Microsoft showed its first public demo of Windows 8 on Wednesday, and it's not at all like the Windows operating systems you've come to know over the past 25 years. The next version of Microsoft's operating system ("Windows 8" is just a codename) is a radical departure, designed around touch screens.
If this revelation is making you weak in the knees, worry not. Here's a handy FAQ on the early Windows 8 build that Microsoft demonstrated:
What Windows 8 features did Microsoft demonstrate?
Essentially, Microsoft showed how Windows 8 will work on both tablets and traditional PCs. The operating system's home screen is filled with big, touchable panels, like the live tiles in Windows Phone 7, and from there you can tap and swipe your way to other touch-based applications. But underneath that touchy layer is plain old Windows, with a task bar, file manager, app icons--everything.
Swipe across to multitask. (Click to Zoom) How does the touch interface work?
From the start menu, which shows basic information like time and unread e-mail counts, users swipe upwards to reveal the home screen and its tiles. As with Windows Phone 7, apps can show some information within the tiles--users needn't click on the weather app to see the current temperature, for example. Swiping from the right bezel brings up a menu that can take users from an app back to the home screen.
Users can multitask between open apps by swiping across from the left bezel. And therein lies the coolest-looking feature of Windows 8: When swiping in a new app, users can snap it in place next to the app that's currently running. This allows users to view two apps at the same time--something that no existing tablet OS can do.
Windows 8 Weather App (Click to Zoom) How will Windows 8 apps work?
Microsoft says it's created a new kind of app for Windows 8 using HTML5 and Javascript, and they're a lot like the apps you'd expect to find on a tablet. A weather app shows the five-day forecast. A news reader displays stories and thumbnail images in big, rectangular panes. Microsoft also showed off Internet Explorer 10, which is optimized for touch. Presumably Microsoft will distribute these apps through its own store--there's a "Store" tile in the version of Windows 8 that Microsoft demonstrated--but the company offered no details.
Legacy apps and new apps can run side by side (Click to Zoom) What about existing Windows apps, such as Office and Photoshop?
They'll still work. Loading one of these apps will bring up a more familiar version of Windows. According to All Things Digital, classic Windows apps will use "fuzzy hit targeting" to aid finger taps, but they won't be optimized for the touch screen like Windows 8's HTML5/Javascript concoctions. Legacy apps can, however, run side by side with the new Windows 8 apps.
But what about Windows PCs running on ARM chips? Will legacy apps run on those devices?
It's conceivable that ARM-based Windows devices will be restricted to the touch-centric user interface in Windows 8, but Microsoft hasn't made any announcements on that front. In fact, Microsoft recently denied claims made by an Intel executive about which apps will run on ARM-based Windows machines. Intel's Renee James had said to expect at least four versions of Windows for ARM processors, and that none of these versions would be compatible with apps from Windows XP, Vista or 7. Microsoft said these statements were "factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading," but didn't clarify the matter with any details. In other words, the question is still unanswered.
When's the Windows 8 release date?
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Windows 8 will launch in 2012, but the company hasn't been any more specific than that. Expect more details on Windows 8 in September, when Microsoft will hold the BUILD conference for developers. For now, check out Microsoft's first video of Windows 8 in action.
Follow Jared on Facebook and Twitter as well as Today @ PCWorld for even more tech news and commentary.
What if a new version of Windows didn't try to dazzle you? What if, instead, it tried to disappear except when you needed it? Such an operating system would dispense with glitzy effects in favor of low-key, useful new features. Rather than pelting you with alerts, warnings, and requests, it would try to stay out of your face. And if any bundled applications weren't essential, it would dump 'em.
It's not a what-if scenario. Windows 7, set to arrive on new PCs and as a shrinkwrapped upgrade on October 22, has a minimalist feel and attempts to fix annoyances old and new. In contrast, Windows Vista offered a flashy new interface, but its poor performance, compatibility gotchas, and lack of compelling features made some folks regret upgrading and others refuse to leave Windows XP.
Windows 7 is hardly flawless. Some features feel unfinished; others won't realize their potential without heavy lifting by third parties. And some long-standing annoyances remain intact. But overall, the final shipping version I test-drove appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.
Microsoft's release of Windows 7 also roughly coincides with Apple's release of its new Snow Leopard; for a visual comparison of the two operating systems, see our slideshow "Snow Leopard Versus Windows 7." Of course, an OS can't be a winner if it turns a zippy PC into a slowpoke or causes installation nightmares. Consult "Windows 7 Performance Tests" for Windows 7 performance test results, and "How to Upgrade to Windows 7" for hands-on advice on the best way to install it. Read on here for an in-depth look at how Microsoft has changed its OS--mostly for the better--in Windows 7.
