Infoworld reports that Office 11, already in beta and to be released in mid-2003, will not be designed to run on Windows 98 or ME.
While Microsoft has cited the age of the 9x series and security concerns, it seems likely to me that this move is to push users to upgrade their OS. Many home users and businesses are still using W98 and ME and see little reason to switch. One can only imagine that Microsoft will follow their old MO, creating file formats and other features for Office 11 which will have some compatibilty issues with older versions of Office and Word.
Re: Office 11 Limited to Windows XP, 2000
I know people who create systems for small businesses that are predominantly Windows 98, mainly because of its stability and availability, and the relatively basic needs of the users.
I'm sure this is just a first step in making sure everyone's system includes the latest Palladium-compatible software.
Re: Office 11 Limited to Windows XP, 2000
yep. all part of a larger plan. windows is discontinuing support of w98, obviously in an effort to force upgrades to xp. this is just one more step in that effort.
interesting, though, that you mention palladium. it's about drms, and microsoft has not made the claim, yet, that it's really about enforcing their eula's so that people can't copy their os and office.
after all, it should be possible to copy xp onto other machines, despite the registration process, if one loads it on a system, does the registration, and then creates a ghost. then use the ghost image on another system with the same hardware configuration. and, of course, there are those who have supposedly obtained commercial versions without the registration/activation process built in. palladium would prevent both of these.