Windows 95, 98. Time to move on?

[Plastic Nev]

This has been prompted by some friends and security experts comments, and lack of things that will now work with those operating systems.

This means security and malware removing tools, as well as software and hardware in general.

 

When Windows 95 or 98 first came out there wasn't anything like the malware present that there is today, so what there was available to help remove it, was at best basic in comparison.

A lot has happened in the last ten to eleven years, at least three more operating systems have been released with another round the corner in Windows 7, already in Beta testing stages.

Consequently the malware writers have become ever more sophisticated in their approach, and getting a lot more greedy, cunning, and just downright ugly in their attempts to remove your money as well as use of your computer.

 

In order to combat that as much as possible the writers of all software tools to help in removing or better stopping the criminal hackers, have to try to keep as close as possible to the present day threats.

This means the older operating systems are now losing out in this battle in a very big way, this is because it becomes more and more difficult to maintain a backward compatibility in most if not all the tools available for fighting malware.

 

One of the biggest problems faced in regard to Windows 95 and 98 is the change in type of system after 98, however even the later Windows2000, and Millennium editions are falling behind as these are no longer fully supported, if at all.

 

There is really only one way to stay on top, and that is to move along with the times, after all things do wear out, and with computers and technology in general, replacing individual spare parts after a few years becomes less and less an option, prices go higher, or parts become unavailable. The end result being that it can be cheaper, and more productive, to keep on top of the upgrades as they come along.

 

Windows Vista being the current operating system, though seeming unpopular at first, is gaining ground, and seemingly, considering its unpopularity, the next generation is to be released in full, later this year in the form of Windows 7.

 

In Ten more years, will it be possible to keep XP, or even Vista, safe on line? at present progress I doubt it, the malware, and means to fight it, will have moved so far forward, as it has in the last ten years, the older systems will be unprotectable, as the older systems seem to be now.

 

So, if still running or using the older systems, such as 95 or 98, it is now becoming near impossible to guarantee any real security for them on line in these times of high risk.

If you really do need that old machine, please keep it off the internet, and if it can be afforded, run a newer machine for use on the WWW.

Nev.