For a home or small office network with a continuous internet connection, a router is definately the way to go. For ease-of-use, I would reccomend a router with a built-in hub, such as Netgear's RT 314. You can find more information on their products at
www.netgear.com.
The router will allow the internet connection from the cable modem to be shared across multiple computers running any operating system with network capabilities, including Windows 98, Me, 2000, MacOS, Linux, Irix, etc. Furthermore, only the computer that you would like to use the internet with will need to be on, whereas using software like Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) would require all of the computers to be on.
Jeff C.