Some time ago I observed that the volume of downloads for updating Windows was large and impractical for any dial-up user. Microsoft should, I suggested, issue a CD with the updates, or put ISO images on their site for others to download and burn. You all agreed. Not too long thereafter, Microsoft announced that it would issue such a CD. I finally got mine, and I'm ready to install. I wish I had something more recent than the February 2004 CD, but I knew they would only issue these periodically, and I'll just have to do the rest of the updates online. The files on the CD all appear to be dated Feb. 5, 2004, and today is April 8, 2004. Order your own from Microsoft by clicking here.

I created a completely naked, unpatched Windows 98 Second Edition system. The version of IE on it was 5.00.2614.3500, which was later than I expected. Perhaps my Windows 98SE files, from the MSDN distribution, were updated somehow. Still. 5.0x is mighty old. Outlook Express is 5.0.2615.200. I also made a point of not letting the system connect immediately to the Internet.

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