One month ago, Microsoft quietly announced that it was no longer supporting Windows 98, Windows 98SE, or Windows ME.  No more updates – no more technical support  - no more nuthin!  If you are still using one of these OS’s, you’re on your own.  I wonder why Microsoft abandoned those venerable operating systems. 

Well, here are some statistics. 

Marshall ABE had 1706 visitors to the marshalladulteducation.org website in July.  Here’s the breakdown of who was using what.

• 1162 of those used Windows XP
• 412 used Windows 2000
• 44 of those used Windows 98
• 3 used Windows NT
• 2 used Windows 95
• 2 used Server 2003

Hey – that doesn’t add up to 1706! 

Oh yes…

78 used Macintosh (of those 78, 1 used the new Intel processor)

1 used Linux

2 were unknown

If you one of the 2.71% that still uses 98 or ME, you won’t be able to get any more security patches.  So there are some things you need to do.

• Be careful how you surf the web.  Without updated security patches you will be vulnerable to all kinds of malware.  Don’t go to sites you don’t know about.
• Consider using an alternate browser than Internet Explorer.  Mozilla Firefox is one of the best.  It is more secure - less likely to get infected.
  http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Browsers/
• Be sure you backup your data.  If possible, make an image of your computer so you can restore it when you have trouble.
  See http://www.marshalladulteducation.org/techtips/techtip43.htm
• Be sure you have up-to-date virus protection software.  An excellent FREE one is Grisoft AVG.
  http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
• If you do decide to upgrade to Windows XP, make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865/

One last thing - you are actually not left totally out in the cold.  Microsoft still has a website dedicated to Windows 98 folks.  You can read about your 98 problems here – just don’t call Microsoft and ask them any questions!

http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/

Read more about the end of support for Windows 98 and ME here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/support/endofsupport.mspx