Where is Windows 9x(95, 98, ME) used in 2019?

[DVINTHEHOUSEMAN]

I have an old Compaq Presario running Windows 98 SE(4.10.2222)

Comment down below when you have seen Windows 9x used today!
Of course this can include , but it's more directed to RTM or post-RTM releases.

[Zv45Beta]

There was once an article about the town of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina; they were financially devastated so badly they were still using a Windows 98 machine back in 2018 in their main office; with all the original components!

Here in Croatia, I don't really see Win9x that much, aside from myself. I run Windows Me on an Athlon XP custom build. Aside from that, the only thing that comes to mind are old trains in our country, which still use Windows Millennium on their controlling systems, but even that is becoming extinct as new trains are being put into operation; these are 80's trains back from Yugoslavia that were reconstructed in the late 2000's (I think 2004-ish?), and even then Windows 9x was a lot cheaper than XP or 2000.

[WILSON2bGg]

I think 9x operating systems are mainly used today for purposes of nostalgia and for running old software. It is nearly impossible to use Windows 9x OSes for practical uses due to lack of security and software support.

[DJ Deedahx]

It is nearly impossible to use Windows 9x OSes for practical uses due to lack of security and software support.

While your statements about lack of security and software support are indeed true, it is not impossible per se to use Windows 9x + compatible software for average desk work that doesn't require online functionality. Outlook, being e-mail software, need not apply in most cases.

Referring to Zv45Beta's case here, any similar situation would prove the following: (and/or)

• The firm may not see a reason to upgrade their hardware seeing that it's still functioning as intended after X years (exquisite maintenance!), bringing us to the golden adage of IT: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
• The firm may not have the funds necessary to renovate their computer equipment - once again, as per Zv45Beta's case

Last I checked, older versions of Office are still able to carry out most business-oriented tasks, such as keeping a record of funds invested in a certain project. Even though the process may not be as advanced or simplified as in newer versions, their sheer ability to perform those tasks nonetheless is enough to convince a sysadmin to delay investing in a newer version of Office until it becomes absolutely necessary.

[Overdoze]

Best bet to find such cases would be in various industrial environments that depend upon legacy hardware (old serial, parallel interfaces, etc.) and software (Windows 9x or even DOS).

When I was in primary school (so around 10 years ago or so) we had a Windows 98 machine act as a server, for whatever reason.

[Zv45Beta]

While your statements about lack of security and software support are indeed true, it is not impossible per se to use Windows 9x + compatible software for average desk work that doesn't require online functionality. Outlook, being e-mail software, need not apply in most cases.

There is some truth here; back in 2013 I was using Windows Millennium on the only computer I had (Socket 370 Celeron piece of junk with onboard graphics) and apart from a pleasant web experience, the computer did everything else just fine. Sure, it was slow as all hell, and it wasn't that stable either (sometimes it would crash for no actual reason), but the computer did all the essential workload I needed.

Even now, I still use Office 2003 on some machines, because it's so fast and simple. While it is out of support and unsecure, it does the job fine; you can still open up non-OOXML documents on Office 2019 and the mobile apps. Outlook 2003 works with Exchange Online and every IMAP mail provider I've thrown at it

[DobaMuffin]

I've only ever seen Windows 9x used at home. In public I tend to only find XP and up. I feel like unless you need it for some really old and outdated program that has no newer version of it, the old systems have been updated and upgraded years ago.

[AlphaBeta]

It was also used in embedded appliances, at least over here. I remember coming across a jukebox about 15 years ago, which ran Windows 98. The machine would always freeze when a certain song was selected, requiring a reset, which kinda shows the reliability of that giant mess.

[JonathonWyble]

I still have a custom build from 1998 which runs Windows 98, which my parents got a few years before my time, and it still works. I also, of course, use Windows 95, 98 and ME in virtual machines. Other than that, Windows 9x is completely out of support, and virtually no businesses nor consumers continue to use it.

[jimmsta]

When I worked in the local repair shop, we still had a handful of customers using 98, because they either had specialized software that just would not run virtualized, or they "can't learn a new system". A few customers, we were able to migrate to running their precious old apps in VirtualBox and VMWare, and get them moved over to a new machine. A select few, though, would not trade their 9x machines for the world, and would pay us exhorbanant amounts of money to keep their old machines alive. Many times, that meant me, and only me, would deal with these customers, on account of my vast knowledge of Win9x.

One customer had a piece of trading software (well, not exactly stock trading - it was some sort of algorithm that predicted stock trades in some time-critical way), which I tried virtualizing multiple times, ultimately building a new machine (2013 at the time) running Windows 98 SE on it, to keep the software running. As I was told by the customer, and the programmer himself, the software relied on DOS clock interrupts to precisely build the algorithmic data off of, along with some quirky things that just don't get virtualized or emulated correctly. I suspect he also used some memory expansion code of his own, as the app was memory-intensive (for a DOS/9x app -- all his systems since 98 had at least 256mb of ram), which wasn't virtualizable or emulate-able.

And I still have a 98SE machine for those times that I either need an authentic IDE controller, or ISA-slot for MFM/SCSI-2 data recovery. Just in case.

