C|Net News reports the somewhat surprising move by Microsoft to extend support for older versions of their software that are still widely used (Microsoft slows to support customers' pace). Microsoft has been frequently accused of dropping support for older software in order to force users to upgrade to newer software. After all, if Windows 98 works just fine for a business, there is little incentive for them to upgrade to Windows XP or Longhorn. If there is no upgrading, Microsoft doesn't make money.
In this case, extending support is likely a response to the Linux threat. One of Microsoft's main claims against Linux is the claimed lack of support for the open source operating system. Doesn't sell your case if you don't have much in the way of support either.
Related to the support issue is the claim that Microsoft updates its file formats in order to also encourage upgrades of software. If Word 98 doesn't open files from Word XP, eventually I may have to upgrade to Word XP in order to easily read the files others send me. Personally, I wouldn't even have a copy of Word on my hard drive except for my need to read Word documents from others.
Prof. Michael Froomkin reports an exasperating example of such file format upgrade cycle shenanigans by financial software giant Intuit: Annals of Software Obsolescence: Intuit is Evil (Quicken Dept.) and Annals of Software Obsolescence: Intuit is Even More Evil than I Thought.
Apparently, Intuit isn't satisfied with dropping support for older file formats in newer versions of its software, but they are somehow encouraging banks to stop supporting older formats in communicating with their customers. Froomkin was quite happy with Quicken 2000, which allowed him to easily download account information from his bank and reconcile his records. He was not happy with Quicken 2003, which locked up his display. So, he switched back to Q2000. Now, however, his bank has upgraded their system and he is unable to automatically download and reconcile his records. He can still do it manually, but that is nearly as inefficient as reading a paper bank statement.
Read Froomkin's posts for the details of this evil example of forced software obsolescence.