[BenoitRen]

Err, ReactOS is a clone of Windows NT, which has what we're specifically concerned about...

[UltraO]

Well it's simple If software and hardware support wouldn't had disappeared for Windows 9x then I would still have been using it. I mostly use Windows XP as Windows 98 SE can't support multi-core/multi-cpu systems and can't support a lot of ram either(there are patches I know). Installing Windows 9x is full of hassles, but if you love computers like me then it is just fun to install Windows 9x and fix the problems until you have got a fully working OS, which is satisfying that you have managed to do it. However I can't say that any OS is hassle free , I had a lot of issues installing XP x64 Bit on a Lenovo Thinkpad T61, and the "add hardware" sux in windows xp And then we got the terrible Vista. It is so unstable and is so slow!!! But if I was to choose between a fully driver installed and fixed OS, then I would without doubts choose Windows 98! But then again all this flash player talk what does it have to do with the original post in the thread? Isn't it off-topic? It's like saying "Mmh butter taste better than margarine".

So WINDOWS 9x FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and the reason to people choosing vista is probably that it is what you get these days when you're buying a new computer.

AND a lot of software designed for example XP can still be runned under Windows 9x, but maybe refuses to run as it says that it is not a supported OS, is probably some co-operation with MS to destroy Windows 9x

[kamahl]

"I ***ing hate Vista! Why didn't they leave Word as it was in XP?"

I *know* people don't understand what an O/S is, when they call office 2007 vista.

[Offler]

I am testing Windows 98SE (+ RP9 + Kex 4 + IE6 + Opera 10 + MPCHC + a lot of software and my hardware) face to face with Windows Vista 32 bit on same machine. In few days i write a report about it and i hope i shall find a comparison of same with windows XP.

right now i see that Vista is usable on my system only as a cross-plattform reference tool which helps me to find real and fake incompatibilities between several things - drivers, hardware, apps. At all i see some improvements in vista (especially the memory and CPU cache management, better sw compatibility as Win98SE+kex, really good sw environment) but i see a lot of disappointments in this system (it is very very large, sound does not work correctly, graphics are not working correctly, at all only few devices are working correctly).

[JustinStacey.x]

herbalist, on Apr 29 2009, 12:26 PM, said:

I question the accuracy of the percentages for each type of OS. If that info is obtained from checking the user agent, they could be way off. Most 9X users I know aren't browsing with IE6. They're using an alternate such as SeaMonkey, K-Meleon, etc. Several of these enable the user to spoof the user agent, either directly or by using an extension or free-standing app like Proxomitron as an aid for dealing with sites that don't work properly with 9X systems. I would guess that most 9X users have run into such sites and know how to spoof the user agent.

Then you have to remember that not everyone takes their Windows 9x system on the Internet.

[jason_brown1977]

CoffeeFiend, on Apr 27 2009, 10:24 PM, said:

Another way to put it, 4 million still use Win9x (all versions combined), whereas 1460 million don't. Also worth noting, Win9x market share is dropping by about 500000 users a month, using those numbers again (0.54% in Oct 08, 0.31% in Mar 09 so 0.23% less in 6 months, or 0.038333333... % less per month, times 1,463,632,361 users = 561059 less users/month average) At the current rate, within 6 months, it'll be under a million and under 0.1%

Don't forget about the new users that your picking back up. I use a Mac at home and work, but on those Macs I also run XP through parallels. On my home project system I have also built a legacy gaming box. Windows 98 SE on a 1000a Tuleron running at 1.5 GHz with 150 MHz memory clock. This system outperforms all my others which is impressive considering its age. I will always be a 9x user, imho a much better OS than Microsoft has released yet. I don't even want to get started on that new garbage, Vista and Vista Mark II aka Windows 7.

[CoffeeFiend]

jason_brown1977, on Dec 10 2009, 09:29 AM, said:

Don't forget about the new users that your picking back up.

The thing is, those are only a tiny minority (mainly nostalgic folks I assume) and vastly outnumbered by those who would rather use something else.

There's no slowing down of that mass "exile" either. Win98 is now down to 0.09%, WinME 0.04%, and Win95 doesn't even register on the scale. At the current speeds, the Win9x combined market share will be 0.1% by next month, and still keep dropping steadily beyond that.

At the time of the post you quoted, there were about 4 million Win9x users left, and going by the same total number of users (1,463,632,361) and the new percentages, now there would be 1.9 million left, and about 1.5 by next month. If you keep the current average drop rate for this year (e.g. -0.016%/mo for Win98 -- a linear curve) then combined Win9x market share will hit below 0.01% before next summer. Even if you go with a exponential curve, you still get below 0.01% within 6 months (and below 0.005% in under a year; which would mean a total number of users being well below 100k)

So a dozen new users on these Win9x forum section every few months isn't exactly a lot.

Oh, and BTW, I wouldn't want of a Mac, even to use as a boat anchor

[wsxedcrfv]

This website is somewhat interesting:

http://www.systemdetails.com

Your System's market share:

0.005% Of web usage occurs on systems very similar to yours.

Detailed Analysis:

0.083% use Windows 98
0.012% and use Firefox 2
0.005% and use a similar screen resolution (1280 x 1024)
0.005% and use a broadband connection

When I hit that page using IE6, I get this data:

0.021% Of web usage occurs on systems very similar to yours.

