Is microsoft forcing hardware producers to remove win9x drivers from their webpages?

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98 Guy - 27 Jul 2007 03:32 GMT

The following was recently posted in the win-9x forum on MSFN.org. I
thought I'd re-post it here and see if any MVP's have anything to say
about it. I haven't verified this particular issue with HP myself.

-----------------------
Is microsoft forcing hardware producers to remove win9x drivers from
their webpages?

HP have just removed their win98-drivers and says thing like this

"HPs licensing agreement with third-party providers granting use of
their components will expire."

and

"Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting certain files related
specifically to Windows 98 SE, and this change affects all technology
companies. HP, along with other technology companies, is no longer
able to use selected components in support of Windows 98SE, which has
an impact on our software strategy for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and
Windows Me."

on their webpage.

?

ps. have anyone made backups of all hp's drivers?
--------------------------

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=28036eb00aea9a9bada3bb18a559c106&showtopic
=101792

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Franc Zabkar - 27 Jul 2007 07:44 GMT

>The following was recently posted in the win-9x forum on MSFN.org. I
>thought I'd re-post it here and see if any MVP's have anything to say
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>"HPs licensing agreement with third-party providers granting use of
>their components will expire."

That's a strange statement.

"HPs licensing agreement [singular] with third-party providers
[plural] granting use of their components will expire [all at the same
time?]."

Which third party provider(s)? All of them, or just Microsoft?

Which MS components are included with HP's printer drivers? Are HP's
Win98 printer drivers still available for download? If not, why not?

>and
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
>http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=28036eb00aea9a9bada3bb18a559c106&showtopic
=101792

- Franc Zabkar

Signature

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

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John John - 27 Jul 2007 12:44 GMT

Microsoft cannot force third parties to provide or not provide drivers
for any operating system. If a hardware manufacturer wants to provide
drivers for Windows 98 Microsoft cannot stop them from doing so. And if
that hardware manufacturer doesn't want to provide drivers for Vista
there is nothing that Microsoft can do to force them to do so. Like it
or not, hardware support for Windows 98 is being abandoned by many
hardware manufacturers, not because Microsoft told them to do so but
because sales for Windows 98 pc are to few to warrant the additional
expenses or because Windows 98 cannot properly run some of the new hardware.

John

> The following was recently posted in the win-9x forum on MSFN.org. I
> thought I'd re-post it here and see if any MVP's have anything to say
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=28036eb00aea9a9bada3bb18a559c106&showtopic
=101792

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Don Phillipson - 27 Jul 2007 15:35 GMT

> . . . hardware support for Windows 98 is being abandoned by many
> hardware manufacturers, not because Microsoft told them to do so but
> because sales for Windows 98 pc are to few to warrant the additional
> expenses or because Windows 98 cannot properly run some of the new hardware.

True . . . but Linux often can, and people still
can and do write Linux drivers for the public domain
(much as for CP/M and MS-DOS 25 years ago.)

Signature

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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Sudy Nim - 27 Jul 2007 19:36 GMT

> > . . . hardware support for Windows 98 is being abandoned by many
> > hardware manufacturers, not because Microsoft told them to do so but
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> can and do write Linux drivers for the public domain
> (much as for CP/M and MS-DOS 25 years ago.)

Best Buy has a stack of Yahoo DSL modems with specifications stating w98
etc. to Vista. I called yahoo and asked to connect to DSL and was told that
XP is minimum requirement. I pointed out that they are selling modems that
indicate otherwise. They stated that because MS stopped their support of w98
they no longer provide that service.

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philo - 28 Jul 2007 09:58 GMT

<snip>

> Best Buy has a stack of Yahoo DSL modems with specifications stating w98
> etc. to Vista. I called yahoo and asked to connect to DSL and was told that
> XP is minimum requirement. I pointed out that they are selling modems that
> indicate otherwise. They stated that because MS stopped their support of w98
> they no longer provide that service.

FWIW: The problem is actually that the Yahoo software that you need to
install in order to activate your account will not install on a Win98
machine (I'm pretty sure it will work with Win2k). At any rate...once the
account has been activated...
you can put a Win98 machine on-line. For that matter and machine with any OS
will work as long as you have a TCP/IP
eithernet connection

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Sudy Nim - 28 Jul 2007 15:42 GMT

> <snip>
> > >
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> will work as long as you have a TCP/IP
> eithernet connection

I use dial-up networking to connect and not the ISP software. So all I need
is the account number. I'll have to look into this, thanks.

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