by Douglas E. Welch , techiq@welchwrite.com The end of one year, and the beginning of the next, is always a good time for reflection and planning. As you already know, technology ages quickly and last year's computer can become this year's paper weight. Here are some guidelines for your technology purchases for the coming year. Retire Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Macintosh OS 9 computers "The time has come, the walrus said..." to move beyond these technologies. In all cases, Microsoft and Apple no longer provide support for any of these operating systems. We can use online resources to research issues, but if you are still using these operating systems, its time to move on. Vista and Leopard are coming Both Microsoft and Apple will be rolling out major new versions of their operating system in 2007, so prepare accordingly. I don't necessarily recommend upgrading existing machines to the new systems, but you want to insure that any new computers you pur