Windows 95-98
Windows 95 and 98 Second Edition
Windows 95, 98, and 98 SE belong to the second generation of Microsoft's operating systems with graphical user interfaces, after Windows 3.0-3.11. They are primarily consumer-targeted operating systems, and built on top of MS-DOS. At development time, Windows 95 was being inofficially called Windows 4.0. When released in 1995, Windows 95 quickly sold over 10 million copies, and soon became the most successful OS ever. Roughly 3 years later, Windows 98 followed, and another year later, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) was added to fix numerous minor issues and add support for devices such as DVD-ROM drives.
Windows 95 was intended to be as compatible as possible with existing MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows drivers and applications. At the same time, Microsoft aimed to offer more stability and a better system performance. In terms of system architecture, it could be said that Windows 95 is the next evolutionary step from the old Windows for Workgroups 386 enhanced mode.
Windows 95 was followed by Windows 98. Additionally, it could also be directly upgraded by both Windows 2000 and Windows Me. On 31 December 2001, Microsot stopped official support for Windows 95. Still, the program is in use until today by some users who are either unwilling to upgrade, or wish to run some old legacy applications such as classic DOS games.
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