Interface: The New Taskmaster
The Windows experience occurs mainly in its Taskbar--especially in the Start menu and System Tray. Vista gave the Start menu a welcome redesign; in Windows 7, the Taskbar and the System Tray get a thorough makeover.
Windows 7's revamped Taskbar introduces several new features and gives users much more control over how it looks.The new Taskbar replaces the old small icons and text labels for running apps with larger, unlabeled icons. If you can keep the icons straight, the new design painlessly reduces Taskbar clutter. If you don't like it, you can shrink the icons and/or bring the labels back.
In the past, you could get one-click access to programs by dragging their icons to the Quick Launch toolbar. Windows 7 eliminates Quick Launch and folds its capabilities into the Taskbar. Drag an app's icon from the Start menu or desktop to the Taskbar, and Windows will pin it there, so you can launch the program without rummaging around in the Start menu. You can also organize icons in the Taskbar by moving them to new positions.
To indicate that a particular application on the Taskbar is running, Windows draws a subtle box around its icon--so subtle, in fact, that figuring out whether the app is running can take a moment, especially if its icon sits between two icons for running apps.
In Windows Vista, hovering the mouse pointer over an application's Taskbar icon produces a thumbnail window view known as a Live Preview. But when you have multiple windows open, you see only one preview at a time. Windows 7's version of this feature is slicker and more efficient: Hover the pointer on an icon, and thumbnails of the app's windows glide into position above the Taskbar, so you can quickly find the one you're looking for. (The process would be even simpler if the thumbnails were larger and easier to decipher.)
Also new in Windows 7's Taskbar is a feature called Jump Lists. These menus resemble the context-sensitive ones you get when you right-click within various Windows applications, except that you don't have to be inside an app to use them. Internet Explorer 8's Jump List, for example, lets you open the browser and load a fresh tab, initiate an InPrivate stealth browsing session, or go directly to any of eight frequently visited Web pages. Non-Microsoft apps can offer Jump Lists, too, if their developers follow the guidelines for creating them.
Other Windows 7 interface adjustments are minor, yet so sensible that you may wonder why Windows didn't include them all along. Shove a window into the left or right edge of the screen and it'll expand to fill half of your desktop. Nudge another into the opposite edge of the screen, and it'll expand to occupy the other half. That makes comparing two windows' contents easy. If you nudge a window into the top of the screen, it will maximize to occupy all of the display's real estate.
The extreme right edge of the Taskbar now sports a sort of nub; hover over it, and open windows become transparent, revealing the desktop below. (Microsoft calls this feature Aero Peek.) Click the nub, and the windows scoot out of the way, giving you access to documents or apps that reside on the desktop and duplicating the Show Desktop feature that Quick Launch used to offer.
Getting at your desktop may soon become even more important than it was in the past. That's because Windows 7 does away with the Sidebar, the portion of screen space that Windows Vista reserved for Gadgets such as a photo viewer and a weather applet. Instead of occupying the Sidebar, Gadgets now sit directly on the desktop, where they don't compete with other apps for precious screen real estate.
Old Tray, New Tricks: Windows 7's Taskbar and window management tweaks are nice. But its changes to the System Tray--aka the Notification Area--have a huge positive effect.
Changes in Windows 7 transform the System Tray from an intrusive eyesore (in Windows Vista) into a useful set of shortcuts and other controls.In the past, no feature of Windows packed more frustration per square inch than the System Tray. It quickly grew dense with applets that users did not want in the first place, and many of the uninvited guests employed word balloons and other intrusive methods to alert users to uninteresting facts at inopportune moments. At their worst, System Tray applets behaved like belligerent squatters, and Windows did little to put users back in charge.
In Windows 7, applets can't pester you unbidden because software installers can't dump them into the System Tray. Instead, applets land in a holding pen that appears only when you click it, a much-improved version of the overflow area used in previous incarnations of the Tray. Applets in the pen can't float word balloons at you unless you permit them to do so. It's a cinch to drag them into the System Tray or out of it again, so you enjoy complete control over which applets reside there.
More good news: Windows 7 largely dispenses with the onslaught of word-balloon warnings from the OS about troubleshooting issues, potential security problems, and the like. A new area called Action Center--a revamped version of Vista's Security Center--queues up such alerts so you can deal with them at your convenience. Action Center does issue notifications of its own from the System Tray, but you can shut these off if you don't want them pestering you.
All of this helps make Windows 7 the least distracting, least intrusive Microsoft OS in a very long time. It's a giant step forward from the days when Windows thought nothing of interrupting your work to inform you that it had detected unused icons on your desktop.
Windows XP may be an older operating system, but to Microsoft's dismay, there is still a large percentage of users that haven't upgraded yet.
After 10 years, Windows XP is still the most popular OS.
(Credit: NetApplications)The decade-old OS has slowly been losing more users to Windows 7, but January marked a small resurgence in its grip on the market, according to stats out recently from NetApplications.
