Information AboutWindows 95 |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WINDOWS 95 | |
| 1995 software | |
| discontinued versions of microsoft windows | |
| microsoft windows | |
| 1990s fads | |
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented Graphical User Interface -based Operating System . It was released on August 24 , 1995 by Microsoft , and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products. During development it was referred to as Windows 4.0 or by the Internal Codename '''Chicago'''. Windows 95 was intended to integrate Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products and includes an enhanced version of DOS, often referred to as MS-DOS 7.0. It features significant improvements over the popular Windows 3.1 , most visibly the Graphical User Interface (GUI) whose basic format and structure is still used in later versions such as Windows Vista . There were also large changes made to the underlying workings, including support for 255-character mixed-case Long Filename s and preemptively multitasked protected-mode 32-bit applications. Whereas its predecessors are optional "operating environments" requiring the MS-DOS operating system (usually available separately), Windows 95 is a consolidated operating system, which was a significant marketing change. 32-BIT Windows 95 followed Windows For Workgroups 3.11 with its lack of support for older, 16-bit X86 processors, thus requiring an Intel 80386 (or compatible) processor running in Protected Mode . The introduction of 32-bit File Access in Windows for Workgroups 3.11 meant that 16-bit real mode MS-DOS is not used for managing the files while Windows is running, and the earlier introduction of the 32-bit Disk Access means that the PC BIOS isn't used for managing hard disks. This essentially reduces MS-DOS to the role of a Boot Loader for the protected-mode Windows kernel. DOS can be used for running old-style Drivers for compatibility, but Microsoft discourages using them, as this prevents proper multitasking and impairs system stability. Control Panel allows a user to see what MS-DOS components are used by the system; optimal performance is achieved when they are all bypassed. The Windows Kernel uses MS-DOS style real-mode drivers in '' Safe Mode ,'' which exists to allow a user to fix problems relating to loading native, protected-mode drivers. LONG FILE NAMES 32-bit File Access is necessary for the ''long file names'' feature introduced with Windows 95 through the use of the VFAT file system. It is available to both Windows programs and MS-DOS programs started from Windows (they have to be adapted slightly, since accessing long file names requires using larger Pathname Buffers and hence different System Call s). Competing DOS-compatible operating systems released before Windows 95 cannot see these names. Using older versions of DOS utilities to manipulate files means that the long names are not visible and are lost if files are moved or renamed, as well as by the copy (but not the original), if the file is copied. During a Windows 95 automatic upgrade of an older Windows 3.1 system, DOS and third-party disk utilities which can destroy long file names are identified and made unavailable ( Microsoft Anti-Virus For Windows indicated that the upgrade program was itself a Computer Virus ). When Windows 95 is started in DOS mode, e.g. for running DOS games, low-level access to disks is locked out. In case the need arises to depend on disk utilities that do not recognize long file names, such as MS-DOS 6.x's defrag utility, a program called LFNBACK for backup and restoration of long file names is provided on the CD-ROM. The program is in the \ADMIN\APPTOOLS\LFNBACK directory of the Windows 95 CD-ROM. USER INTERFACE In the marketplace, Windows 95 was an unqualified success, and within a year or two of its release had become the most successful operating system ever produced. It also had the effect of driving other major players in the DOS-compatible operating system out of business, something which would later be used in court against Microsoft. Internet Explorer 4.0 came with an optional Shell update known as Windows Desktop Update that gave Windows 95 (and NT 4.0) a user interface and several updated shell features that would become the Graphical User Interface of Windows 98 . The last release of Windows 95, that is, OEM Service Release 2.5 (Version 4.00.950C) included IE4 on the Setup CD (but not in slipstreamed form) and installed it after Windows 95's initial setup and first boot was complete. Only the 4.x series of the browser contained the shell update, so those that wanted the new shell had to install IE4 with the desktop update before installing a newer version of Internet Explorer. Windows 95 marked the introduction of the Start button and Taskbar to Microsoft's GUI, both of which have remained fixtures of all subsequent versions of Windows, although the word "Start" was dropped from the button in Windows Vista, with the company preferring to label the button with the Windows logo ("Start" is still there as a Tooltip and in the classic UI mode). RELEASE
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