PC number three is a $40 used tower that runs Windows 98 Second Edition. Windows 98 has been more or less left behind by the web, it is no longer under consideration when websites include content with fancy Java applets or Flash. As a result, only one modern browser still works with it, Opera, and it no longer works with certain blogs like Google's Blogger or Pajamas Media. In Facebook, when you enter a comment, it doesn't display it until you refresh the screen, which can lead to a double-post if you forget. Still, the OS is relatively small, easy to back up, and none of the current malware exploits work on it at all. Safer'n Linux. I keep it around as a hobby.
PC number two is a $35 gadget called a MK802 ii from a Chinese company called Rikomagic (it's $31 now on Amazon) that runs Android 4.0. I have it set up as a desktop computer with a standard USB keyboard and mouse, plus a $20 box that converts the HDMI output to VGA, and a $10 monitor from a garage sale. I've loaded it with apps from the Google Play Store including DOSBox, which allows me to run even Windows 3.1 on this thing. Primarily I use it for browsing the web, IRC chat, Facebook, Twitter, and writing my Great American Novel on Wordstar 5.5.
PC number one is an Alienware laptop, only a year old, that cost $1,100 new. The previous owner quit his one job, got another one, but shot his mouth off against Obama too much. This is in Seattle. At one point they called this gentleman in on the carpet and said he wasn't a "cultural fit" so he was being let go. He had to eat, so he kicked his hot rod gaming laptop to the curb and I picked it up for $650. Runs Windows 7 Ultimate. That will help tide me over through these dark days of Windows 8.x, until Redmond pulls their collective dummkopfs out of their hinterns.
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