For the month, Windows XP grabbed 47.19 per cent of all OS users, inching up from 46.5 per cent in December. At the same time, Windows 7 saw its market share dip to 36.4 per cent from almost 37 per cent the previous month.
Obviously, a fraction of a percentage point is nothing for XP to crow about, especially since its overall share has dropped from almost 58 per cent a year ago. But it does point to the continued popularity of an OS that Microsoft would like to see kick the bucket.
The folks in Redmond have been pushing both consumers and companies to jump ship from XP to Windows 7.
As part of that push, Microsoft has been constantly reminding people that support for XP runs out in April 2014, at which time security patches and other updates will no longer be available. Though that gives individuals plenty of time to upgrade, enterprises face a longer path to migration, putting more pressure on them to switch to Windows 7 before too long.
Microsoft has even advised companies still on XP not to wait for Windows 8 and instead plan their moves to Windows 7 now.
Despite the minor drop in Windows 7's market share last month, more people may be following Microsoft's message.
The current flavour of Windows has seen its cut of customers rise from 23 per cent a year ago to its present 36 per cent.
Of course, as more people buy new computers outfitted with Windows 7, the percentage naturally grows, but probably not fast enough for Microsoft's taste.
Windows 8, which has been available as a Developer Preview since last September, saw its share of users actually dip to 0.2 per cent from half a percentage point last month. Fewer people may be checking out the Developer Preview in anticipation of the beta version, which is due to launch sometime this month.
Among operating systems in general, Windows remains in top place by a long shot with an overall share of 92 per cent. Apple's Mac OS X grabbed 6.39 per cent of users last month, a minor increase from December and around a one percentage point bump from a year ago.
Via CNET
“Blessed art the ME.”~ Jesus on Windows ME (yes, the scribes goofed.)Windows MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE? (standing for "Windows More Errors" or "Windows Mistake Edition") is often dubbed as the "Greatest OS ever!" With its new "innovative" features such as "Windows Calculator" "Perpetual Rainbow Crash Screen" and "Pedophile Child Tracker Assistant", it soon sold over -3 copies (not counting old Billy's Mom and Steve Ballmer's gay cousin). There is dispute over whether or not the operating system was named after the nervous disorder or if the nervous disorder was named after the operating system, which most likely caused it to exist in the first case. Windows Me is also known as MEH, for the nerds such as your grandmother. You have to pray each time you save something before it explodes.
A successor to Windows 98 Jr., Windows ME mainly comprised of...*Crash, Reboot...*...many new features such as Internet Explorer 5.5- the world's most powerful communist web browser, preloaded scat porn, and Windows Media Player 7, a virtual rendition of the ancient community entertainers. Windows ME also included the new movie maker software, which generated GIF animations of a rotating ice cream cone of any color (limited to a monochrome palette).
Bill Gates originally wanted to release Windows ME as Windows Bill, but he decided that Windows ME would be better, because then he could say "You have to worship ME!".
It is the only operating system in the world known to have been coded by a 2-year old toddler randomly smashing on the keyboard with a toy truck, and the only OS that inspired a Japanese manga internet meme: ME-Tan, also know as "that dumbshit".
edit The "System Restore" controversy
Windows ME introduced the "System Restore" utility, which was meant to prevent any kind of regression in computer performance. It was intended to log everything the user did, providing an infinite undoing function. Slowly, people started to discover that they could not undo buying their computer in the first place, which caused a protest at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
Promptly after the protest, Microsoft released Windows ME Service Pack 1, a service pack fixing the undo function. It has remained the most useful utility in the world and has saved numerous companies from bankruptcy by allowing them to undo risky business decisions, and saving individuals from themselves.
At it's release at windows conference 2000 BC, bill gates promised that windows me would include not only 100 identity stealing viruses, but it would crash 48 hours per day, and 8 days per week, and 600 days per year, and it would be the greatest failure eve imagined.
In fact, restoring the user system was the last thing "System Restore" was able to do. Although this might sound like a problem, it simply turned out to be no big deal, since Windows Me is by default scheduled to fuck up every Monday and Friday at 6:66PM, anyway.
edit ME (Mistakes and Errors)
When you first use this version of Windows, at least 200 error messages will appear and at least 350 mistakes will occur. That's why people always says "If the error message appears, then I can be sure this computer is running Windows ME"... So after about 1 day, Macrohard released a new version of Windows called "Windows XD".
