Windows 98

Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is an operating system that runs on top of MS-DOS. It was developed by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x operating system line. It was designed as an evolution of Windows 95 and introduced features such as the Windows Driver Model, Internet Explorer 4.0 (which included Active Desktop, Windows Desktop Update, and integration with Windows Explorer itself. ), FAT32 file system (though this was already part of the OEM-only Windows 95 OSR2 two years earlier) and improved setup.

Two versions of Windows 98 were released: the original release in 1998, known simply as "Windows 98" and sometimes retroactively called "First Edition", and "Windows 98 Second Edition" in 1999. The latter fixed major issues from the original release, updated Internet Explorer to version 5.0, included updated drivers and introduced features such as Internet Connection Sharing.

It succeeded all releases of Windows 95 and was itself succeeded by Windows Me in 2000. Over the years it became one of the more popular releases of Windows, though its changes to the shell were criticized by some.

This is the last version of Windows to be available on 3.5-inch floppy disks for the original release only. No known floppy releases of the Second Edition are known to exist as of 2022. This is also the last version of Windows 9x that supports a 486 CPU, as Windows Me requires at least a Pentium with 200 MHz.

Original release
This release is also retroactively referred to as the "First Edition".

Second Edition
Second Edition was originally meant to be released as a Service Pack 1 update for First Edition users, as well as a full OEM Service Release, just like Windows 95 OSR 2.x. Early builds were thus made in both forms before SP1 was canceled and OSR1 rebranded as Second Edition that would also be available in retail stores.