Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft,[1] and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products. During development it was referred to as Windows 4.0 or by the internal codename Chicago.
Windows 95 was intended to integrate Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products and includes an enhanced version of DOS, often referred to as MS-DOS 7.0. It features significant improvements over its predecessor, Windows 3.1, most visibly the graphical user interface (GUI) whose basic format and structure is still used in later versions such as Windows Vista. There were also large changes made to the underlying workings, including support for 255-character mixed-case long filenames and preemptively multitasked protected-mode 32-bit applications. Whereas its predecessors are optional "operating environments" requiring the MS-DOS operating system (usually available separately), Windows 95 is a consolidated operating system, which was a significant marketing change.
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| Windows XP Branch | ||
| Preceded by Windows |
Win 95/NT | Followed by Windows 2000 |
| Microsoft Jazz Branch | ||
| Preceded by --- |
Win 95/NT | Followed by Microsoft Jazz |
| Windows CE Branch | ||
| Preceded by --- |
Win 95/NT | Followed by Windows CE |
| Word 2008 Branch | ||
| Influenced by --- |
Win 95/NT | Influenced Word 95 |
| Elixir (Win) Branch | ||
| Merged Elixir (Win) |
Win 95/NT | Absorbed into --- |