edit Windows ME Source Code
#include <crash.h> #include <monopoly.h> #include <win98.h> #include <win95.h> #include <win31.h> #include <error.h> #include <iostream> #include <fancyshell.h> #include <ie55.h> #include <windowscrasher.msi> #include <windows.h> #define USAGE very_hard #kill <all_linuxusers_with windows machinegunsoftware> #fuck <your girlfriend> error main(crash* every_second,crash* onezillion) { WindowsShell shell(INTEGRATE_WITH_IE,100000MB,10000000GB); Monopoly ms(CRUSH_LINUX_AND_MACOSX); InternetExplorer ie(UPGRADEABLE,CRASH_EVERY_3_SECONDS,ms); while(true) { run_windows_31(shell,ms,ie,40000); }; return getError(rand(SOME_ERROR,ALTERNATE_ERROR)); }; @shutdowncommand <formatharddriveandfryprocessorandanyothervaluablecomputeritems>Code snippet: \private\windows\v\4.90\src.cpp in the Windows source code.
edit Rise of Windows ME's popularity
When Windows ME was first unveiled to the public, people were generally worried that the operating system was not going to be as secure as Windows 93. They were overwhelmed at the retail version, therefore, a new website being the advocacy site for upgrading to Windows ME was created. It was named the Spread Windows ME Foundation
Shortly after the website was created, WMEUGs, or Windows ME User Groups were formed for admirers of Windows ME that wished to express their gratitude to Microsoft.
On September 15th, 2000, the day after the retail release of Windows ME, a deadly computer virus was unveiled to the world and shut down every computer on the planet. It was named the Jelly Kiss virus. It was later discovered that this virus was only infecting computers not using Windows ME. The virus developer, identified as Sanae Shintani (more commonly known as Sana), was found to have been hired by Microsoft for developing this virus, forcing users to use Windows ME. Viral marketing has never been so viral. It has been rumored that Sana is working on a second viral marketing project known inside Microsoft as the Togo Project. A song in the Konami video game beatmania IIDX was created to honor the talent of this woman. The song was named "Jelly Kiss" by an artist under the pseudonym. Sana feat. Togo project.
From this point on, no more operating systems were developed, and the WMEUG members go door-to-door daily telling people about the joys of working on a computer again and running Windows ME.
While many homeowners decide to slam the door in their face, some are influenced into leaving their typewriter to experience the thrilling sensation they had missed for so much time.
According to software marketing expert John "Don't quote me on this" Smith, worldwide computer use has increased from 1% to 47% in the last 5 years due to the Windows ME User Groups.
In the year 2007, however, the world realized that Windows ME was a piece of shit and switched to XP and enjoyed open-source, fast, and secure fascist goodness.
edit Blue screen of Aliveness
If any version windows does not crash constantly for 3 days and does not display any error messages the Blue screen of aliveness comes up and warns the user that there computer is performing too well and they need to buy a new one or need to update windowscrasher.exe. Some versions of Windows have been known to perform well and have criticised by critics for being “Fast and useless in today’s world”. During the release of windows Mistake Edition one critic said “This version of windows does not meet the standards of today’s computers, it is too fast and performs to well, we require computers with error messages and viruses, Micro$oft have made another f****** mistake”
The blue screen of aliveness only was only witnessed once for only 0.0005 seconds in Windows Mistake Editionedit See also:
Microsoft Windows ®
Because we're worth it.
• Detect "non-genuine" products
• Gather user information and credit card numbers
• Cripple core system components
• Deploy legal team
• Launch civil litigation
Estimated time remaining:Forever, or if you give me a cookie, I might shorten it to an hour.
Installing Windows has never been easier easy
All you need to do is buy your preferred version, determine if your system is 32-bit or 64-bit, save any files you need from another operating system, format your hard disk, enter a Windows product key, connect to a network, and complete. phone your local Microsoft Customer Representative, write down a very long set of numbers, type it all in, get an error message, phone our Customer Representative again, adjust a few things, get another very long set of numbers, type it all in again, install a few drivers, activate Windows again, lather, rinse and repeat.</span>
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Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998 and to retail on June 25, 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit[2] monolithic product with an MS-DOS based boot stage.[3] Windows 98 was succeeded by Windows 98 Second Edition on May 5, 1999, then by Windows Me (Millennium Edition) on September 14, 2000. Microsoft support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006.
[edit] Development
Development of Windows 98 began in the 1990s, initially using the codename "Memphis" to refer to the product. Many builds were released or leaked, starting with build 1351 on December 15, 1996 and ending with Windows 98 Second Edition.
Build Number Date Description Released as 669 1995in 1995s First build of codename "Memphis" 1132 1996-06-16June 16, 1996 Very early beta of Windows 98, basically Windows 95 with small differences Windows Memphis Pre-Alpha 1387 1997-02-07February 7, 1997 First beta Windows Memphis Beta 1602 1997-10-03October 3,1997 The first build to be able to upgrade from Windows 3.1x. Windows 98 Beta 1691 1998-02-16February 16, 1998 Expired on 31 December 1998 Windows 98 Release Candidate 1998 1998-05-11May 11, 1998[4] Final version Windows 98 2222 1999-04-23April 23, 1999[4] Windows 98 Second Edition [edit] Web integration and shell enhancements
Windows 98 includes Internet Explorer 4.01. Besides Internet Explorer, many other Internet companion applications are included such as Outlook Express, Windows Address Book, FrontPage Express, Microsoft Chat, Personal Web Server and a Web Publishing Wizard, NetMeeting and NetShow Player (in the original release of Windows 98) which was replaced by Windows Media Player 6.2 in Windows 98 Second Edition.
