Farewell... Windows 3.x and 9x :wavey:

[Gnomercy]

from my langalist mailing... someone find a bugle and blow taps for me.
------------------------------------

Farewell, Win9x/3x

The article "It's Curtains For Windows 95" at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021211S0008 --- about
Microsoft's finally pulling the plug on Win3x and Win95--- is generating
great reader comments. Some are technical (such as those arguing the
relative merits of the Mac and Windows, or OS/2 and Windows), and some
personal. As just one example of the latter:

Fred, Regarding your fine article about Windows 3x and Windows
95 reaching End Of Life, Windows 95 certainly was the most
important OS release to me, but for a completely different
reason. I attended the local Microsoft launch of Windows 95.
After the "pep rally", they raffled off free copies of the OS.
I put my business card in the fish bowl, and luckily won a
copy. I know I wouldn't have purchased it for a while since we
were using IBM OS/2 at work at the time, and what ever they
were charging for the OS was way more than I was willing to
pay. I immediately installed it on my PC at home and was
instantly hooked on the OS. I fooled around with it as much as
I could. I played with it. I broke it. I fixed it. I broke it.
I reinstalled it. I really go to know it and my computer. This
led me to my current career as a Systems Administrator for a
very large IT company. If it wasn't for Window 95, and a bit
of luck, I don't think I would have the satisfying career I do
today.--- Phil Buchiero

For good or ill, I believe that Win3x/Win9x were the most important
commercial OS releases ever; and that no future OS release, ever, will
match their impact. Love them or hate them, Win95 and Win3x had an
enormous impact on us all--- on everyone who has used any computer,
including Macs and Linux boxes, in the last dozen years.

Check out the end-of-the-year column available (for free) at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021211S0008 ; it shows you
what the computing landscape was like before Windows hit the scene, and
what impact (both good and bad) the OS had on software and hardware.
Please see out the article, and then join in the discussion: Am I
overstating the importance of these OSes? How might history have played
out if Microsoft hadn't released Windows 3? What would the computing
world look like today without Windows? Join in!

[Gnomercy]

For folks like Bellgamin that are still running a win95 install (or did you upgrade Bells?) there is a second part to the story... this one about how you have 2 weeks to get everything shipshape before you lose the ability to download patches and tweaks and stuff.
--------------------------------

Preserving A Win9x/3x Setup

If you have a copy of Win3x or 95 and plan to keep it, you have less
than two weeks to get it shipshape before you'll lose the ability to
download patches and updates from Microsoft.

I strongly suggest you get your current setup as close to perfect as you
can, *now*--- with all current patches and updates applied, all drivers
fully current, all junk files removed, all files scanned for
viruses/worms/trojans/etc; and with the drive fully scandisk-ed and
defragged. Then MAKE A BACKUP, or better still an image of that near-
perfect setup. That backup or image will be your lifeboat as you go
forward. If--- or when--- you run into serious trouble, you'll be able
to restore your system to that near-perfect state by using the backup or
image.

Everything you need to know about how to accomplish the above is in past
issues of The LangaList. Readers of the Standard Edition can use the
generic search engine at http://www.langa.com/search.htm to dig out info
on any topic; Plus! Edition readers can use that resource or their copy
of the LangaList Helpfile Archives (see item 11, below).

Other general sources:

Official Updates: Visit the Windows Update site. If you have trouble
completing an Update, see
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;319585 .

Disk Cleanup:
http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm

Backup/Imaging Options:
http://www.langa.com/backups/backups.htm

Spyware(etc) Removal:
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-10-31.htm#1

Win3x/95 tuning, tweaking, etc:
http://www.freetune.com/most_popular_pages.htm

[bellgamin]

Gnome, I *downgraded* from Win 95 to WinME a month or so ago.

So far, WinME is steady as a rock.

By the way, Langa said M$ is blowing the whistle on 9X. NOT true. The term "9x" includes Win98 [always] & WinME [usually] because they are all on the same basic engine. M$ is NOT yet blowing the whistle on 98 or ME.

Recently Langa also said that AntiVir is a "new German antivirus program" -- that is total baloney. That program has been around for ages. The other free AVs [Avast & AVG] are parsecs better than AntiVir.

The wet bird flies at midnight.:rolleyes:

[Gnomercy]

Yeah, I read the article included in the first post and he specifies 95 as opposed to 9x (he bundles 95, 98 and ME in to the 9x designation there). I didn't see where he called AntiVir "new", do you have a link that would point that out? I'm on a reading binge tonight for some reason...

[bellgamin]

Gnome - I'm way behind on my langa reading. I got the scoop on his antivir boo-boo second-hand from...DSL Reports (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,5373628~root=security,1~mode=flat)

[Gnomercy]

Cool, thanks Bells