What Operating Systems do you use?

[DarkPlayer]

Hello,

i am working on a project for Windows (>= Windows 2000), Linux and Mac OS (x86). During the last days, i read some threads about people who are still using Windows 98, which suprised me a bit. So i want to know if such old operating System are still so much in use and started this poll.

PS: Sorry for the linux users, i could only specify up to 10 options, so no 32/64 bit vote.

DarkPlayer

[codewalker]

still using Windows 98, which suprised me a bit.

Why ? Windows 98 is perfect for surfing, emails, music, movies, chat, writing a letter, etc etc
which is what most people are doing anyway. Only because the masses buys the idea that
the next OS version will be a better version MicroSoft is selling so well. Look how Win Me
and Win Vista sucked as the next OS. And about MS latest one, Win7, do I really need a
10 Gig bloated OS that takes away a partition to boot and a partition to install and eats
1 Gig of memory when doing nothing ?
cw

[DarkPlayer]

Hello,

this would be my reasons why i would not use Win98:

• no secruity updates
• no real protection against hooks
• no real protection against programs getting in ring 0 of the CPU
• missing drivers for external devices
• msdn documentation does not mention which commands are available
• most programs do not support 98 anymore, lile Firefox 3
• I would miss many nice api comands (for example Named Pipe Server, or getting changes of the filesystem in a callback ..)
• some of my libaries, which i use in my projects, do not support windows 98 anymore
• a program can crash your whole system more easily like on Windows NT based systems
• no s-ata support
• no modern graphic drivers
• and a lot more...

DarkPlayer

[Innesoft]

Poll won't let me submit, but I use...

Win7 Professional (x86) on the Laptop
Vista Enterprise (x86) on the Desktop
WinXP Pro on the EEEPC (netbook)
Win98se on the low-end test pc (doorstop)

Mostly for testing my stuff on a range of OS's. The aim is usually to make stuff work on all these machines, but there's really no reason to support win98 any more. Aim for XP/2000 as a minimum system and put "may work on win98 but not supported".

[Mike Stefanik]

Windows 98 is perfect for surfing, emails, music, movies, chat, writing a letter, etc etc which is what most people are doing anyway.

Yeah, it's perfect if you like using an operating system that hasn't been supported for years, doesn't receive any security updates, where drivers aren't available for newer hardware and has an exposed threat surface to malware as big as China. Seriously, if you want to use archaic versions of Windows, that's your business, don't hook the thing up to the Internet -- for your own good, and for the rest of us who really aren't interested in your computer joining the ranks of the spambot armies out there.

[DarkPlayer]

Windows 98 is perfect for surfing, emails, music, movies, chat, writing a letter, etc etc which is what most people are doing anyway.

Yeah, it's perfect if you like using an operating system that hasn't been supported for years, doesn't receive any security updates, where drivers aren't available for newer hardware and has an exposed threat surface to malware as big as China. Seriously, if you want to use archaic versions of Windows, that's your business, don't hook the thing up to the Internet -- for your own good, and for the rest of us who really aren't interested in your computer joining the ranks of the spambot armies out there.

I think also that these people are really a secruity risk for the rest of the internet. I just searched for an unpatched secruity leak in windows 98 and found http://www.microsoft.com/technet/securi ... 6-015.mspx. This is an remote execution exploit, which it not patched yet (for win 98) and also will not be patched in future.

The Description of the Exploit:

An attacker would need to convince a user to visit a Web site that could force a connection to a remote file server. This remote file server could then cause Windows Explorer to fail in a way that could allow code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

This sounds like if you click on an FTP link, which can happen easily, then someone else can control your system.

DarkPlayer

[Shardik]

Yeah, it's perfect if you like using an operating system that hasn't been supported for years, doesn't receive any security updates, where drivers aren't available for newer hardware and has an exposed threat surface to malware as big as China. Seriously, if you want to use archaic versions of Windows, that's your business, don't hook the thing up to the Internet -- for your own good, and for the rest of us who really aren't interested in your computer joining the ranks of the spambot armies out there.

I think also that these people are really a secruity risk for the rest of the internet.

Windows 98 is very insecure, there is no arguing against it. But have you taken into account how few users are still using Windows 98 today? Please take a look into the usage of operating systems visiting one of the biggest German IT publishing companies. Even in November 2007 there were only 0.7 % users with Windows 98:
http://www.heise.de/netze/meldung/Mozil ... 01797.html
Other operating systems:
Windows XP 61,2 %, Linux 13,5 %, Windows 2000 7,0 %, Mac OS 6,9 %, Windows Vista 5,6 %

In April 2010 no percentage was given anymore at all:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/ ... 92561.html

One main argument for Mac OS X was always that there are (almost) no viruses and trojans in the wild. The Mac OS X usage in November 2007 was already much higher than that of Windows 98. Who should care to infect Windows 98 systems at all?

