Oh, dear golly! Nooo! What are you doing?!?!

Relax. It's only a model. Or a virtual machine. Unfortunately, 90% of the world still uses Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, and the web design business requires testing with them.

I was fortunate enough to find that VMware Server 1.0 and its cohorts are now free. A quick install on my Linux server proved easy. Then it was a matter of digging up my old Windows 98 CD (the last version of Windows that I have personally purchased), and remembering that the CD is not bootable. Then it was a matter of finding a Windows 98 boot floppy, and remembering how to install Windows 98. Once that was all done, then I had a working Windows 98 install running in a VMware virutal machine. Next step, find some cash, and get me some more RAM for the server.

My old AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz (yes, they made them that slow) from 6 years ago finally quit. It was a long-lived Linux server (which I don't think ever had a Windows CD within 5m of it), and was due for retirement. So I bought a $129 pre-built PC from local gigantic electronics outlet. Unfortunately, being only $129, it only came with 128MB of PC3200 RAM. So I'll scrounge up some cash and get a couple more sticks.

¶ 10:46 PM 5 comments