How usable is Windows 98 in 2026?

(3 March 2026) Oh boy, it's that time of year again. The new year is in full swing, and so it is time to look at how well old Windows versions hold up in this new year... oh, and I was a bit late to this, my bad. This time, I'm starting with Windows 98 instead of XP, because I want to go in chronological order of Windows versions. So what is still usable on 98, and what fun can you have with it?

Watch on YouTube

Software used

- Paint.NET 5.1.11

- Audacity 3.7.7

- DaVinci Resolve 20.3.1

Music (in chronological order)

- "Atmospheria" by Francis Preve, YouTube Audio Library

- "Luge" by Geographer, YouTube Audio Library

- "Half Day" by Bad Snacks, YouTube Audio Library

- "Searching For You" by White Hex, YouTube Audio Library

Works Cited

- [1] "Windows 98". Computer Chronicles, Public Broadcasting Service. Originally aired 6 October 1998 (Season 16 Episode 1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3s0_yf2mS4 (Also available on the Internet Archive)

- [2] "Windows 98", English Wikipedia. Last edited 11 January 2026, accessed 25 January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_98

Media used

- Footage of the Bill Gates deposition used under fair use.

- ClamAV_Logo.png By Cisco-Talos - https://github.com/Cisco-Talos/clamav/blob/c81968d3a7c16be0be4cb4f79a7dedfd90d8ae1d/logo.png, GPLv2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114403126

- Downtown_Detroit,_Michigan_from_Windsor,_Ontario_(21760963102).jpg - Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons