Windows 95 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.capebreton.social/post/347724

Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995, almost three months after the release of Windows NT 3.51.

Windows 95 is the first version of Microsoft Windows to include taskbar, start button, and accessing the internet. Windows 95 merged Microsoft’s formerly separate MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows products, and featured significant improvements over its predecessor, most notably in the graphical user interface (GUI) and in its simplified “plug-and-play” features. There were also major changes made to the core components of the operating system, such as moving from a mainly cooperatively multitasked 16-bit architecture to a 32-bit preemptive multitasking architecture, at least when running only 32-bit protected mode applications.

Accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign,Windows 95 introduced numerous functions and features that were featured in later Windows versions, and continue in modern variations to this day, such as the taskbar, notification area, and the “Start” button. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most important products in the personal computing industry.

  • Cloudless ☼@feddit.ukEnglish
    624·
    1 year ago

    Better than Windows 11 in many aspects:

    • Runs on 4 MB of RAM
    • Less bloatware
    • Less invasion of privacy
    • Does not require TPM, Secure Boot etc
    • No ads
    • Not forcing you to use Edge, Bing, Cortana, or other random crap
        • Luci@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          You’re right. I had a 95 C install that came with USB support OOTB, original required a driver/update.

          • WhyYesZoidberg@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            1 year ago

            yeah i also had osr2 or something with my pc. wikipedia suggests Windows 95 B USB (OSR2.1) introduced support. hence the name i guess :-)

    • jmondi@programming.devEnglish
      191·
      1 year ago

      A horse is better than a car in many aspects:

      • eco friendly fuel emissions
      • built in gps, FSD, and autopilot mode
      • naturally low maintenance
      • built in companion
      • traffic jams are a breeze
    • Diplomjodler@feddit.deEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      Well. 4 MB was a bit of a stretch. I remember buying a RAM upgrade to 8 MB to get it to run decently. Cost me 200 DM on top of the 200 for the Windows upgrade. It was a huge leap compared to Windows 3.1, though. And this stuff just was a lot more expensive back in the day.

  • comedy@kbin.social
    34·
    1 year ago

    I remember the install CD had the Weezer “Buddy Holly” video on it. It felt pretty fancy

      • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Microsoft made no point to credit Edie Brickell in that video clip, they only credited Geffen Records.

        I figure many if not most people probably didn’t even know who she was, other than the pretty woman that sang the nice relaxing song in the street.

  • mindbleach@lemmy.worldEnglish
    211·
    1 year ago

    This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

    Seriously though, this is the first properly good UI for a desktop computer. Mac OS (or I guess Macintosh OS at the time) was okay, but reliant on the global menu and weird drop-downs. Windows kept everything self-contained. Even multi-window programs tended to use the “multiple document interface,” i.e., windows inside windows. Tabs weren’t really a thing yet.

    It also crashed if you looked at it funny and had the antivirus capabilities of warm cheese. But there’s damn good reasons Windows 7 was the same experience, extended, rather than replaced. It’s more-or-less what I style Linux to look like. And in light of that I’m kinda pissed off any OS ever struggles to remain responsive, when this relic ran smoothly on one stick of RAM that’s smaller than my CPU’s cache.

    • irdc@derp.fooEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      Mac OS (…) was okay, but reliant on the global menu and weird drop-downs.

      See Fitt’s law for why the Mac’s menu bar is the way it is.

      • mindbleach@lemmy.worldEnglish
        52·
        1 year ago

        Thoroughly familiar with it; don’t care. The global menu has always been goofy because of the invisible relation to some open window. Usually a small window floating out in middle of the desktop, because Mac OS took forever to adopt any concept of “maximize.” I’m still not sure they do it right.

        • irdc@derp.fooEnglish
          51·
          1 year ago

          Nowadays macOS maximises like Windows does. Whether that’s “doing it right” is something else entirely.

          • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            1 year ago

            Does it? I never pay attention to what version work has me running but hitting the maximize button is still exclusive full screen as effectively a new desktop

            • stankmut@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              If you hold down one of the modifier keys, either Options/Alt or Cmd I don’t quite remember which, and then click the maximize button it does the normal Windows style maximize.

    • LazaroFilm@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      The full screen app contained in a single window was great! I hated the Mac eat fo many windows floating around. My ADHD was so overwhelmed by all the tiny windows instead of a clear one.

    • mike@lemmy.dlct.caEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah I remember that - it needed 13 discs and it always failed the last one and I would have to start all over.

      • Diplomjodler@feddit.deEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I already had one of those fancy new-fangled CD-ROM drives. You could get a computer magazine with a cover-CD and it had all the patches for all current games and major software packages. So cool.

  • digdilem@feddit.ukEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    As someone who was working in IT support at the time - YAY! NO MORE FUCKING TRUMPET WINSOCK!

    • Yewb@kbin.social
      8·
      1 year ago

      Oh god quit bringing up the pain!

      IRQ conflicts when trying to install a modem and a soundcard!

      • wmassingham@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I was configuring COM ports just last week. Turns out the software is so old that it only supports COM1.

    • GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      You mean those little discs that you throw a bigger, heaver disc on top of? You’ve gotta share a pic sometime

      • Luci@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I’m currently searching boxes. No one was taking them so they gave me like 20 of them.

  • imgonnatrythis@lemm.eeEnglish
    61·
    1 year ago

    And this marked the very first and last time I felt a sense of genuine excitement about an OS upgrade.

    • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      You weren’t stoked for XP? XP is the OS that got me into computing. Before XP computers were a novelty to me. When XP came out they finally seemed powerful enough to accomplish cool things with.

      • imgonnatrythis@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I learned a lot with XP because it required constant trouble shooting. Was a buggy mess imo. I was more excited about hardware advancements and cool games at that time.

  • mycatiskai@lemmy.oneEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    My dad barely knew how to run things in windows 3.1 but he still regrets the day he installed windows 95 because it was all downhill from there when it came to him knowing what was going on.