Windows 95
Windows 95 is an operating system created by Microsoft. It was released in August 1995, and was the first operating system in the Windows 9x family. Windows 95 added newer features to the last Microsoft Windows operating systems, which were part of the Windows 3.x family. Windows 95 was the first Windows operating system with the "Start" menu. Since then, the Start menu has been used in all Windows operating systems until now, and the general look has not changed except for Windows 8's "tablet-design" start menu. It was also the first Windows operating system that included ways to connect to the [Internet]. Although Windows 95 is thought of as an operating system by itself, it works over MS-DOS. Windows 95 is like a visual version of MS-DOS. This means that Windows 95 can run both MS-DOS programs and Windows ones, but programs made just for Windows 95 will not work in MS-DOS.
| Windows 95 | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Microsoft Windows family | |
.svg){kind=logo} | |
| 290px | |
| A screenshot of a computer running Windows 95 | |
| Developer | |
| Microsoft | |
| Website | support.microsoft.com |
| Releases | |
| Initial release | August 15, 1995[1] [info] |
| Source model | Closed source |
| License | MS-EULA |
| Kernel type | Hybrid kernel |
| Support status | |
| Mainstream support ended on December 31, 2000. Unsupported since December 31, 2001[2] [2] | |
Windows 95 was Microsoft's first operating system to support long file names. Before that, file names could only be eight characters (letters, numbers, or symbols) long, plus the file extension. Windows 95 was also Microsoft's first operating system to fully support CD-ROMs, though Windows 3.x could also access CD-ROMs.
It was popular from 1995 until 1998, when Microsoft introduced Windows 98. Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 95 on December 31, 2000 and extended support ended 95 on December 31, 2001.
Editions
- Windows 95 Retail
- Windows 95 OSR 1 and SP1
- Windows 95 OSR 2.0
- Windows 95 OSR 2.1
- Windows 95 OSR 2.5
Windows 95 Media
A diagram of the architecture of Microsoft Windows 95.
command.com running in a Windows console on Windows 95 (MS-DOS Prompt)
References
- ↑ Thurrott, Paul. Microsoft to release Windows 95 OSR 2.5. Windows IT Pro (October 19, 1997)Penton. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Microsoft Support LifecycleMicrosoft. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
| Preceded by Windows 3.1 |
Windows versions 1995-1998 |
Succeeded by Windows 98 |
