Microsoft Halts Driver Support For Windows 98 [Extreme Tech]. And I quote the first sentence, because it says it all:
Microsoft Corp. has halted hardware driver support for users of Windows 98 and Windows NT (workstation and server editions) in a bid to push users to the company's new operating systems.
You'll probably be able to get support for devices from their manufacturers, but Microsoft wants you to upgrade to Windows 2000 and XP. Many individuals and corporations have resisted Bill's will in this matter, so Bill has been forced to take harsher measures to bring the people (and Microsoft's revenue projections) back in line. Never mind that Windows 98 works just fine for many folks; if it ain't broke don't fix it -- broken and fixed being relative terms when dealing with notoriously unreliable and virus-prone Microsoft products. I'm still using Windows 98 (Radio UserLand is Windows only alas) and experimenting with Linux because the time is fast approaching, with all the changes coming down, legislation coming down from on high, thunder on the mountain, they're trying to stifle us, good people, trying to destroy our Purity of Essence, to deny us our god given slack, I tell you a change is gonna come brethren and cistern, when we cast off the yoke of oppression, rise up as one and ...
Sorry, I just had one of my "spells". This whole situation perfectly illustrates why open source is the way the computer industry needs to go. When you are locked into proprietary computing solutions, you are at some corporation's mercy. Microsoft just decided to pull the plug, and now Windows 98 and NT are ancient history now as far as they're concerned. What if you're happy with the status quo, you have databases and business solutions happily running on a Windows 98 platform, and you don't want to change? Too bad, says Mr. Bill, and now you're stuck because you can't upgrade your scanner or printer or add a USB2 port...
Computer technology was supposed to liberate us, to be a general-purpose tool to allow us to manipulate information in ways we could never imagine, bounded only by our fertile imagination. That at least was the hype, and I for one still believe it. But they are trying to constrain us, turn the internet into a one way conduit of sanctioned infotainment, for which we're supposed to be grateful, and oh yeah, which we are also supposed to pay for every time we use it or view it in any way shape or form.
Much much more to come...
7:45:58 PM 
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