Win95 Lifecycle Draws to a Close

Mr_Perl writes "As many Everquest players discovered recently directx 8.1 is not being made for Windows 95, sending stores everywhere into a frenzy to slap little stickers over the words "Windows 95" on game box system requirements sections. Microsoft has picked November 30th, 2001 as the date that Win95 moves into the unsupported phase of it's career, making it even more useless to those who still keep it around for playing the latest games. Looks like Win98 is slated for execution June 30, 2003."

MS-DOS

[10 Speed]

Luckily MS-DOS is still supported!!(for the rest of this year anyway)

And I have a still shrink-wrapped 6.22 upgrade...I wonder if it'll ever be collectable....

The wait

[rjamestaylor]

Looks like Win98 is slated for execution June 30, 2003.

It always takes so long to execute criminals in this country...

Re:Why is this news?

[rjamestaylor]

Come on, it's not like you'll find a lot of support by current apps for say, Linux 1.0.x either.

Completely untrue -- This [indiana.edu] is a post regarding a bug in Linux 0.01. And here [indiana.edu] Linus assigns the maintainer of the 0.01 Kernel. That beats IBM's 7-year maintenance policy.

A minute of silence...

[arsaspe]

Lets have a minute of silence for Windows 95. A quick win32 hack that has been a thorn in Microsofts side ever since. It will be sad to see it go, since after 6 years of bugfixes it was just starting to look really good.

Downgrading...

[c_jonescc]

"Customers who purchase Windows XP Professional have full downgrade rights to, Windows Professional, Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows 98."

Now if only I could figure out how to downgrade RedHat 7.2 to XP, so I can get microsoft support.

Windows Me?

[JJC]

Any notice that there's no mention of Windows Me on that page [microsoft.com]? I wouldn't be suprised if Microsoft starts denying the existance of it pretty soon. :-)

Re:why bash microsoft for this?

[Dynedain]

A dial-in product activation is already common on many pieces of software that predate WinXP. 3D Studio and AutoCAD are two common examples that come to mind. And web-based authentication is common too - look at any Macromedia product.

In all these cases, if you write down the number the person on the other end of the phone gives you then you can reinstall later to your heart's content.

The XP authentication will use the same number if there aren't hardware changes. Hence your written down response number will work and you wouldn't have to call.

Furthermore, Microsoft *will* keep a database of registration and activation and if you call back in 5 years I'm sure they'll still be able to look up your pertinant info.

David Coursey over at ZDNet [zdnet.com] actually approached Bill Gates on this "deactivation" concern at a special dinner surrounding the XP launch. Here's a quote from the article [zdnet.com]:

WILL WINDOWS XP EXPIRE?
"Nonsense!" was how Gates responded to my sharing the concerns of some readers--this is the urban legend I wrote about last Wednesday--that Microsoft plans to use its activation technology to turn off copies of Windows XP when Microsoft decides to stop supporting it.

This idea was so far from left field that I had to explain it a couple of times before Gates responded and then reminded me he doesn't license his software that way--you get to use it forever, and Microsoft has to convince you to give them more money by offering new innovations.

While I agree with Gates that the fears are unfounded, there are people who believe this nonsense, which I've already tried to debunk once. So, remember the words of Chairman Bill: "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever."

There you have it from the man himself. "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever." I especially like the fact that when asked about this it took Bill a couple of times before understanding what the question was. The idea of "deactivating" users honestly never crossed his mind.

So....when support is no longer provided for XP in the future, you may not be able to get updates, patches, etc., but you will deffinately still be able to run it. That wonderful legal agreement called the EULA protects your interests too you know.

If you think this is bad...

[Lunastorm]

My old Nintendo won't play Luigi's Manson, and my old Playstation won't play the Playstation 2 games, and don't get me started on not being able to play Gameboy Advance games on my original Game Boy.

LoL re Win3.1

[mirabilos]

Hehe... seems as Win31 will be supported longer
(although not significantly) than Win95 :)

I ever knew, and it's in someones sig:

Win9x - A 32-bit extension for a 16-bit GUI
written for an 8 bit OS originally designed
for a 4-bit microprocessor purchased by a
2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.

Re:A minute of silence...

[WolfWithoutAClause]

Windows 95 has the minute of silence built-in with every reboot.

Re:Hummm...

[BelDion]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if WfWG was still in use.

Just thought I'd throw it in that KFC's computers run of Win 3.11.

That's right, I've been a fast food grunt.

Stop looking at me like that! I was young and needed the money! Ok, it was a year ago, (breaks down and cries)

No, not yet!

[sharkey]

I'm still waiting for Windows 95 to make everything I do faster, and more fun. It still doesn't do that.

Re:The wait

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah...misunderstood 'execution' -- I see....

Re:Bill Gates should make a good product, not sque

[jroller]

I haven't seen a registry corruption in years (not since win95, actually).

Speak for yourself. My parents computer running Windows Me boots up into a message that says something like "The registry is corrupted. Click OKAY to fix registry and reboot the computer." When it finishes rebooting it shows the same message. There is no cancel or close box on the dialog.

I was overjoyed to find that my parents had figured out what to do. When the computer starts up, the first thing you do is hit C-M-Del, and force quit the Registry Fixer. Cool!