I'm also still using Win 98 SE, and are quite happy to do so on My computer. The " families" comp. runs XP , (which I often wonder stands for " e-XP-erimental ) . Going from one to the other is a little disorientating, but Windows is Windows. The major issue is the Updates. W 98 SE is obviously out of date, but I'm still getting IE 6 security updates and not too many problems as Spyware Guard, Spyware Blaster, Spybot & Ad-Aware do a good job for me With Win 98 SE.
The Idea of a Beta version ; IE 7 , is a worry, as we are the guinea pigs doing the testing for Microsoft. Like with MS Beta Anti-Spyware ; which I've tested on XP, and went back to Ad-Aware Spybot, & Spyware Guard. Oh, obviously I've omitted Avast! , as that's taken for granted as an essential part of both our Home computer's.
I do see a keen interest by many users towards Firefox ,and alternate browsers, and think that as stated earlier this is prompting the quick release of IE 7. Maybe I'll be one of them when IE 6 is gone and forgotten.