Windows 9x (also known as Win9x) is a generic term referring to a former line of Windows, a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft. It had releases between 1995 and 2000, and were based on the kernel first introduced in Windows 95, which was continuously updated in later versions. MS-DOS support was retained in order to facilitate booting into Windows as well as providing real mode support for DOS.
The first version of the Windows 9x series was Windows 95, which was succeeded by Windows 98 and then Windows Me, which was the third and last version of Windows in the series before it was superseded by Windows XP. It is predominantly known for its use in home desktops. In 1998, Windows made up 82% of operating system market share.
The internal release number for versions of Windows 9x is 4.x. The internal versions for Windows 95, 98, and Me are 4.0, 4.1, and 4.9, respectively. Previous MS-DOS-based versions of Windows used version numbers of 3.2 or lower. Windows NT, which was aimed at professional users such as networks and businesses, used a similar but separate version number between 3.1 and 4.0. Since the release of Windows XP, all versions of Windows are based on the Windows NT codebase.
History
Windows prior to 95 The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released on November 20, 1985, achieved little popularity. Its name was initially "Interface Manager". However, Rowland Hanson, the head of marketing at Microsoft, convinced the company that the name Windows would be more appealing to consumers. Windows 1.0 was not a complete operating system, but rather an "operating environment" that extended MS-DOS. Consequently, it shared the inherent flaws and problems of MS-DOS.
The second installment of Microsoft Windows, version 2.0, was released on December 9, 1987, and used the real-mode memory model, which confined it to a maximum of 1 megabyte of memory. In such a configuration, it could run under another multitasking system like DESQview, which used the 286 Protected Mode.
Microsoft Windows scored a significant success with Windows 3.0, released in 1990. In addition to improved capabilities given to native applications, Windows also allowed users to better multitask older MS-DOS-based software compared to Windows/386, thanks to the introduction of virtual memory.
Microsoft developed Windows 3.1, which included several improvements to Windows 3.0. It also excluded support for Real mode, and only ran on an Intel 80286 or better processor. Windows 3.1 was released on April 6, 1992. In November 1993 Microsoft also released Windows 3.11, a touch-up to Windows 3.1 which included all of the patches and updates that followed the release of Windows 3.1 in early 1992.
Meanwhile, Microsoft continued to develop Windows NT. The main architect of the system was Dave Cutler, one of the chief architects of VMS at Digital Equipment Corporation. Microsoft hired him in August 1988 to create a successor to OS/2, but Cutler created a completely new system instead based on his MICA project at Digital. The first version of Windows NT, Windows NT 3.1, would be released on July 27, 1993, and used Windows 3.1's interface.
A year before development of Windows 3.1's successor (Windows 95, code-named Chicago) began, Microsoft announced at its 1991 Professional Developers Conference that they would be developing a successor to Windows NT code-named Cairo. Based on the Windows NT kernel, Cairo was a next-generation operating system that was to feature as many new technologies into Windows that would have fulfilled Bill Gates' vision of "Information at your fingertips", including a new user interface with an object-based file system, of which the former officially debuted four years later with Windows 95 while the latter would later be adopted as WinFS during the development of Windows Vista. Microsoft publicly demonstrated Cairo at the 1993 Professional Developers Conference, complete with a demo system running Cairo for all attendees to use.
According to Microsoft's product plan at the time, Cairo was planned to be released as late as July 1996 following its development. However, it had become apparent that Cairo was a much more difficult project than Microsoft had anticipated, and the project was subsequently cancelled five years into development. A subset of features from Cairo were eventually added into Windows NT 4.0, released on August 24, 1996, albeit without the object file system.
Some people viewed Cairo as the successor to Windows NT and Windows 3.1's successor, Chicago (Windows 95), under the implication that the two operating systems would be combined under a single unified system. Despite attempts at merging the Windows NT and DOS-based versions of Windows under a single operating platform (which was briefly done with the eventually-canceled Neptune project in the late-1990s), Windows NT and DOS-based versions of Windows would not be truly unified until Windows XP nearly five years later, when Microsoft began to merge its consumer and business line of Windows under a singular brand name based on Windows NT.
Windows 95
After Windows 3.11, Microsoft began to develop a new consumer oriented version of the operating system code-named Chicago. Chicago was designed to have support for 32-bit preemptive multitasking, that of which was available in OS/2 and Windows NT, although a 16-bit kernel would remain for the sake of backward compatibility. The Win32 API first introduced with Windows NT was adopted as the standard 32-bit programming interface, with Win16 compatibility being preserved through a technique known as "thunking". A new GUI was not originally planned as part of the release, although elements of the Cairo user interface were borrowed and added as other aspects of the release (notably Plug and Play) slipped (and indeed after Cairo was cancelled 5 years in development).
