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Windows 95: Difference between revisions
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|replaced-by = [[Windows 98]] | |replaced-by = [[Windows 98]] | ||
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'''Windows 95''' (codenamed ''Chicago'') is a consumer version of [[Microsoft Windows]] released by Microsoft in 1995. It is the first major release in the [[Windows 9x]] operating system line | '''Windows 95''' (codenamed ''Chicago'') is a consumer version of [[Microsoft Windows]] released by Microsoft in 1995. It is the first major release in the [[Windows 9x]] operating system line, and was designed to be the successor of [[Windows 3.1x|Windows 3.1]]. It would be replaced by [[Windows 98]], and Microsoft ended support for Windows 95 on 31 December 2001. It improved upon 16-bit Windows by introducing a hybrid 16/32-bit kernel and eliminating the need for an existing installation of MS-DOS, making it a standalone operating system (running alongside MS-DOS). Microsoft focused on improving the usability of Windows with technologies such as Plug-and-Play, long file names (VFAT), the Start Menu, an updated Desktop, Internet Explorer, Mail, built-in networking, and virtual device drivers. Many of the paradigms introduced with Windows 95 remain in use today. | ||
It was a revolutionary update for Windows, and also the first concerted effort by Microsoft to listen to consumers. Although it was still built upon the solid, if outdated, foundations of MS-DOS, the average user never saw the MS-DOS prompt unless they wanted to. Windows NT was too intensive for most computers of the time, and it was not until after the release of Windows 95 that Win32 applications were widely used and supported. | It was a revolutionary update for Windows, and also the first concerted effort by Microsoft to listen to consumers. Although it was still built upon the solid, if outdated, foundations of MS-DOS, the average user never saw the MS-DOS prompt unless they wanted to. Windows NT was too intensive for most computers of the time, and it was not until after the release of Windows 95 that Win32 applications were widely used and supported. | ||
This is the last version of Windows to be available in 5 | This is the last version of Windows to be available in 5.25-inch floppy disks. | ||
== Development == | == Development == | ||
[[File:Windows-95-1993-01-Demo.png|thumb|A UI mockup depicting an early form of the Cairo/Chicago shell|230px]] | [[File:Windows-95-1993-01-Demo.png|thumb|A UI mockup depicting an early form of the Cairo/Chicago shell|230px]] | ||