Re: Epson Stylus Color 600 drivers.

["Dave Emmerson" <dave@xitroneurope.com>]

This is getting off-topic, so if anybody feels the need to discuss this
further, let's please take it offline.

>>Just about all vendors offer a choice of operating systems to be loaded
>>onto a new machine. I would contact customer service and inquire how
>>to switch from XP (eXtra Pain) to W98SE.

You're unlikely to have any success unless they'll exchange the unit.
Reverting to an older OS requires that the drive be reformatted, and a new
install done, whereas an 'upgrade' can usually be done relatively easily.

>BUT:
>
>At 11:50 PM -0500 2002/02/27, Fred Langa wrote (in his LangaList
newsletter):
>>Starting last summer, we began discussing how Microsoft was phasing out
>>support for older software, and shortening the length of support for
>>newer software. Microsoft is about to pull the plug on support for
>>Windows 98, 98SE, and NT; support has already officially ended for
>>Windows 3.xx--- and, as one reader found out first-hand--- for Win95

> I can't recall ever consulting Microsoft for a *OS* problem so the support
issue is irrelevant to me. About the only Microsoft *application* that's
given me grief is Explorer - and that will be supported for a long time
to come. Third-party applications are supported by their respective vendors.
W98SE will not stop running simply because Microsoft no longer supports it.
And where Microsoft steps out I'll bet someone else will step in to fill
the void.

I'd take that bet! Having become proficient with WinMe and then XP, by 2003,
even the shop which sold you the kit will only look at a Win95/8 system
_very_ grudgingly.

FWIW, there's a page on one of MS's many sites which gives the precise
details, but roughly, it amounts to:
3 years after launch, no more service packs/hotfixes.
5 years after launch, no support whatsoever.
Seems reasonable to me.

> It's a moot question for most. In a year I expect every third-party
application and plug-in on my machine will have XP support. The critical
factor for me is when those other vendors will drop W98SE support. Given
that all still support W95 that day is comfortably far in the future.

That depends upon how you define 'support', and exactly what it is that you
want supported. If you mean that they'll still make the Win95/98/Me versions
available on their websites, you'll be correct in most cases. If you mean
that they'll continue to code updates and new features for those older OS's
you're probably going to be disappointed, but as I hinted earlier, it
depends upon exactly what you want:

If it's applications, you may be in luck. Those which don't use
NT/XP-specific API calls will function on most OS versions, if the hardware
is suitable (eg some really old apps require CGA or 400x600 video mode,
which some hardware no longer supports). For instance, you can probably run
the Calendar.exe program from Windows 3.01 on all later versions (from which
it was strangely omitted), including XP.

If it's drivers for new equipment on old OS versions, I'm afraid you're not
going to be so lucky once XP is viewed as 'established' (which is pretty
much the case already), because XP is a flavour of NT, and NT drivers are
not at all suitable for use on 95/98/Me. Some vendors simply will not make
the effort to support the older OS's once they've adopted XP and started
using its features, because it's too much hassle. Particularly in the case
of printer drivers, where the XP API offers considerably more features -
which, along with the dialog controls, would have to be omitted from those
versions, or coded by the vendors themselves. Windows ICM for instance.

> Hopefully by then there will be Linux equivalent to my work suite. I don't
lose sleep over sticking with W98SE.

Whatever floats your boat, I'll not bring religion into it too :-)

What I _would_ recommend, if you don't mind a bit of additional expense, is
moving up to Windows 2000, until you feel that XP is 'safe'. Later, when you
do the XP upgrade, you'll already have the right drivers for everything
you're already using, and if they've been installed correctly (in the
application's folder, not in Windows) they won't get replaced by versions
which may or may not work for you. In my experience, Win2K has been
remarkably stable, my 2 development systems often run non-stop for weeks on
end. Apart from 2 blue screens in 18 months, all reboots have been for the
right reasons, and at my convenience. It's totally different from what I was
accustomed to with Win9x and especially MacOS 7/8/9 where crashes were daily
occurrences, even after doing nothing more than reboot. WinMe seemed OK, but
I almost bypassed that one completely, and NT4.0 was very stable provided I
used SP 5.   YMMV.

D.


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