Being a WinXP user I really have a problem understanding why some insist on hanging onto Win 98, 2000, ME.
It's a stable OS and has worked well for me since I got it.
But then again to each his own I suppose.
But nothing lasts forever.
-Cpilot
There are a lot of reasons.
1. Some are disabled and/or elderly and on fixed incomes and can't afford a new pc that can run something newer than 9x, or they can't afford the cost of upgrading the OS.
2. Some are children stuck with a hand-me-down pc because mom & dad aren't going to let them use the new one they bought for themselves. They don't have an income, they don't have a choice.
3. Some are low income families with old pc's they bought cheap or got for free when someone got rid of their old hunk of junk. They can't afford newer & better. What they have can't run a newer OS because of old hardware or because they just can't afford to upgrade. But what they have is better than nothing.
4. Some have a fear of newer things, or feel uncomfortable with the idea of learning a new OS (old is known & comfortable)
5. Some run it on the old pc they kept and decided not to throw away (it's the spare in case of an emergency)
6. Some are collectors of old technology.
7. Some like how light and fast it runs or how simple it is.
8. Some have software they love or need to use that just won't work on anything else.
9. Some just LOVE the old OS's for their own reasons.
I have found myself in categories 3, 5, 8, & 9 at various points in the last 5 years.
And yes, I can see MSFN supporting a 'Keep XP Alive' campaign at some point in the future, just like they are with 9x now.
Understanding this, I try very hard to make sure all the software I write will run on 9x, or that I properly disable what features will not work, and provide an OS appropriate alternative feature if I can. Yeah sure, it can sometimes be a little extra work, but I think people that are stuck with an older OS and can't upgrade are still deserving of software that they can use. And I will continue to do this for as long as my old pc continues to boot up...which could be many years.
There are even people still running Win3.1 with
Calmira...and there is even a new version called
Calmira XP that can make Win3.1
'look' like XP. (latest version was released 06/03/2006) It even adds extra functionality to 3.1 like supporting long file names.
(looking at all those Calmira screenshots is kind of making me wish I had a really old hunk of junk running 3.1 in addition to my old hunk of junk running ME)