Windows 98 can be used as such, but nothing in the OS has any concept of "groups." 98 provides some file sharing and print sharing, but not mcuh else.

There is an issue you should know about when sharing a database in the filesharing method. Since it's done in such a manner, bumps in the road include:

- Locked records. Easy to duplicate and I've demo'd this issue for years. Just edit some record and flip the power off on a client machine. The record is now "locked" until the server is rebooted.
- Delete the database. Easy for end users to have a slip of the fingers and delete all the files on the server.
- Corrupted database. Any number of issues can cause this from power outages to a bad network card.

You can proceed with your plans, but be sure to keep daily backups so you don't have to re-input too much data.

My final fix was to install a SQL server and connect front end software to such. With Linux and MySQL being reasonable in price (zero!), this solution has been great. But some may not do this since it does require planning, research and some minor programming.

Bob