By the mid-1990s, processor power had increased and memory prices had decreased dramatically since Windows' original release. The Internet had also sprung onto the world stage, from an academic tool to an instrument of global communication and commerce. (You may recall that Windows 3.1 did not even include support for the TCP/IP network protocol used on the Internetyou had to purchase it from a third-party vendor.) Users' expectations likewise had grown with computers' capabilities, and desktop publishing, graphics editing, and multimedia applications had reached the point that 16-bit protected mode's 16MB memory was an obstacle.

The 32-bit Windows NT product line had become successful in the business market (more on this shortly), but it was not yet considered a viable product for the consumer market. The primary reason for this is that Windows NT did not include DOS, and provided no means for user programs to run in real mode. This meant that a huge number of games, multimedia programs, and other consumer and business applications would not run correctly under NT. It would be some time before those products faded away, so Microsoft created a new 32-bit Windows version based on DOS, rather than on the NT kernel. This would let developers write Windows programs that took advantage of the NT 32-bit Windows programming model, while DOS was still underneath to support so-called legacy applications.

Windows 95

Windows 95 was released in August, 1995, as a consumer version of 32-bit Windows, meant to bring 32-bit architecture to the consumer market and hold its place while the Windows NT product line ripened to consumer readiness. Windows 95 was wildly successful, and its user interface is still the reigning interface paradigm today.

Windows 95 used Windows NT's 32-bit programming model, but most of the code was freshly written, not based on NT. Windows 95 uses the 32-bit protected mode made available by Intel 80386 and later processors. Physically, the segment registers are still present and are still used by Windows itself, but with 32-bit addresses used throughout, application programs can access a 4GB memory address range without having to change the segment registers, and within a given program they can be ignoredthey can use what is termed a "flat memory space." And because Windows 95 and its successors presume an Intel 80386 or later microprocessor, programs could take full advantage of several more efficient instructions that had been added to the Intel platform's instruction set since the original 8086 was released. It also required 4MB of memory as a minimum.

Perhaps the biggest improvement was the introduction of long filename support. The 8.3 filename structure (eight character filenames with a three character extension), which derived from the 1970s TOPS-10 operating system and was copied by CP/M and then MS-DOS, was finally left behind, and files could be named something like "My research notes on the history of DOS and Windows.doc" rather than DOSWHIST.DOC.

Windows 95 also included a significantly improved user interface. The Start button and taskbar appeared, and pop-up context menus (right-click menus) were introduced as a standard feature. DOS applications could be run inside of a window on the desktop and no longer needed to take over the entire screen as they did with Windows 3.1. Built-in networking support included TCP/IP connectivity, dial-up networking, and Internet Explorer and the entire operating system exhibited faster performance, due to the use of 32-bit drivers throughout.

Additional significant improvements included the following:

• 16-bit (Windows 3.1) applications could still be used, thanks to a "Windows-on-Windows" system that let the older application believe that they were running under the old operating system.
• Preemptive multitasking was implemented throughout, so that all Windows applications remained at least somewhat responsive even if one application attempted to use all available processing time.
• Windows 95 had the ability to terminate runaway applications without having to restart Windows to recover lost resources (limited memory space used by Windows to track a program's disk and graphics requirements).
• Support for Plug and Play meant that Windows could automatically recognize newly added hardware devices and either automatically install the appropriate drivers, or walk the user through the process of locating drivers, through the Add Hardware wizard.
• The Windows Registry, a single database, was used to store system and application configuration information, rather than multiple text (.ini) files.
• Per-user settings. As an option, Windows 95 could be configured with separate logon names, passwords, desktops, and document folders for more than one user.

As yet, however, Windows did not support USB peripherals.

Windows 95 OSR2

In October 1996, Microsoft released an updated version of Windows 95 called OEM Service Release 2, or OSR2. The OEM part stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, and indeed, OSR2 was made available only to computer manufacturers for sale with a new computerit wasn't made available as an upgrade, although some parts could be downloaded as hotfixes.

OSR2 included several significant improvements:

• Supported the FAT32 file system, which permits the use of hard drives up to 2TB in size, and can break large disks into clusters of smaller size than FAT16 for more efficient use of space
• Enhanced DriveSpace support for compression on volumes up to 2 GB in size
• Supported Zip drives, removable disk drives, "floptical" media, and detection of CD-ROM disc insertion and removal
• Included Internet Explorer 3, Internet Mail and News reader, NetMeeting, and Personal Web Server. (Internet Explorer 4 was released as a later, separate update.)
• Support for the Intel MMX multimedia processor extensions
• Support for Novell NetWare 4.0 networking software
• Support for newer PCMCIA (PC Card) peripherals

There was also a host of bug fixes in the release as well.