Microsoft did not change all of the Windows code to 32-bit; parts of it remained 16-bit (albeit not directly using real mode) for reasons of compatibility, performance and development time. Additionally it was necessary to carry over design decisions from earlier versions of Windows for reasons of backwards compatibility, even if these design decisions no longer matched a more modern computing environment. These factors immediately began to impact the operating system's efficiency and stability.
Microsoft marketing adopted Windows 95 as the product name for Chicago when it was released on August 24, 1995.
Microsoft went on to release five different versions of Windows 95: Windows 95 – original release (RTM) Windows 95 A – included Windows 95 OSR1 slipstreamed into the installation. Windows 95 B – (OSR2) included several major enhancements, Internet Explorer (IE) 3.0 and full FAT32 file system support. Windows 95 B USB – (OSR2.1) included basic USB support. Windows 95 C – (OSR2.5) included all the above features, plus IE 4.0. This was the last 95 version produced.
OSR2, OSR2.1, and OSR2.5 ("OSR" being an initialism for "OEM Service Release") were not released to the general public, rather, they were available only to OEMs that would preload the OS onto computers. Some companies sold new hard drives with OSR2 preinstalled (officially justifying this as needed due to the hard drive's capacity).
The first Microsoft Plus! add-on pack was sold for Windows 95.
Windows 98
On June 25, 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98, code-named "Memphis" during development. It included new hardware drivers and better support for the FAT32 file system which allows support for disk partitions larger than the 2 GB maximum accepted by Windows 95. The USB support in Windows 98 was more robust than the basic support provided by the OEM editions of Windows 95. It also introduces the controversial integration of the Internet Explorer 4 web browser into the Windows shell and File Explorer (then known as Windows Explorer at the time).
On June 10, 1999, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition (also known as Windows 98 SE), an interim release whose notable features were the addition of Internet Connection Sharing and improved WDM audio and modem support. Internet Connection Sharing is a form of network address translation, allowing several machines on a LAN (Local Area Network) to share a single Internet connection. It also includes Internet Explorer 5 as opposed to Internet Explorer 4 in the original version. Windows 98 Second Edition also has certain improvements over the original release, and hardware support through device drivers was increased. Many minor problems present in the original release of Windows 98 were also found and fixed. These changes, among others, makes it (according to many) the most stable release of Windows 9x family—to the extent that some commentators used to say that Windows 98's beta version was more stable than Windows 95's final (gamma) version.
Like with Windows 95, Windows 98 received the Microsoft Plus! add-on in the form of Plus! 98.
Windows Me
On September 14, 2000, Microsoft introduced Windows Me (Millennium Edition; also known as Windows ME), which upgraded Windows 98 with enhanced multimedia and Internet features. Code-named "Millennium", It was conceived as a quick one-year project that served as a stopgap release between Windows 98 and Windows XP (then code-named Whistler at the time), as the Neptune project had been scrapped in favor of merging with Odyssey (a planned successor to Windows 2000) to create the Whistler project that eventually became Windows XP. It borrowed some features from the business-oriented Windows 2000 into the Windows 9x series such as the color scheme, system sounds and Web View layouts, and introduced the first version of System Restore, which allowed users to revert their system state to a previous "known-good" point in the case of a system failure. Windows Me also introduced the first release of Windows Movie Maker and included Windows Media Player 7. Internet Explorer 5.5 came shipped with Windows Me. Certain features of Windows Me were originally included as part of Microsoft Plus! 98 for Windows 98, such as the inclusion of compressed ZIP folders. Many of the new features from Windows Me were also available as updates for older Windows versions such as Windows 98 via Windows Update. The role of MS-DOS has also been greatly reduced compared to previous versions of Windows, with Windows Me no longer allowing real mode DOS to be accessed.
Windows Me initially gained a positive reception upon its release, but later on it was heavily criticized by users for its instability and unreliability, due to frequent freezes and crashes. Windows Me has been viewed by many as one of the worst operating systems of all time, both in critical and in retrospect. PC World was highly critical of Windows Me months after it was released (and indeed when it was no longer available), with their article infamously describing Windows Me as "Mistake Edition" and placing it 4th in their "Worst Tech Products of All Time" feature in 2006. Consequently, many home users that were affected by Windows Me's instabilities (as well as those who negatively viewed Windows Me) ultimately stuck with the more reliable Windows 98 Second Edition for the remainder of Windows Me's lifecycle until the release of Windows XP in 2001. A small number of Windows Me owners moved over to the business-oriented Windows 2000 Professional during that same time period.
The inability of users to easily boot into real mode MS-DOS like in Windows 95 and 98 led users to quickly figure out how to hack their Windows Me installations to provide this missing functionality back into the operating system.
Unlike Windows 95 and Windows 98, Windows Me did not receive a dedicated Microsoft Plus! add-on pack for it.
Decline