If you are still using Windows 98, Windows 98SE or Windows ME as operating system then I must warn you that starting July you will no longer benefit from updates.

Microsoft announced this some time ago, but now it’s official. From July 11, 2006 no updates will be available for those OS.

Microsoft is ending support for these products because they are outdated and these older operating systems can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows Me upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible.

Although Microsoft is ending the release of updates for the aforementioned operating systems, online self-help support will still be available at Microsoft’s support site until at least July 11, 2007.

You can choose another Windows version or you switch to Linux. Or you can still use your Windows version but no update will be available for you after this period. This means that no security flaws will be updated, no problems will be solved. But if you like you OS and you got used to it, nobody can take it away from you.