I'm a '98 user who felt more than a little burned by ME when I upgraded. The thing is, I don't care what OS I use, but when I spend good money on one, dammit, it ought to work. Its not so much a question of whether XP is better- it clearly is. It is simply a matter of getting your money's worth for as long as possible out of your current investment. I don't want to have to upgrade, but I'm going to. There's no way I can sit by and watch others around me play DOOM 3. If it wasn't DOOM 3 it would be Half-Life 2 or... whatever. Eventually '98 was going to be left behind. A lot of the people spewing vitriol are probably just like me in that they just want to play a game on the OS they paid good money for. But once we upgrade, (and we will, sooner or later) this becomes a non-issue and soon we get back to the business of playing games.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mahatma Gandhi