I got this message this morning, and I feel that it I should post it. IT IS IMPORTANT!! PLEASE READ!! "MICROSOFT HAS DUMPED SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS 3.1x, NT 3.x, AND GETTING SPARSE FOR WINDOWS 95, WINDOWS 95 OSR2. Yeah, old news right? Well, I am on the "Langa List" and this morning it had an interesting story/article... Sorry for the long post and possibly poor formatting, using aol webmail at school, and it kinda sucks... :) Microsoft "Obsolete" KB items and files FOUND! I've said it before and I'll say it again: You folks are *awesome*. Not an issue goes by that that I don't receive some (often, many) interesting and useful items that I probably never would otherwise have discovered. Here's a case in point: As we've discussed in the past, Microsoft is about to pull the plug on support for Windows 98, 98SE, and NT; support has already officially ended for Windows 3.xx, and Windows NT 3.5x; and support has become skeletal for Win95, Win95 OSR1 and Win95 OSR2. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-15.htm#1 and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-10-29.htm#1 for more info.) Microsoft's new "Desktop Product Lifecycle Guidelines" affect *all* their products--- not just operating systems. (If you want to see when Microsoft will pull the plug on support for *your* software, check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycleconsumer.asp and http://support.microsoft.com/directory/discontinue.asp .) In fact, this recent change in support for older products is one of the reasons why we've been covering XP and non-Windows alternatives more than we might otherwise: Microsoft is starting to *force* you to move to newer products; if you want support. Once again, please don't shoot the messenger: *I'm* not the one tossing, say, Win98 into the trash heap--- it's Microsoft doing it! I'm just trying to help you cope. For example, the article at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001- 11-15.htm#1 urged you to grab all the downloads, patches, updates, and related files you could (while they were still available) for any product that Microsoft has decided to stop supporting: In effect, you need to create a self-contained support system if you want to keep using these products. As mentioned above, support for some popular Microsoft products already has ended. But an enterprising reader poked around in the corners of some Microsoft servers and found useful files for some of these officially unsupported products. If you're using these products, it'd be smart to grab these files while you still can: Fred, Excellent newsletter as always! I must mention a find, I stumbled into on Microsoft's FTP site... ...I have been looking for a copy of the Windows 3.1 Resource kit just to complete my collection. I also keep a copy running for old Origin games (I can't just kick the habit of crashing though dungeons Richard Garriot style).... Here is what I found: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/peropsys/msdos ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/peropsys/windows These two locations in Microsoft's FTP contain Knowledge Base(KB) items that I can not pull up on [the main] KB site any longer, and some files that may help people! In the msdos dir there is a public folder which contains the supplemental disk images for msdos 6.xx in several languages! (I think these were the result of that lawsuit over DoubleSpace?). In another folder are the disk images for the Step-Up to 6.22 from a prior version of MSDOS. The gem for me however was within the windows directory. In there were the KB files and the Resource Kit in a help file format and in a disk image format taken from the original resource kit! Also found there were KB files in Help file format Microsoft Windows Version 3.11 Refresh (driver file updates it appears) I don't know how useful these are to that many people these days, but for die-hards like myself this stuff eventually finds a use ) --- Daniel S. Gurrola" That message was from the Calmira newsletter, it is not meant to offend anyone, just to inform people of the inevitible loss of support.

worry wart. who cares? xp is in. live with it

I use both XP and 3.11 on my P3 633Mhz, and they are both very adequate for what I use them for.

I think we are also at a point of critical mass where software vs. hardware vs. OS are concerned.. the software manufacturers are always testing the limits of every new machine that hits the market.. surprise surprise, my Compaq 633 that is less than 2 years old is fast joining the ranks of the "stragglers" where speed is concerned.. now 1.6 gig processors are available so, what about us folks who have gone as far as we want to or need to? i don't game, but even Cool Edit Pro 1.2 makes my machine, at times, run as slow as my old 486 100.. it's a bit disturbing that I have everything I need, computerwise, for now and forever, but in the not too distant future, may not have a supported OS for it.. picture the cyber landscape in 2005! would someone with an "unsupported" OS like WinME even dare go on the Internet? what kind of perils will lie out there for me then? what kinds of security flaws will hackers have found by then? wish i had my old Altos and MP/M back, at times.. LOL

kj - how do you feel about the Universal Plug and Play vulnerability in XP? or the phone home feature? or, the so called "firewall" that blindly allows any communication, in either direction, by Microsoft, or by certain programs you have installed, without your knowledge? programs we usually call "spyware?"

Windows 95 is over 6 years old. Back in august 1995, it was great technology for it's time. But very simply, it is obsolete. If you were to go to the lifecycle site, it says the reason microsoft does this is for customer satisfcation. Programmers only support what people use, only 5% of pc's are using win95, so no programmers write programs for it. This results in programs that say there win95 compatible, but in reality there not. This leads to programs screwing up the operting system, and consumers being unhappy. So what the life cycle page means, it means the point when software is no longer supported by microsoft and any other vendors. However this doesnt mean win95 won't work, again if you read the page the lifecycle page has nothing to do with usuability, it's just there so consumers will know when to upgrade. You can still get win95 support for $45 through an independent copmany, before win95 support was $35. So for just $10 more you can get support for an unsupported product, is this really that bad? As far as windows 98, you can still use warranty support for it until june of this year. After that, youll have to pay $35 per incident, and itll be retired in a year or 2. Again, is this really so bad? Youve had 4 years to use the warrenty support. And no where does any microsoft say the win3.1 or win95 websites will die. This is just hearsay. Microsoft even has some msdos stuff on there website. Again, is microsoft really hurting anyone? As far as windows xp, it does NOT phone home. Again, show me evidence that your personal info is being sent to microsoft - you cant. The firewall in windows xp only blocks incoming connections, its not meant to be a fully featured firewall. Im so sick of people bashing microsoft with no facts. Most people are brain washed by the "experts" such as that langa guy who knows nothing. Before judging microsoft why dont u research it first? -gosh

Oh, the whole thing is silliness anyways. Between these boards, AXCEL 216's MAX,PowerLoad UK and SG's MVP Site you have more support than MS ever provided in the first place.