snip

I still have many of the Certificate of Authenticity booklets for the
bootable win98 cd's
and the ones I have are from either Gateway, Compaq or HP...
and they all are just generic Microsoft cd's for win98se.

Why do Win98SE CDs still sell for $40 to $50 on Ebay? Surely those old
PCs that use Win98 aren't worth that much. Is there a big demand for
legacy equipment? Where does it all go? Charities? Old folks?

- Franc Zabkar


If win98 cd's are selling for that much on eBay...
I'm in the wrong business...I figured they'd be in the $15 price range.

That said: Windows 98 still lives on.


Since I am a Microsoft authorized refurbisher who re-certifies donated
machines
for an NPO...our cost for an XP or Win2k license is just $5...so I am pretty
much through
setting up win98 machines...but there is still a demand for them.

Though I suppose old folks and charities may account for some of it...
there are still plenty of individuals and businesses who rely on legacy
software
and devices....especially devices that require "real mode" DOS.

Many of the elderly feel they cannot learn anything newer than Win98...
and though there is no reason they should have a problem with a newer OS...
once you have an idea in your mind...that can often be "end of discussion".

Some of the computers...are used to run factory machinery and use
specialized applications. I have a friend who keeps such equipment running.
http://www.tdlelectronics.com/
Once in a while he'll come to me for a win98 or even win95 computer...
just for the purposes of running the software.
Since such a machine would have a replacement cost of at least a million
dollars or so,
they'd have no problem paying for a legacy computer...even if I wanted to
charge some outrageous
price.