Some years ago I found hacker postings in several forums who stated that they wouldn't develop hacks for Windows 98 systems because it was too easy (no security to overcome at all) and therefore no challenge (even if getting paid for)...

So I would presume that we have the paradoxical situation that using an utterly insecure OS like Windows 98 might be more safe than using other newer Microsoft operating systems...

[DarkPlayer]

I know that Windows 98 is not used much in the wild, but i have read today about two people in this board and german board using windows 98 as main OS, so i was a bit confused. I would think that developers should even know better, how problematic an old OS is. So i wanted to know how many people in this forum still use such an old operating system.

[the.weavster]

I had an XP computer annihilated by a virus despite having an up to date virus scanner (AVG) running.

After that happened I've used Mint/Ubuntu/Xubuntu and I can only really see myself using different distros of Linux in the future too (unless M$ come up with something truly astonishing).

[J. Baker]

I still use Windows ME and XP. Vista and 7 are just bloated XP in my mind. I like ME and or 98 because of older dos games and it's fast on newer hardware. I don't really use it for internet but Opera is still an option on these older OS. I'll stick with XP until something just as good or better is released.

Now I did use Ubuntu for a while. But I don't really care for it.

Mac maybe an option someday. But XP works just fine and I don't have to pay out big bucks on similar software.

Now as for handheld devices, such as iPhone, iPad, even Netbooks, and so forth. They're crap and limited. And I don't like carrying crap around. When I'm away from my desk, I'm away. I like stuff that I can upgrade, hardware wise. Although I've been fine with my old socket 939 AMD 4000+.

Oh, and it seems I can't submit my vote. Some Error being invalid or something.

[codewalker]

Yeah, it's perfect if you like using an operating system that hasn't been supported for years,

It doesn´t matter which MS OS you are using, all of them will receive updates and patches
and there is no end to it until MS pulls the plug. What a laugh, imagine you buying a car
that needs to be updated and patched until the day it is no longer supported anymore.

For your own good, and for the rest of us who really aren't interested in your computer
joining the ranks of the spambot armies out there.

It is the computer user who is the real problem and not the OS. It doesn´t matter what OS,
they all get taken over by spam, rootkits, botnets or whatever webshit, if the one who uses
the OS doesn´t have a clue how to keep an eye on what is going on inside his computer.
(e.g. running processes and opened ports)

There are dozens of solutions out there that already are accessable for the public that can
put an end to botnets, such as system freezers, virtualizing, cloning, etc etc. But as long
as the average joe pc user installs an anti virus and thinks everything is ok nothing will change.

My self, every morning at the same time my pc automatically clones back an image from a usb stick
to the os partition. Everyday I start with a clean, new and fast operating system. I really recommend
it and join with me the ranks of computer users where any webshit doesn´t have a ghost of chance.
cw

[J. Baker]

It is the computer user who is the real problem and not the OS. It doesn´t matter what OS,
they all get taken over by spam, rootkits, botnets or whatever webshit, if the one who uses
the OS doesn´t have a clue how to keep an eye on what is going on inside his computer.
(e.g. running processes and opened ports)

There are dozens of solutions out there that already are accessable for the public that can
put an end to botnets, such as system freezers, virtualizing, cloning, etc etc. But as long
as the average joe pc user installs an anti virus and thinks everything is ok nothing will change.

I agree.

[Mike Stefanik]

It doesn´t matter which MS OS you are using, all of them will receive updates and patches and there is no end to it until MS pulls the plug.

Not to belabor the point, but the plug was pulled on Windows 98 on July 11, 2006. No new security updates have been published for the operating system since then, and as mentioned in a previous post, there are known vulnerabilities for the platform that have not been patched. Operating systems are not cars, and Microsoft has a clear end-of-life policy for all of their software.

Windows 98 is dead, and after rotting for 4 years, it's smelling pretty damn bad.

Edit: But hey, if nostalgia is your thing and you want to code like it's 1999, then I guess that's your business. It just boggles my mind when I see software developers talking about using computers from the Paleozoic era.

[DarkPlayer]

For me there is a difference between needing an antivirus program because of things which i download to my pc or if i click on a link in the explorer, which executes a remote code, that can not be detected by the antivirus program.

It is nice if you recopy your system every day, but it does not protect you against remote code which captures your password to your bank account.

[Thorium]

if i click on a link in the explorer, which executes a remote code, that can not be detected by the antivirus program.

Actualy that happend one time to me with XP 32bit and Firefox, yes Firefox. I needed to reinstall the OS. virusscanner didnt found the maleware and it got ring0 somehow and installed itself deep into the system. No rootkit detector found it, but it clearly was there.

But i still agree with you and would not use Win98, that example showed me that security updates are essential and since i use XP i never want to go back to a none NT MS-System. And i dont like Linux.

Now i am using Win7 64bit.