>The latest PC Week reports an advance notice from MS on Windows 2000 pricing which give $319 for the price of Windows 2000 Professional. Picking up a catalog for WWW.TIGERDIRECT.COM I see a Win98 system for $450 (233 mhz Pentium MMX, 32MB, etc.).

Hi Peter - As others have pointed out, there's no increase from the cost of NT4 to Win2K Pro - in either case you're paying a lot more primarily for the security features. If you don't require the added security, Win98 and/or the new Millennium (or whatever final name is) is a viable and much cheaper alternative.
I've been using all 3 now for a while (95, 98, and NT). I wouldn't pay the extra cost for NT for home use (or in a a small business). I've been very happy with Win98, and it actually is a better choice irrespective of cost for many home uses - OTOH, at work, we require security, so NT is the "right tool for the job," as we say :)