit capable lan that I installed TWELVE years ago when cat 7 was extreme upper spec for network cabling, and yes the wire I used IS cat 7 STP or the cream of the cream in copper, the only better connections is fibre, BUT I could not justify setting up with fibre cable making equipment just for myself along with the falure rate for making the fibre leads.

and ALL the computers mentioned WORK when I have need to use them, and I have them for support of problems with old hardware and software for my customers.

harpo

I just installed 98 ....to check out the old AV proggies...a round-about way of helping Harpo...

First of all, I dislike your arrogance. Who are you?!?, to speak about MS future company policy like you would own it? You are in no position to support all the claims that you have made.

Secondly we already had the topic of support for Win 7..... (2020 at least). You see, many users of Windows are companies. And those companies dont like to spend million of € every two years because MS decided it is time for an new OS. Then there are million of home users.... people who dont buy a new PC every year but maybe 1 PC all 5 years. So go on... tell them that they need to buy a new PC all 2 years. That wont work. Same for the companies. A windows uprade does cost a lot of money.... both in license and work hours. There is no reason for a company to spend that money unless the upgrade offers a good return of investment. That leaves technical reasons. And you know..... the average thing that the average computer supported worker is doing will hardly benefit from an OS upgrade. My old company was still using Win 2000.... old you will correcty say..... but did it affect my productivity? Nope, it didnt, because if I hit buttons A B C in software D running on 2000 is not different to hitting buttons A B C in software D running on Win 7.

Of course you can try to force people and companies with technical limitations..... but you are not going to stand up against your competition if you do.

A company does not care in the slighest what runs on their computers.... as long it gets the job done and does not lead to unacceptable costs. So if MS would annoys it customer base with quickly dropped support it may soon learn that a company without customers is a dead company very soon.

Make the cost of running windows to high.... be it licence price or forced upgrade intervall and people will simple switch to Linux, Apple... ect.

Luckily for MS they have a partial monopoly.... that allows them to get away with things that would destroy a company on a competive market. But things can change.... and MS.... failed attempt .... to enter the phone market.... which is the entire point of Win 8 shows how desperate they are. In a world, where the desktop computer is one of many devices instead of THE device, incentive for people o to upgrade is low. Most of my friends use their computers for 3 things. Internet, e-mail, word processing. All tasks that do not remotly profit from having an OS upgrade. And so they reasonably take their time. BWT, this are all tasks that can be done with Linux... without trouble and for free. (Linux is difficult for the windows power user, not for the normal user that hits the power button and then starts one single program.)

Left behind? What? Huh? Are we on a treck southwest or are we speaking about the insignificant detail of running an OS?

Following peer pressure instead of using your on brain is often a sign of low self esteem.

You and a few others also seem to have one huge misunderstanding about how economy works. A company only decides what it offers, not who will buy it and when. Only the customer will make this decision. _It is MY money.... and if you want it..... you better give me a damm good reason. Companies that do not honor the wishes of their customers...... leave the market and die.

Perhaps your opinion of Win 8 is wrong.... perhaps it is right. It doesnt matter. The economic success of Win 8 will decide the fate of the OS and to some extent that of MS. 

Personally I do however doubt that even a major market gain in the mobile market - which is unlikely as there is indeed fiercy competition - is enough to compensate the losses taken from the desktop market.

I never said my mother was clueless.  Nor does "not experienced computer user" = clueless.  Perhaps you just need a refresher course in English Comprehension?

I can BSOD it in a heart beat.  Not to say I really want to keep crashing it, but alas, while the hieroglyphics are gone, the blue is not.

Oh look. Another newbie that doesn't know me or understand me. Try getting to know me before you say what you said. The conversation was between Jafo and I. I made my points, he made his. No sense in continuing the same old discussion.

In some ways it is history repeating: A new OS comes out and it seems that people do not want to adjust. But that's only from the point of view of those who dislike the new OS, of course. On the other hand, people work with the OS all the time. So they should like that environment. It doesn't make sense to use something because it annoys you.

Look at it this way: Stardock is even intended to serve that audience. It offers products to customize nearly every little nut and bolt in the OS. That should give you an idea how important the look and feel of an OS is.

I started using Vista when I bought my previous computer. I liked it and I didn't see much disadvantages. Much to the dismay of the XP fans I actually liked it. But, who cares? It supported my hardware at the time, so I couldn't see much against it. Now I bought another machine and I have the option of buying W7 or W8. I've used both before and I simply do not like W8. So, I have chosen to opt for W7. MS plans to release newer versions sooner, so let's hope that I like W9 better. Until that time, I'll stick with W7.

The new machine will arrive next week and I'm looking forward to it.

and Kona made his point without personal attacks. His points (in that reply ) ring truer than the crystal ball that you gleaned your info from I suspect.

Matthijs!!!!!!  Where have you been hiding? ...Good to see you alive and kicking....

Re recent comments, yes, the tone needs to be 'argue the opinion' not 'argue the person'.  it's sometimes a subtle difference but it's also the difference between lively 'debate' and 'voice removal'...

Re BSOD and Win 8 - I have yet to see it...but then when 2000 came out people called it "rock-solid" [and compared to 98 it probably was] but I killed it on average 3 times a day.  Fortunately there was also a way to skin the BSOD so I could at least make it pretty....

Back to AVs and 98 ....I installed 98 in VirtualBox and then spent all my time getting past the lack of addon support for 98 in it...and have a screen res better than VGA.  You forget how primitive the OS was....looking dumbly at a zip file like a bastard imbecile.  Now I just have to convince it to share files with the host....