"I've been orphaned a few times: It isn't fun (PMS Witch)...."
"Microsoft's Driving a Stake Into Windows
Are you ready for Microsoft to end support for Windows 95?
Jonathan Blackwood
March, 2001
Winmag.com
Still using Windows 95 at work or home? There are better choices -- especially Windows 98, but Windows 2000 is good, too, especially for businesses. The thing is, what you might not know is that this past December 31, you entered Microsoft's "Extended Phase" of support.
According to the company's Web site, this means the product is no longer available at retail, licenses "may not be available to consumers," and licenses for businesses are "only available in the authorized OEM distribution channel and through downgrade rights available in Volume Licensing programs. During this period the only free support Microsoft is offering for the product is that provided on its Web site. This policy also applies to MS-DOS and Windows 3.1, incidentally, as of the same date.
And as of December 31 of this year, all three of those products enter the "Non-Supported phase." Licenses will continue to be available to businesses as mentioned above, but online support is the only support Microsoft will provide. And five years after a product has been introduced, Microsoft may, at its discretion, terminate even this support after a 12-month warning period.
The same basic policies hold true for Microsoft Office packages, as well, though in that case, the company reserves the right to terminate all support with a six-month warning. And incidentally, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 are now scheduled to enter the "Extended Phase" on June 30, 2002, with the Non-Supported phase to commence one year after that.
Microsoft states that it's not mentioning Windows 2000 or Windows Me specifically in this schedule, because the support and availability of those two OSes does not change before December 31, 2002. In keeping with Microsoft's announced policies to date, however, the Extended phase for Windows 2000 would commence on February 17, 2003, with the Non-Supported phase following one year later. For Windows Me, the relevant dates are September 14, 2003 and 2004, respectively.
Keep in mind that Microsoft clearly states on its Web site that you may continue to use any of these products so long as you wish (assuming, of course, you have a license to do so). It's just that there won't be any support for them.
Why is Microsoft doing this? The short answer may be the company finds a need to "encourage" upgrading, both to the newer OSes, and to the newer versions of Office. Reports are that Office 2000 upgrades have not been as brisk as upgrades to previous versions. The same holds true for its operating systems.
And with good reasons. Many of our readers have reported problems with Windows Me. By our reckoning here at Winmag.com, Windows 98 is the OS of choice for consumers -- it's more stable than Windows Me, it still lets you boot to DOS, and it has USB and FAT32 support not found in all versions of in Windows 95.
Windows 2000 is a fine operating system; but many large customers seem perfectly happy with NT 4.0 mated to the later Service Packs. In these large organizations, it takes so long to get a software image approved and locked in that customers are justifiably reluctant to make a change. Unless forced to do so.
That appears to be exactly what Microsoft is attempting. And don't forget, the company has a raft of new policies aimed at reducing or eliminating piracy, such as forced "activation" with the newer Office 2000 SR-1 and Office XP (which runs 50 times before it requires an activation code you must get from Microsoft), a similar 30-day period before activation is required under Windows XP, and BIOS-locked Windows CDs that ship with OEM systems.
Microsoft's old way of doing business just isn't providing the same level of revenue growth that the company was accustomed to. By and large, individuals and companies are satisfied with the PCs and software they have. That's why PC sales (whose OSes provide another large revenue stream for Microsoft) are tanking, and why Microsoft's upgrades have fallen off, as well.
Now, while I respect the fact that Microsoft needs to protect its intellectual property, I'm less than thrilled with its methods of trying to usher all of us into a new age of forced product activation. I realize that it just doesn't make sense for the company to provide support indefinitely for old products, but paid support for products that are popular and still in widespread use would solve this problem.
There just has to be a better way than Microsoft is offering."
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