is an
Operating System enhancement package provided by
Microsoft . The latest edition is the ''Plus! SuperPack'', which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as media editing applications. The Microsoft Plus! application was first announced on
31 January ,
1994 and the
Internal Codename ''Frosting''.
The enhancements comprising Microsoft Plus! are typically developed by Microsoft itself. The Plus! packs also include games and content from third party companies, for example in Plus! for Windows XP the HyperBowl game was developed by Hyper Entertainment Incorporated. Plus! features that actually enhance the base operating system or provide utility are generally included for free in the next release of Windows.
Initially marketed as features for high performance computers so
Windows 95 could meet a minimum system requirement of a
80386 CPU with 4
Megabytes of
RAM . This version of Plus! included
Space Cadet Pinball , the Internet Jumpstart Kit (which was the introduction of Internet Explorer 1.0), DriveSpace 3 disk compression, the initial release of
Desktop Themes , and the graphical improvements of anti-aliased screen fonts and full window drag.
Released in for
Internet Explorer .
The sequel to the original suite of enhancements to Windows, Plus! for
Windows 98 included many new desktop themes, including the ones from Plus! 95, along with a couple of new programs and tools for Windows 98. One program kept the
Start Menu clean.
Microsoft updated the Disk Cleanup tool to add functionality of cleaning more unused files such as old ScanDisk files on the hard drive. ZIP file integration with
Windows Explorer was first introduced with this version of Plus!. New games, such as Microsoft Golf and the now popular Spider Solitaire (which is now also included with Windows Me and Windows XP), were also added to Plus! for Windows 98.
Marketed as “The Ultimate Companion for Windows XP”, Microsoft Plus! for
Windows XP was launched along side the Windows XP operating system on October 25, 2001. This version of Plus! was created to show off the enhanced capabilities that Windows XP presented with its updated
Windows Media Player and
DirectX 3-D core technologies. Continuing the feature categories of the previous Plus! products, the product features were desktop themes, screen savers, games and utilities.
Plus! for Windows XP features:
- Plus! Themes
- Plus! Screen Savers
- Plus! Voice Command for Windows Media Player
- Plus! Personal DJ
- Plus! MP3 Converter
- Plus! CD Label Maker
- Plus! Speaker Enhancement
- Plus! 3-D Visualizations for Windows Media Player
- Plus! Skins for Windows Media Player
- Plus! Hyperbowl
- Plus! Russian Square
- Plus! Labyrinth
Marketed as “The Ultimate Photo, Music, and Movie Enhancement Pack for Windows XP”, Plus! Digital Media Edition signified the first time Microsoft had released a second Plus! product based on the same base operating system. Before this point, each Microsoft Plus! product had been created only once with each new operating system version.
Released on January 7, 2003, Plus! Digital Media Edition built upon two newly enhanced Windows XP core components: Windows Media Player 9 Series and
Windows Movie Maker 2. This product version focused more on utility features for photos, music and movies rather than including the more traditional Plus! features like themes, screen savers and games.
Plus! Digital Media Edition features:
- Plus! Photo Story 2
- Plus! Party Mode
- Plus! Analog Recorder
- Plus! CD Label Maker
- Plus! Dancers
- Plus! Audio Converter
- Plus! Effects and Transitions for Windows Movie Maker
- Plus! Alarm Clock
- Plus! Sleep Timer
- Plus! Skins for Windows Media Player 9 Series
- Plus! Sync & Go for Pocket PC
On October 19, 2004, Microsoft replaced its two separate Plus! products based on the Windows XP operating system (Plus! for Windows XP and Plus! Digital Media Edition) with a single combined version called the Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP. There were no new features or functionality added.
- Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 included an Internet Jumpstart Kit, which was in fact Microsoft Internet Explorer 1.0.
- Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition was the first Microsoft product to be made available for sale to consumers via ecommerce as full product download through online retailers.
