Why now may be the best time to upgrade to a new computer if you still have Windows 98 or Windows ME

Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 98 and Windows ME on July 11. That means they will no longer offer telephone support if you have a computer with those operating systems. More importantly they will no longer be offering security patches and critical updates. Those operating systems are now more vulnerable to operating system and browser exploits, hacker attacks and viruses.Through the end of this year is a good time to think about upgrading to a new computer with Windows XP if you still have an old computer with Windows 95, 98 or ME. New computers are becoming less expensive as manufacturers and retailers begin to clear out inventory in anticipation of the new Windows ‘Vista’ Operating System, which is due to release in early 2007.Also, Intel has just released a new, faster processor which will push down the price of the computers with the older (pre-August) processors. Computers with processors that have been manufactured in the last few years are still considerably faster than the processors in an older computers that came with Windows ME and earlier.You might be thinking “Why not wait until Windows Vista comes out next year”? From what I’ve heard about the new features that will be available with Windows Vista, I see no compelling reason at this time for people to upgrade. New computers released next year will likely be more expensive since they will come preloaded with Vista which requires more expensive hardware to take advantage of it’s more advanced features.