Win98banter - View Single Post - Windows 8 fails to deliver expected boost as Christmas PC sales slump

**J. P. Gilliver (John)**

In message ,
writes:
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MS seems to think that we need to constantly upgrade and buy new

No, what they think we need isn't known; however, THEY need the refresh
cycle, to keep them going.
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us, actually use our computers to be productive. There is no way in
hell that I want to keep upgrading, having to relearn a new OS and
change my software programs. My computer is a tool used to be

I agree with you there! (XP SP3, with fancy graphics removed and
generally made to look like my '98SElite system, with Office 2003, here.
XP is of course now three versions of Windows ago.)
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If MS had any smarts, they would have continues to support Win98, maybe
added a few features, such as better USB support, larger drive support,
and the ability to use more RAM. They dont seem to realize that some of
us simply dont want all their few fangled bloat, and all that added
power. Those os us who like simplicity are ignored. But what they dont
realize is that we too will buy stuff from them if they offer what we
want.

Realistically, you (and those like you/us) wouldn't in practice buy
enough to keep them in business. Be honest (-:!

Personally, I can do everything with Win98 that I can do with XP and up.

No, you can (perhaps) do everything that you _want_ to do with XP and
up. There are certainly things XP can do that 98 can't, and more so for
later versions. Whether those are things you _want_ to do, only you can
know.

All my (mostly older) software works just fine and is used to be
productive. Where Win98 is failing today, is with the internet, and
only with the internet. The new websites (with all their bloat), wont
run well on older browsers, and newer browsers wont run on Win98. But I

Certainly it is mainly websites, though some large video data may also
cause problems.

think that's all planned, to force us to upgrade to all this newer crap.

I used to think it was; I now think it's more a combination of lazy
programming and limited resources. Put it this way: it takes more effort
to code efficiently and compatibly. If someone (not just MS) has limited
money to spend on computer programmers, they're more likely to spend it
on new features (whether _you_ want them or not), or at the very least,
fixing bugs related to later OSs rather than earlier ones. (I still
respect people who _do_ code efficiently and compatibly, such as the
authors of USBDeview and IrfanView - the latter, in particular, does it
how it should be done: some of the features in the more recent versions
won't work on older OSs, but the new versions of the software still run
on the older OSs, the new features don't (all) work, so the users of the
older OSs are no worse off (in fact slightly better, as some new things
do, and some bugs are fixed).
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But, once again, MS will lose the money I may have paid if they
continued to support and make slight improvements to Win98. I dont want

What would you have paid them _for_, though - would you have paid for a
whole new 98, at the price (adjusted for inflation) you did in 98?

their new ****. Even after all the years XP has been out, I still hate
it. That's the problem with computers. We have no choices. With cars
there are lots of makes and models. Some have all the bells nad
whistles, others are basic cars. This is true for almost all other

Not actually so: in the UK at least, new cars have to comply with new
relations. This has killed off several classics of simplicity from being
made and sold as new cars - such as the original mini (no, not the BMW
twice the size one) on safety grounds (actually _many_ small cars), and
the Lada (and probably others) on emissions grounds, and probably many
others on assorted grounds.

products. But with computers, you only have 2 choices. The PC with the
latest ****up OS from MS, or the Mac.

Or Linux PCs?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"This situation absolutely requires a really futile and stoopid gesture be done
on somebody's part." "We're just the guys to do it." Eric "Otter" Stratton (Tim
Matheson) and John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi) - N. L's Animal House
(1978)