The Windows 98 shell includes all of the enhancements from Windows Desktop Update, an Internet Explorer 4 component, such as the Quick Launch toolbar, deskbands, Active Desktop, Channels, ability to minimize foreground windows by clicking their button on the taskbar, single click launching, Back and Forward navigation buttons, favorites, and address bar in Windows Explorer, image thumbnails, folder infotips and web view in folders, and folder customization through HTML-based templates.
Windows 98 also integrates shell enhancements, themes and other features from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 such as DriveSpace 3, Compression Agent, Dial-Up Networking Server, Dial-Up Scripting Tool and Task Scheduler. 3D Pinball is included on the CD-ROM but not installed by default. Windows 98 had its own separately purchasable Plus! pack called Plus! 98.
Title bars of windows and dialog boxes support two-color gradients. Windows 98 menus and tooltips support slide animation. Windows Explorer in Windows 98, like Windows 95, converts all uppercase filenames to Sentence case for readability purposes,[5] however, it also provides an option Allow all uppercase names to display them in their original case. Windows Explorer includes support for compressed CAB files. The Quick Res and Telephony Location Manager Windows 95 PowerToys are integrated.
[edit] Improvements to hardware support
[edit] Windows Driver Model
Windows 98 was the first operating system to use the Windows Driver Model (WDM). This fact was not well publicized when Windows 98 was released, and most hardware producers continued to develop drivers for the older VxD driver standard, which Windows 98 also supported. The WDM standard only achieved widespread adoption years later, mostly through Windows 2000 and Windows XP, as they are not compatible with the older VxD standard.[6] Windows Driver Model was introduced largely so that developers would write source compatible drivers for all future versions of Windows. Device driver access in WDM is actually implemented through a VxD device driver, NTKERN.VXD which implements several Windows NT-specific kernel support functions. NTKERN creates IRPs and sends them to WDM drivers.
Support for WDM audio enables digital mixing, routing and processing of simultaneous audio streams and kernel streaming with high quality sample rate conversion on Windows 98. WDM Audio allows for software emulation of legacy hardware to support MS-DOS games, DirectSound support and MIDI wavetable sythesis. The Windows 95 11-device limitation for MIDI devices is eliminated.[7] A Microsoft GS Wavetable Synthesizer licensed from Roland shipped with Windows 98 for WDM audio drivers. Windows 98 supports digital playback of audio CDs, and the Second Edition improves WDM audio support by adding DirectSound hardware mixing and DirectSound 3D hardware abstraction, DirectMusic kernel support, KMixer sample-rate conversion (SRC) for capture streams and multichannel audio support. All audio is sampled by the Kernel Mixer to a fixed sampling rate which may result in some audio getting upsampled or downsampled and having a high latency, except when using Kernel Streaming or third party audio paths like ASIO which allow unmixed audio streams and lower latency. Windows 98 also includes a WDM streaming class driver (Stream.sys) to address real time multimedia data stream processing requirements and a WDM kernel-mode video transport for enhanced video playback and capture.
Windows Driver Model also includes Broadcast Driver Architecture, the backbone for TV technologies support in Windows. WebTV for Windows utilized BDA to allow viewing television on the computer if a compatible TV tuner card is installed. TV listings could be updated from the Internet and WaveTop Data Broadcasting allowed extra data about broadcasts to be received via regular television signals using an antenna or cable, by embedding data streams into the vertical blanking interval (VBI) portion of existing broadcast television signals.
Windows 98 had more robust USB support (e.g. support for USB composite devices) than Windows 95 which only had support in OEM versions (OSR2.1 or later).[8] Windows 98 supports USB hubs, USB scanners and imaging class devices. Windows 98 also introduces built-in support for some USB Human Interface Device class (USB HID) and PID class devices such as USB mice, keyboards, force feedback joysticks etc. including additional keyboard functions through a certain number of Consumer Page HID controls.[9]
USB audio device class support is present from Windows 98 SE onwards. Windows 98 Second Edition improved WDM support in general for all devices, and it introduced support for WDM for modems (and therefore USB modems and virtual COM ports). Microsoft driver support for both USB printers, and for USB mass-storage device class is not available for Windows 98; support for both was introduced in Windows 2000; however generic third party free drivers are available today for USB MSC devices.
