This innovative, and highly-successful PC operating system weaned people who used PCs off of command lines. It also made Microsoft a household name. Here’s why Windows 95 was so special. One of the most notable features of Windows 95 was that it tried to steer users completely away from a command prompt for the first time.
Windows 95 was designed to be maximally compatible with existing MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows programs and device drivers while offering a more stable and better performing system. The Windows 95 architecture is an evolution of Windows for Workgroups ‘ 386 enhanced mode.
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 August 15, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995.
While we were reading we ran into the question “What is Windows 95 and why should you care?”.
Windows 95 marked a new way of doing things. The “Start” button, which dominated the advertising campaign, was a focus for many. There were jokes about how it made no logical sense to press “Start” in order to shutdown the computer .
Is Windows 95 Microsoft’s most important operating system?
So while Windows 95 was certainly Microsoft’s most important operating system, it could also be argued that it is also the most important OS to have ever been launched at all, and that’s coming from a life-long Mac user.
While writing we ran into the inquiry “Was Windows 95 the biggest operating system ever?”.
Even The Times was festooned with adverts for Microsoft’s new operating system. And Windows 95 was, frankly, the biggest and boldest update Microsoft had ever undertaken. Even to this day, you could argue that no version of Windows has been quite so significant.
Why is Windows 95 so different from Windows 3x?
So while Windows 95 provided a hugely revamped UI compared to Windows 3.x, many technical improvements and paved the way for more advanced features, a lot of it had compatibility restraints based on choices, and to support limitations in hardware, dating back over a decade. (The 386 itself was introduced in 1985.).
You may be asking “What is the difference between Windows NT and Windows 95?”
It is not to be conf used with Windows NT 4.0. Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems.
Why was the start menu so important in Windows 95?
In fact, as Windows 8 would show, the Start Menu became something that was so deeply ingrained in the minds of users that its removal would cause total uproar. Also crucial in the Windows 95 success story was the taskbar. This was new for Windows, and didn’t really have a rival in other mainstream operating systems.