from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Windows 95
Chicago
Win 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-emptive
multitasking}, 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)