Windows 98 introduced ACPI 1.0 support which enabled Standby (ACPI S3) and Hibernate (ACPI S4) states. However, hibernation support was extremely limited, and vendor-specific. Hibernation was only available if compatible (PnP) hardware and BIOS are present, and the hardware manufacturer or OEM supplied compatible WDM drivers, non-VxD drivers. However, there are hibernation issues with the FAT32 file system,[10] making hibernation problematic and unreliable.
[edit] Other device support improvements
Windows 98, in general, provides improved—and a broader range of—support for IDE and SCSI drives and drive controllers, floppy drive controllers and all other classes of hardware than Windows 95.[10] There is integrated Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) support (The USB Supplement to Windows 95 OSR2 and later releases of Windows 95 did have AGP support). Windows 98 has built-in DVD support and UDF 1.02 read support. The Still imaging architecture (STI) with TWAIN support was introduced for scanners and cameras and Image Color Management 2.0 for devices to perform color space transformations. Multiple monitor support allows using up to 8 multiple monitors and/or multiple graphics adapters on a single PC. Windows 98 shipped with DirectX 5.2 which notably included DirectShow. Windows 98 Second Edition shipped with DirectX 6.1.
[edit] Networking enhancements
Windows 98 networking enhancements to TCP/IP include built-in support for Winsock 2, SMB signing,[11] a new IP Helper API, Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) (also known as link-local addressing), IP multicasting (including IGMPv2 support and ICMP Router Discovery – RFC 1256), and performance enhancements for high-speed high bandwidth networks (TCP large windows and time stamps – RFC 1323, Selective Acknowledgement (SACK) – RFC 2018, TCP Fast Retransmit and Fast Recovery). Multihoming support with TCP/IP is improved and includes RIP listener support.
The DHCP client has been enhanced to include address assignment conflict detection and longer timeout intervals. NetBT configuration in the WINS client has been improved to continue persistently querying multiple WINS servers if it failed to establish the initial session until all of the WINS servers specified have been queried or a connection is established.
NDIS 5.0 support means Windows 98 can support a wide range of network media, including Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), token ring, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), wide area networks (WANs), ISDN, X.25, and Frame Relay. Additional features include NDIS power management, support for QoS, WMI and support for a single INF file format across all Windows versions.
Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking supports PPTP tunneling, support for ISDN adapters, multilink support, and connection-time scripting to automate non-standard login connections. Multilink channel aggregation enables users to combine all available dial-up lines to achieve higher transfer speeds. PPP connection logs can show actual packets being passed and Windows 98 allows PPP logging per connection. The Dial-Up Networking improvements are also available in Windows 95 OSR2 and downloadable for earlier Windows 95 releases.
For networked computers that have user profiles enabled, Windows 98 introduces Microsoft Family Logon which lists all users that have been configured for that computer, enabling users to simply select their names from a list rather than having to type it in. The same feature can be added to Windows 95 if Internet Explorer 4.0 is installed.
Windows 98 supports IrDA 3.0 that specifies both Serial Infrared Devices (SIR) and Fast Infrared (FIR) devices, which are capable of sending and receiving data at 4 Mbit/s. Infrared Recipient, a new application for transferring files through an infrared connection is included. The IrDA stack in Windows 98 supports networking profiles over the IrCOMM kernel-mode driver. Windows 98 also has built-in support for browsing DFS trees on SMB shares.
Windows 98 Second Edition added Internet Connection Sharing (IP forwarding and NAT capabilities). Windows Me later supported NAT traversal by means of UPnP. UPnP and NAT traversal APIs can also be installed on Windows 98 by installing the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard.[12] An L2TP/IPsec VPN client can also be downloaded. By installing Active Directory Client Extensions, Windows 98 can take advantage of several Windows 2000 Active Directory features .
[edit] Improvements to the system and built-in utilities
[edit] Performance improvements
Windows 95 introduced the 32-bit, protected-mode cache driver, VCACHE replacing SMARTDrv to cache the most recently accessed information from the hard drive in memory, divided into chunks. However, the cache parameters needed manual tuning as it degraded performance by consuming too much memory and not releasing it quickly enough, forcing paging to occur far too early. The Windows 98 VCACHE cache size management for disk and network access, CD-ROM access and paging is more dynamic compared to Windows 95 resulting in no tuning required for cache parameters.[13] On the FAT32 file system, Windows 98 has a MapCache performance feature that can run applications from the disk cache itself if the code pages of executable files are aligned/mapped on 4K boundaries, instead of copying them to virtual memory. This results in more memory being available to run applications, and lesser usage of the swap file.
Windows 98 registry handling is more robust than Windows 95 to avoid corruption and there are several enhancements to eliminate limitations and improve registry performance. [14] The Windows 95 registry key size limitation of 64 KB is gone. The registry uses lesser memory and has better caching.
