Windows 95 turns 17 years old

Windows 95 was released back on the 24th August 1995. It is now 17 years old. Many die hard Microsoft fans see the release of Windows 95 all those years ago as the single most important release from Microsoft in revolutionising the Windows operating system. In fact, graphics and a few new features aside – not that much has changed since Windows 95.

Windows 95 was significant as it was the first OS to be installed onto factory built PCs. In addition to that it also brought major GUI changes over Windows 3.1. Windows 95 featured a much improved “plug and play” system that facilitated hardware installations and reduced conflicts while lower level changes moved the OS from a 16-bit architecture to a 32-bit, multitasking-friendly architecture.

Windows 95 was a huge commercial success. A later version of the OS came bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0 giving Microsoft a browser market monopoly.Competitors like Netscape Navigator and Opera had to be downloaded over slow 56k connections or purchased in stores while Internet Explorer was available to anyone using Microsoft’s latest OS.

Windows 98 was released three years later although 95 was supported by Microsoft until December 31, 2001.

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