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, as Second Edition was never officially distributed on floppy disks. It is also the last version to support upgrade paths from Windows 3.1x.

Product Team credits Easter Egg
Keeping with the tradition of hiding easter eggs, Windows 98 included an easter egg to showcase the people who worked on the development. But interestingly, there are 2 ways to access it. The first easter egg involves on going into the Welcome directory. Once there find the program Weldata.exe. Then, right click on the executable and create a shortcut to that program. Once that is done, right click on the shortcut, click Properties, and place your cursor at the end of the textbox, and add the phrase "You_are_a_real_rascal". Then, go to the run section of the dialog box and choose the Minimized option and press ok. Running the program like usual results in Windows 98's version of the Product Team Easter Egg. This is a little more animated than the Windows 95 version and play the soundtrack first heard when the Welcome menu appears.

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.