[DJ Deedahx]

One customer had a piece of trading software (well, not exactly stock trading - it was some sort of algorithm that predicted stock trades in some time-critical way), which I tried virtualizing multiple times, ultimately building a new machine (2013 at the time) running Windows 98 SE on it, to keep the software running. As I was told by the customer, and the programmer himself, the software relied on DOS clock interrupts to precisely build the algorithmic data off of, along with some quirky things that just don't get virtualized or emulated correctly. I suspect he also used some memory expansion code of his own, as the app was memory-intensive (for a DOS/9x app -- all his systems since 98 had at least 256mb of ram), which wasn't virtualizable or emulate-able.

Now that's something I haven't heard of before... Do you happen to remember the name of that piece of software so I could possibly carry out some research on it?

[alecu]

My old Gateway 2000 Solo 9100 laptop from 1997 runs Windows 98SE with only 48MB of RAM! It has a Pentium MMX 150MHz CPU, 5GB HDD, Yamaha OPL3-SAX audio card which is very good for DOS games and FM Synthesis MIDI!

[jimmsta]

One customer had a piece of trading software (well, not exactly stock trading - it was some sort of algorithm that predicted stock trades in some time-critical way), which I tried virtualizing multiple times, ultimately building a new machine (2013 at the time) running Windows 98 SE on it, to keep the software running. As I was told by the customer, and the programmer himself, the software relied on DOS clock interrupts to precisely build the algorithmic data off of, along with some quirky things that just don't get virtualized or emulated correctly. I suspect he also used some memory expansion code of his own, as the app was memory-intensive (for a DOS/9x app -- all his systems since 98 had at least 256mb of ram), which wasn't virtualizable or emulate-able.

Now that's something I haven't heard of before... Do you happen to remember the name of that piece of software so I could possibly carry out some research on it?

No idea what it was called, it was literally a custom application, written for the customer by a single programmer in the late 80's through the early 90's. The software did whatever it was that it needed to do, so there was no drive to get it rebuilt on a modern platform - until the programmer's health deteriorated. Last I heard, the customer was looking for a programmer to disassemble the app and add new features, as the original programmer was dying, and neither one had the original source code. No idea what happened after that.

[winnt32]

that guy is a genius programmer

EDIT: I know that some sections of the Paris metro use nt4, but that's not 9x

[MrMateczko]

I'm happily running 98 SE on my IBM ThinkPad T42p with an Atheros WiFi chip. It has full WPA2 support with the Odyssey Client.
While there is less and less hope in terms of modern web browsing, other stuff works just fine! It complements my love for 98 SE just fine

[Autumn81702]

At my workplace, one machine uses a control program working on Windows 98 .

[MSUser2013]

I still use Windows 9x on plenty of my older computers from the 90s-early 2000s, mainly for nostalgia and retro gaming purposes. I haven't seen it used in public in this day and age (unless you count the Living Computer Museum).

[MotorolaFLARE]

I know a company near me (i visited their servers) and they have a Win95 box for Dial-Up

[xerox64]

I work at a starbucks that just upgraded to windows 7 POSready from windows 98 last week.

[LangsamSpieler]

On there where i do Work are a CNC-Machine with Windows 95B in English and a Keyboard with US-Layout and without Windows-Buttons with a 2-Button-Mouse

[9646gt]

I work at a starbucks that just upgraded to windows 7 POSready from windows 98 last week.

Wow lol. I am assuming the Win98 machine was a POS terminal? That's some risky business haha

[nar002]

Weren't some medical devices running on Win9x? I'm pretty sure I've read that you can't update it since the software doesn't run on newer windows versions, and it's too specific to replace sadly

[DobaMuffin]

Weren't some medical devices running on Win9x? I'm pretty sure I've read that you can't update it since the software doesn't run on newer windows versions, and it's too specific to replace sadly

It would make sense as sometimes the older software is made by a company that no longer exists, and therefore there is nobody to update it. And when you're dealing with a hospital setting, I don't think they're allowed to use unofficial patches to get things working as that adds risk and liability for them.

[nar002]

Weren't some medical devices running on Win9x? I'm pretty sure I've read that you can't update it since the software doesn't run on newer windows versions, and it's too specific to replace sadly

It would make sense as sometimes the older software is made by a company that no longer exists, and therefore there is nobody to update it. And when you're dealing with a hospital setting, I don't think they're allowed to use unofficial patches to get things working as that adds risk and liability for them.

Yeah, it's like the hardware is made for something so specific you can't upgrade it, which is a shame because then you end up with stuff like Cryptolocker that shuts down the NHS and all

[DobaMuffin]

Weren't some medical devices running on Win9x? I'm pretty sure I've read that you can't update it since the software doesn't run on newer windows versions, and it's too specific to replace sadly

It would make sense as sometimes the older software is made by a company that no longer exists, and therefore there is nobody to update it. And when you're dealing with a hospital setting, I don't think they're allowed to use unofficial patches to get things working as that adds risk and liability for them.

Yeah, it's like the hardware is made for something so specific you can't upgrade it, which is a shame because then you end up with stuff like Cryptolocker that shuts down the NHS and all

Nothing beats a hardware dongle that only supports specific operating systems.