Support for Win98SE

[Mike Buxton]

Hi,

The decision has been officially announced but the effective date has not been announced.

Forward Planning is in any event a process rather than a fact (except in and of itself).

My regards

[dw2108]

avast! is a great product for XP and beyond. Win 9x/ME/NT/2000 shall be unsupported eventually. My advice to those of us who still love 9x/ME is -- BEFORE the support ends -- to get the old BitDefender Version 10 FREE. During the install, choose the COMPLETE option. A 9x/ME user shall have a very good on access, P2P and email scanner. Many are of the opinion that 9x/ME/NT/2000 are going to be replaced soon with (at least) XP, Vista or Win 7. Not so! Win NT/2000 servers are all over in businesses in Texas, and people -- including The Houston Police Department, US ARMY recruiting posts, etc. -- are tired of upgrading to yet ANOTHER MS OS which FAILS to work! This should be clear from the number of support boards on the net and the number of posts on these boards.

Dave

[pixturesk]

Hi Dave, Mike. I went to get the Bit Defender Free Version 10 but it kept taking me a link for the trial version of some similar software. But the following link, after searching Google took me to an actual link for the version you are talking about, on the site File Hippo: http:http://www.filehippo.com/download_bitdefender/, I hope it takes you there. This same situation took place with Super AntiSpyware Free, but if I continue to use the legacy version I am using, I will, so they say, always be able to get the spyware definitions, so far it's working.

I suspect that Avast will probably continue supporting Win 2K because it runs programs akin to XP. So if I continue to use a Microsoft OS, I will either try Bit Defender Free 10 or Clam Win, or just begin again with either Win 2K Pro SP4 or Win XP Pro SP3, then continue using Avast or just completely change to a Mac, which is increasingly becoming more intriguing. Then no more virus worries, also the most stable OS I have ever seen, rarely if ever crashes, much more innovative than any Microsoft OS. Thanks, Ken.

[normishmael]

pixturesk,
Please forgive me for stateing what you probally already know,but the BitDefender free is on demand only,
and instals more process's than most real time AV's.
I would at least look into online scans,and maybe DrWeb Cureit.

[pixturesk]

Thanks normishmael. I now have both Bit Defender + Clam Win, will seriously check them out, but no panic, want to hear the official announcement from Alwil, then take it from there. Thanks.

[dw2108]

For 9x/ME BD Free 10 is ON ACCESS, P2P and email scan. I hope that you can find it at fillhippo or softpedia. IT WORKS! I have many old 9x clunkers running BD Free. But avast! giving up on 9x/ME/NT/2000, the world shall be forever in schock!

Dave

[pixturesk]

Bit Defender 10 Free is at the above link, certainly at File Hippo, that's where I got it. I also got some re-assuring news from Clam Win with the following exchange in their forum. Nice to know there is a current alternative, if + when the "unthinkable" happens, Ken.

My question: Will Clam Win continue to support Win98SE for the long term?

Clam Win admin Alch reply: we have no plans to abandon it

My reply: Alch. Thanks for your quick reply. This is very reassuring to know, Ken.

[Lisandro]

It's a pity, really, that the detection rate of ClamWin let that much to be a trustable antivirus nowadays.

[pixturesk]

Agree Tech, but "beggars can't be choosers!!"

[dw2108]

Rising AV shall continue also to support 9x/ME, but only with its AV -- not its security suite. For BD 10 Free, be sure to choose COMPLETE option during when installing. BD 10 Free has also some registry protection for 9x/ME only, so that's someting to consider if you are planning on using, e. g., SSM alongside it.

My Clam ain't updating.

Dave

[FreewheelinFrank]

Agree Tech, but "beggars can't be choosers!!"

Beggars can be choosers if they choose Xubuntu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xubuntu

[pixturesk]

or Frank a Mac, which, for me, is becoming an increasingly appealing alternative.

[Mike Buxton]

Hi

I am well pleased with W98SE and dual boot with Xubuntu.

I prefer an "additional" solution to an "alternative" solution.

However, Xubuntu cannot recognize my scanner which, like
my computer is 11 years old but it's free (or cheap) and
easy to test Xubuntu (or another Linux distro) using a live CD.

My regards

[Lisandro]

I think Kubuntu (that requires a little more RAM) is more similar to Windows and could make the OS passage more smoothly...

[Mike Buxton]

Hi,

With more than 256 MB RAM by all means try Kubuntu.

With 192 MB or more try Xubuntu. Which is fast,
typically faster than W98SE, on old hardware.

With 128 MB or less try PuppyLinux or google for an
alternative.

If you don't already use Firefox or Thunderbird you could
try them using the portable versions on your Windows
Hard Drive and/or a USB stick.

Either can be run from 'buntu, without any changes, via
"Wine". Otherwise the 'buntu versions of either program
could be used instead or as well the windows versions.

If these meet your basic internet needs and you dual boot
there may be no rush to learn a lot about 'buntu.

Linux is free, secure and stable and it's an ideal answer
for me. Other Win98 users may well prefer XP or Vista,
especially if they already have some experience and have,
or will have, sufficiently powerful hardware.
Either way, with Avast for Windows or Avast for Linx you'll
maintain first class security protection.

My regards

PS Else, like Ken, plenty of users reckon on the Mac.