WinAlign (Walign.exe and Winalign.exe) are tools designed to optimize the performance of executable code (binaries). WinAlign aligns binary sections along 4 KB boundaries, aligning the executable sections with the memory pages. This allows the Windows 98 MapCache feature to map directly to sections in cache[15] Walign.exe is included in Windows 98 for automatically optimizing Microsoft Office programs. Winalign.exe is included in the Windows 98 Resource Kit to optimize other programs.
Disk Defragmenter has been improved to rearrange program files that are frequently used to a hard disk region optimized for program start.[16]
Windows 98 also supports a Fast Shutdown feature that initiates shutdown without uninitializing device drivers.[17] Windows 98 supports write-behind caching for removable disk drives. A FAT32 converter utility for converting FAT16 drives to FAT32 without formatting the partition is also included.
[edit] Other system tools
A number of improvements are made to various other system tools and accessories in Windows 98. Microsoft Backup supports differential backup and SCSI tape devices in Windows 98. Disk Cleanup, a new tool, enables users to clear their disks of unnecessary files. Cleanup locations are extensible through Disk Cleanup handlers. Disk Cleanup can be automated for regular silent cleanups.
Scanreg (DOS) and ScanRegW are Registry Checker tools used to back up, restore or optimize the Windows registry. ScanRegW tests the registry's integrity and saves a backup copy each time Windows successfully boots. The maximum amount of copies could be customized by the user through "scanreg.ini" file. The restoration of a registry that causes Windows to fail to boot can only be done from DOS mode using ScanReg.
System Configuration Utility (also known as Msconfig) is a new system utility used to disable programs and services that are not required to run the computer. A Maintenance Wizard is included that schedules and automates ScanDisk, Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleanup. Windows Script Host, with VBScript and JScript engines is built-in and upgradeable to version 5.6.
System File Checker checks installed versions of system files to ensure they were the same version as the one installed with Windows 98 or newer. Corrupt or older versions are replaced by the correct versions. This tool was introduced to resolve the DLL hell issue and was replaced in Windows Me by System File Protection.
The Windows 98 Startup Disk contains generic, real-mode ATAPI and SCSI CD-ROM drivers and has been preconfigured to automatically start MS-DOS mode with CD-ROM support enabled. For computers without an operating system and that do not support booting from optical drives, the Startup disk can be used to boot into MS-DOS and automatically start Windows 98 setup from the CD.
Windows 98 includes an improved version of the Dr. Watson utility that collects and lists comprehensive information such as running tasks, startup programs with their command line switches, system patches, kernel driver, user drivers, DOS drivers and 16-bit modules. With Dr. Watson loaded in the system tray, whenever a software fault occurs (general protection fault, hang, etc.), Dr. Watson will intercept it and indicate what software crashed and its cause. All of the collected information is logged to the \Windows\DrWatson folder.
Windows Report Tool takes a snapshot of system configuration and lets users submit a manual problem report along with system information to technicians. It has e-mail confirmation for submitted reports. The system could be updated using Windows Update. A utility to automatically notify of critical updates was later released.
[edit] Accessories
Windows 98 includes Microsoft Magnifier, Accessibility Wizard and Microsoft Active Accessibility 1.1 API upgradeable to MSAA 2.0. A new HTML Help system with 15 Troubleshooting Wizards was introduced to replace WinHelp.
Users can configure the font in Notepad. Microsoft Paint supports GIF transparency. HyperTerminal supports a TCP/IP connection method allowing it to be used as a Telnet client. Imaging for Windows is updated. System Monitor supports output to a log file.
[edit] Miscellaneous improvements
- Telephony API (TAPI) 2.1
- DCOM version 1.2
- Ability to list fonts by similarity determined using PANOSE information.
- Tools to automate setup such as Batch 98 and INFInst.exe support error-checking, gathering information automatically to create an INF file directly from the registry of the machine, customizing IE4, shell and desktop settings and adding custom drivers.
- Several other Resource Kit tools are included on the Windows 98 CD.[18]
- Windows 98 has new system event sounds for low battery alarm and critical battery alarm. The Windows 98 startup sound was composed by Ken Kato.
