Study: Windows 98 prevalent as end of support looms

Many North American businesses still have computers running on Windows 98, even though support for the operating system is set to end on Jan. 16, according to a study released Thursday.

Many North American businesses still have computers running on Windows 98, even though support for the operating system is set to end on Jan. 16, according to a study released Thursday.

AssetMetrix, an Ottawa IT asset analysis tool vendor, collected data on over 370,000 PCs from 670 businesses in the U.S. and Canada. It found that 80% of those companies have at least one PC running either Windows 95 or Windows 98. The older operating systems accounted for about 27% of operating systems found.

Microsoft will end support for Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition on Jan. 16. The products will become “obsolete,” according to the Microsoft Web site. Online self-help support will continue to be available until at least June 30, 2006, but Microsoft will not provide security fixes or other product updates.

Support for Windows 95 ended on Dec. 31, 2001, according to the Microsoft product lifecycle Web site.

As a result of the Windows 98 retirement, businesses who still have operating system in use face “an ever-increasing risk of security breach for their entire network,” according to the AssetMetrix study. The company advises businesses to retire all Windows 98 systems that are connected directly to the Internet.