Well, I, for one, think one can resist and remain using, say, XP SP3 x86 for as long as one's able to...
I've just decommissioned my last Win 98SE Athlon XP machine, after realizing I hadn't booted 98SE once in the last 12 months and didn't even notice it.
Nowadays I think running anything on a non-SSE2 processor isn't worth the while. And I've never ever come around to installing 98SE in my newer hardware.
That said, I do not think it's reasonable to expect anyone to continue supporting the OS I want to run, just because I'm a die-hard.
I do bellieve that adapting to the OS being dropped all around is part of the game, for those who intend seriously to keep using it.
There: I've said it!
[Way off topic] And, BTW, the sooner people realize the only way for our huge population to live suistainably on this world, in case there actually is one, involves embracing nuclear power, the sooner the world will have a chance to keep going. But that's not really a topic to discuss here, I do know. [/Way off topic]
It's great to agree to disagree... that makes for dialogue and understanding: there's no true democracy without dialectics!