Windows 95

operating system (Win95) Microsoft's successor to their

Windows 3.11 operating system for IBM PCs. It was known

as "Chicago" during development. Its release was originally

scheduled for late 1994 but eventually happened on 11 Jul

1995, followed by Service Release 1 on 1995-12-31 and OSR2

(OEM Service Release 2) on 1996-08-24.

In contrast to earlier versions, Windows 95 is a complete

operating system rather than a graphical user interface

running on top of MS-DOS.

It provides 32-bit application support, pre-emptivemultitasking, threading and built-in networking (TCP/IP,

IPX, SLIP, PPP, and Windows Sockets). It includes

MS-DOS 7.0, but takes over completely after booting. The

graphical user interface, while similar to previous Windows

versions, is significantly improved.

Windows 95 has also been described as "32-bit extensions and a

graphical shell for a 16-bit patch to an 8-bit operating

system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor, written by

a 2-bit company that can't stand 1-bit of competition".

The successor to Windows 95 was Windows 98.

(1998-07-19)