Thank you for the confirmation Maxim.
I appreciate that the VicMan Graphic Tools are both freeware and no longer in development. But I couldn't find on the official websites which OS was required by which programs. Additionally, many of the multitude of software sites that link back to vicman.net or photo-toolkit.net do suggest that Photo ToolKit is compatible with win98. In trying to resolve my install problem on win98, another user familiar with 'PAD' usage was able to extract from:
www.photo-toolkit.com phototoolkit.xml
"<Program_OS_Support>Win98,WinME,WinXP,Windows2000,Windows2003</Program_OS_Support>"
"<Program_Version>1.6</Program_Version>
<Program_Release_Month>12</Program_Release_Month>
<Program_Release_Day>22</Program_Release_Day>
<Program_Release_Year>2006</Program_Release_Year>"
While it may not be practical to issue another version just to alter the stated supported OSs, perhaps a note on the official websites might be prudent.
I offer these comments in the same spirit that the software was made available, for the benefit of other users.
Cheers,
tomZ