Windows 98 is from 19-fucking-98.
Actually, I'm pretty sure it was available towards the end of 1997 (though not widely in brick-n-mortar retail outlets).
I was running Windows 2000 in 1999, and Windows XP in 2001. Granted, in the fall months, but still.
I kind of feel bad for people not running Win98, Win98Se, or (god forbid) WinME.
NOT because they're running an "older" OS, but because those versions of windows were as buggy as my old dorm.
Seriously, those versions of Windows have etched "blue screen of death" and "windows is unstable" in solid granite, when current products by MS are actually pretty stable.
Pentium 4 3.06 GHz w/ Hyperthreading & 533 MHz FSB
1024MB PC2700 Crucial RAM
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Windows XP Pro
"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
-Fry, Futurama