Windows98 support - "Drop Dead" date is only 5 weeks away!

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by AplusWebMaster, Dec 13, 2003.

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  1. AplusWebMaster

    AplusWebMaster Registered Member

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    :( FYI...

    Microsoft Shouldn't Just Walk Away From Win98
    http://www.securitypipeline.com/trends/index.jhtml
    - By Scot Finnie
    December 12, 2003
    "...As of January 16, 2004, a scant five weeks from now, Microsoft expects to curtail hotfix support for all versions of Windows 98...According to an AssetMetrix survey, 80 percent of companies were still running at least one Windows 98 or 95 computer...To its credit, the software maker has extended the lifespans of newer versions of Windows to the five-to-seven-year range. But it's hard to deny the possibility that Microsoft might be using now unchecked security threats to the Win9x platform as a whip to drive enterprises and consumers to upgrade to newer versions of Windows. If so, that kind of behavior needs regulation...Let it be up to the market to decide when the realistic lifespan of a version of Windows has ended. No matter whose numbers you use to measure Windows 98's remaining installed base, the number is still too high right now."

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  2. AplusWebMaster

    AplusWebMaster Registered Member

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    FYI...
    http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031211S0009
    "...AssetMetrix's survey of 670 companies found that 80 percent of the firms were still running at least one machine with Windows 98 and the older OS, Windows 95. Together, the two operating systems account for over 27 percent of all installed Windows machines, a number substantially higher than the meager seven percent share of Windows XP. Windows 2000 placed in the number one spot, with 53 percent, while the aged Windows NT, still popular in many enterprises, accounted for 13 percent..."

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  3. doug6949

    doug6949 Registered Member

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    27 percent for W95/98 vs only 7 percent for XP? Well, it appears that the public is finally getting wise to M$ promises about new software.

    I don't see much issue with the drop dead date. Hackers and virus writers seem to be focused on NT-based operating systems. Am I correct?

    Doug
     
  4. AplusWebMaster

    AplusWebMaster Registered Member

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    :( 'Nope, afraid not. Most are "Equal opportunity employers" and they run the gamut of O/S's. Although the problems associated with them may vary from one O/S to another, most have an impact "across the board" in one form or another.

    - Edit/Add: - A few examples:

    - Slammer:
    Although "targeted" for "systems running Microsoft SQL Server 2000, as well as Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE) 2000", check the "Systems Affected":
    - http://securityresponse1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/html/w32.sqlexp.worm.html
    "...Systems Affected: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Me..."

    - Trojan.Qhosts
    - http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html
    "...Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP ..."
     
  5. AplusWebMaster

    AplusWebMaster Registered Member

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    :( FYI...
    http://news.com.com/2102-1016_3-5121458.html?tag=st_util_print
    "...Consumers are also still widely using Windows 98. Google reported that 29 percent of searches done in September came from machines running Windows 98, as compared with 38 percent from Windows XP-based PCs and 20 percent from Windows 2000 machines...One of the main issues...is the security risk Internet-attached PCs running the older OS pose. "Now, there is a way to get into the infrastructure...Your buddies down the hall on Windows XP or Windows 2000 might be fine, but you become the Typhoid Mary for the company."...Scott Warren, a nursery owner in Glencoe, Ky., said he uses Windows 98 for both personal and business purposes, although he does not directly connect his Windows 98-equipped business machine to the Internet. But Warren said that not offering security patches for older operating systems would hurt all computer owners. "Most (Windows 98 users) are probably like me and do not intend to be coerced into spending several hundred dollars every three years or so," he said in an e-mail. "What this means is that the Internet viruses, worms, Trojans and who knows what else will have 'free reign' of the older machines compromising the entire Net."

    - Hmmm...
     
  6. Randy_Bell

    Randy_Bell Registered Member

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    Not necessarily: Win9X is not vulnerable to RPC Exploit used by msBlaster and Nachi/Welchia on NT-family OSes {NT/2K/XP). The OSes have different vulnerabilities; also, as 9X goes out of vogue, it will be less of a target for hackers and kiddies, than XP. ;)
     
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