Detailed Analysis:

0.083% use Windows 98
0.066% and use Internet Explorer 6
0.026% and use a similar screen resolution
0.021% and use a broadband connection

I'm not sure if this tells us anything about the use of either Firefox or IE6 on Win-98. No idea why the screen resolution and broadband numbers are different - they shouldn't be.

Other web-metrics sites also give current Win-98 usage at about 0.09%. Regression analysis of the past 15 months of data indicates that % usage of win-98 is dropping at the rate of 0.005% per month. That rate will certainly slow down, but if it continued at that rate then hypothetically the soonest that we would expect 0% win-98 usage would be June 2011.

[Andrew T.]

wsxedcrfv, on Dec 10 2009, 10:44 PM, said:

This website is somewhat interesting:

http://www.systemdetails.com

Interesting, yes. For providing the assurance that for every system similar to mine, there are 999 that aren't. By now, I've pretty well reconciled that fact.

Given that it was presenting information on my own system, I found it a bit ironic that the site prompted me with a dialogue demanding the installation of an OS-incompatible Flash plugin version to view the statistic charts...

[the xt guy]

I got the following results under 98 (I dual boot W2K and 98SE2ME combined with 98 lite-IE removed!, using Firefox 2.0.0.22pre)

Your System's Market Share
0.010%
Of web usage occurs on systems
very similar to yours.
Detailed Analysis:
0.083% use Windows 98
0.012% and use Firefox 2
0.011% and use a similar screen resolution
0.010% and use a broadband connection

[wsxedcrfv]

the xt guy, on Dec 11 2009, 08:23 AM, said:

I got the following results under 98 (I dual boot W2K and 98SE2ME combined with 98 lite-IE removed!, using Firefox 2.0.0.22pre)

What exactly is version Firefox 2.0.0.22pre, and where can it be obtained?

the xt guy, on Dec 11 2009, 08:23 AM, said:

Your System's Market Share: 0.010% Of web usage occurs on systems very similar to yours.
Detailed Analysis:
0.083% use Windows 98
0.012% and use Firefox 2

If I understand these FF2 and IE6 numbers, then for every win-98 system running FF2 as the primary browser, then somewhere between 5 and 6 systems are running IE6 as the primary browser.

We know that IE6 generally does a poor job of rendering most web-content. If it's true that IE6 usage outnumbers FF2 on win-98 systems by 5 or 6 to 1, then one hypothesis is that there are many unreported win-98 systems in use where the owners have abandoned general web browsing (because they haven't installed FF) but perhaps still use their systems for e-mail - or no longer have those systems connected to the internet.

This post has been edited by wsxedcrfv: 11 December 2009 - 08:33 AM

[the xt guy]

Firefox 2.0.0.22pre was the last nightly build of FF2. I can't remember the exact details now, but improvements in the Win 98 compatible versions of SeaMonkey or Thunderbird were still being applied to the nightly builds of FF2 even after the release of 2.0.0.20. Firefox is called 'Bon Echo' in its development form but it is still FF, the name is changed to Firefox after it is released. (I changed the useragent string in FF so it reports itself to sites as Firefox 2.0.0.22pre, not Bon Echo).

Here is the link to the last nightly build of FF 2.0.0.22pre (it is dated 2009-04-15):

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/fir...-04-mozilla1.8/

I posted a thread about this back in March of 2009, I'll have to go find the link.

[the xt guy]

Here's the link to the thread I posted back in March 2009:

http://www.msfn.org/board/anybody-using-fi...98-t131731.html

[Fredledingue]

"CoffeFiend" said:

So a dozen new users on these Win9x forum section every few months isn't exactly a lot.

Yes it's a lot. I don't care how many poeple use w9x worldwide as long as as many poeple as before are still on this forum.
We can be the 50 users left on a w9x machine (and for certain, one day there will be 50 poeple left only, then 49 ,48 ,47 etc until zero) if we are still 50 on this forum. I'll feel fine.

I only wonder who among us will be the very last w98 user??? The last nr_1?!

IMO there will still be a lot of activity here and a lot of w9x users long after the internet statistics have declared the total disapearance of this OS family.

[cyberformer]

It is quite possible, and highly probable,
that the next time I reincarnate
I will become a Windows 98 Second Edition user all over again!
Surely, there will still be some old machines left...around....somewhere...about.

[BenoitRen]

Hey, don't forget the Windows 95 users!

[Andrew T.]

When Windows 98 was new, I honestly predicted that it would be cast aside as a fad and would never surpass Windows 95 in install base.

That didn't happen; though if '98 and '95 tie themselves at a statistical zero percent, that might as well be the case...

[Fredledingue]

"BenRen" said:

Hey, don't forget the Windows 95 users!

We don't! That's why msfn moderators gave you five stars!

The last w95 user deserves that.
Seriousely do you know other w95 users than you? Imagine being the last one.
What an incredible feeling it must be... A living legend...

This post has been edited by Fredledingue: 16 December 2009 - 04:00 PM

[Andrew T.]

Fredledingue, on Dec 16 2009, 04:59 PM, said:

Seriousely do you know other w95 users than you? Imagine being the last one.
What an incredible feeling it must be... A living legend...

Uh, don't forget me!

[BenoitRen]

Yeah, Andrew T. here also still uses Windows 95. Nathan Lineback over at ToastyTech still does, as well.

Isn't there one more poster here who sometimes uses Windows 95? win95guy, I think it was.