Subsequent OSR releases 2.1 in August 1997 and 2.5 in November 1997 added support for USB peripherals. USB support was not available as a download or update to Windows 95 or Windows 95 OSR 2.

Windows 98

Windows 98 was released in June 1998. It didn't introduce a radical change in the look and feel of Windows, as Windows 95 did. It was an incremental improvement, with the following major enhancements:

• Incorporated all of the enhancements and fixes made to Windows 95 since its original release, including the FAT32 file system and 32-bit PC Card support.
• Improved USB support gave the ability to use USB keyboards and mice without specific drivers, as well as improved support for video devices and scanners. Firewire (IEEE 1394) support was added as well.
• Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) support provided software control over system startup, shutdown, pause and suspend, and power consumption.
• Multiple monitor support gave users with more than one graphics adapter (or an adapter designed for multiple monitors) the ability to extend the Windows desktop across several monitors.
• Windows Update provided a web-based utility for downloading important security and bug fixes.
• Utilities included a disk defragmenter, the Task Scheduler, Internet Explorer 4, and improved accessibility tools.
• Improved dial-up networking support included logon scripting, Remote Access Server (dial-in) support, and PPTP Virtual Private Networking.
• The Win32 Driver Model (WDM) made it easier for manufacturers to develop 32-bit device drivers for Windows 98 and subsequent versions.
• Windows Scripting Host provided a means of writing powerful application automation and data processing scripts in VBScript, JavaScript, and other languages.

In addition, subtle user-interface changes like the ability to right-click and drag a shortcut to the QuickLaunch bar or the Start menu made life easier for power users.

Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)

Windows 98 Second Edition was released in May 1999 on new computers, and was available as an upgrade as well. It included the following significant improvements:

• Hardware support included DVD-ROMs.
• Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) permitted a Windows 98 SE computer to share a single dial-up or broadband connection with other computers over a network.
• Internet Explorer 5.0 was included.
• Windows Media Player was provided to play not only MP3 music files but also Apple music and video formats.
• DirectX 6.1 was included to provide driver support for high-performance games and graphics adapters.
• Y2K fixes were included as well.

Windows Me

The end of the road for the Windows 9x product line is the difficult to explain Windows Me. Does Me stand for me, or for Millennium Edition? If it stands for Millennium Edition, shouldn't it be Windows ME? And if it's Me they mean, is Windows a verb? Neither me nor I nor Microsoft can give you an answer to these questions, and perhaps that's for the best.

Part of the problem is that Microsoft had promised that a true 32-bit operating system would succeed Windows 98, but a consumer-friendly (that is, game-friendly) version of Windows 2000 could not be created in time, and Windows XP was far off in the future. We can only surmise that Windows Me was produced as way to fish for income from upgrade sales, without having a real product to use as bait.

The marketing campaign stated Windows Me wasn't based on MS-DOS. Actually, it was. Windows Me started up with the assistance of MS-DOS just as its predecessors had. It was really just Windows 98 with the Exit to MS-DOS option removed from the Start menu and better-looking icons. The sys command was also deleted, so that bootable MS-DOS floppy disks could not be created.

Released in September 2000, Windows Me did include some improvements:

• The Home Networking Wizard was added to simplify the task of joining several computers into a small local area network.
• Internet Explorer 5.5 was included.
• A code-signing system brought non-certified drivers to the user's attention during installation, to encourage the use of Microsoft-tested drivers, and hopefully minimize the number of problems caused by poor drivers.
• Windows Movie Maker encouraged home editing of digital video (although, at the time, disk space was still too expensive and processor power too limited for this to be practical).
• System Restore let Windows automatically back up system files before significant configuration changes, so that the changes could be rolled back if problems ensued.
• The Scanner and Camera Wizard greatly simplified the task of copying digital pictures from cameras to the hard disk.

The Windows 9x product line thus ended. Although it was visually slick, it never reached a level of reliability that made it truly acceptable to the business world. You just can't do business with a computer that crashes a couple of times a day (although some tried). But, Windows 2000 and XP were just around the corner. To get to that story we have to back up to the origin of Windows NT.