- Windows 98 shipped with Flash Player and Shockwave Player preinstalled.[19]
[edit] Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows 98 Second Edition (often shortened to SE) is an updated release of Windows 98, released on May 5, 1999. It includes fixes for many minor issues, improved WDM audio and modem support, improved USB support, the replacement of Internet Explorer 4.0 with Internet Explorer 5.0, Web Folders [20] (WebDAV namespace extension for Windows Explorer), and related shell updates. Also included is basic OHCI-compliant FireWire (IEEE 1394a) DV camcorder support (MSDV class driver) and SBP-2 support for mass storage class devices[21], Wake-On-LAN support (if ACPI compatible NDIS drivers are present) and Internet Connection Sharing, which allows multiple computers on a LAN to share a single Internet connection through Network Address Translation. Other features in the update include DirectX 6.1 which introduced major improvements to DirectSound and the introduction of DirectMusic, improvements to Asynchronous Transfer Mode support (IP/ATM, PPP/ATM and WinSock 2/ATM support), Windows Media Player 6.2 replacing the older Media Player, Microsoft NetMeeting 3.0, MDAC 2.1 and WMI. A memory overflow issue was resolved which in the older version of Windows 98 would crash most systems if left running for 49.7 days (equal to 2³² milliseconds).[22] Windows 98 SE could be obtained as retail upgrade and full version packages, as well as OEM and a Second Edition Updates Disc for existing Windows 98 users. Windows 98 Second Edition did not ship with the WinG API or RealPlayer 4.0 unlike the original release of Windows 98, both of these being superseded by DirectX and Windows Media Player.
Release Version Release Date Internet Explorer Version Windows 98 4.10.1998 June 25, 1998[23] 4.01 Windows 98 Second Edition 4.10.2222 April 23, 1999[4] 5.0 [edit] Upgradeability
Several components of the Windows 98 original release and Windows 98 Second Edition, can be updated to newer versions. They include:
- Internet Explorer 6 SP1 and Outlook Express 6 SP1
- Windows Media Format Runtime and Windows Media Player 9 Series on Windows 98 SE and Windows Media Player 7.1 on Windows 98.
- Windows Media Encoder 7.1 and Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility
- DirectX 9.0c
- MSN Messenger 7.0
- Significant features from newer Microsoft operating systems can be installed on Windows 98. Chief among them are NET Framework versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0, Visual C++ 2005 runtime, Windows Installer 2.0, GDI+ redistributable library, Remote Desktop Connection client 5.1 and the Text Services Framework.
- Several other components such as MSXML 3.0 SP7, Microsoft Agent 2.0, NetMeeting 3.01, MSAA 2.0, ActiveSync 3.8, WSH 5.6, Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81 SP1, WMI 1.5 and Speech API 4.0.
- Office XP is the last version of Microsoft Office to be compatible with Windows 98.
- Although Windows 98 does not fully support Unicode, certain Unicode applications can run by installing the Microsoft Layer for Unicode.
- KernelEx (independent from Microsoft) allows several newer applications like Firefox 8.0 to run[24]
[edit] Press demonstration
The release of Windows 98 was preceded by a notable press demonstration at Comdex in April 1998. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was highlighting the operating system's ease of use and enhanced support for Plug and Play (PnP). However, when presentation assistant Chris Capossela plugged a scanner in and attempted to install it, the operating system crashed, displaying a Blue Screen of Death. Gates remarked after applause and cheering from the audience, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet." Video footage of this event became a popular Internet phenomenon.[25]
[edit] Product life cycle
Microsoft planned to discontinue its support for Windows 98 versions on January 16, 2004. However, due to the continued popularity of the operating system (27% of Google's pageviews were on Windows 98 systems during October–November, 2003),[26] Microsoft decided to maintain support until July 11, 2006. Support for Windows Me also ended on this date.[27] By that time, Windows 98 market share had diminished to 2.7%.[28] Windows 98 is no longer available from Microsoft in any form due to the terms of Java-related settlements Microsoft made with Sun Microsystems.[29]
[edit] Real mode MS-DOS
Windows 98 Second Edition is the last operating system in the Windows 9x series that includes real mode MS-DOS.[30]
[edit] System requirements[31]
- 486DX2/66 MHz or higher processor (Pentium processor recommended)
- 16 MB of RAM (24 MB recommended, it's possible to run on 8 MB machines with /nm option used during the installation process)
- At least 500 MB of space available on HDD. The amount of space required depends on the installation method and the components selected, but virtual memory and system utilities as well as drivers should be taken into consideration.
- Upgrading from Windows 95 (FAT16) or 3.1 (FAT): 140–400 MB (typically 205 MB).
- New installation (FAT32): 190–305 MB (typically 210 MB).
- Note 1: Both Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE can have significant problems associated with hard drives that are over 32 Gigabytes (GB) in size. This issue only occurs with certain Phoenix BIOS settings. A software update has been made available to fix this shortcoming.[32]
- Note 2: Also, both Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE are unable to handle hard drives that are over 137 GB in size with the default drivers, because of missing 48-bit LBA support – whole disc data corruption is likely. Third party patches are available to fix this shortcoming.[33]
- Note 3: It is also possible to compress a Windows 98 installation using DriveSpace 3 to less than 120 MB, using maximum compression, without deleting many files. Installing Windows 98 on a HDD that small is usually useless, because it doesn't leave much room for programs, but can be accomplished by moving the DriveSpace 3 container file there.
- VGA or higher resolution monitor (640x480)
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive (floppy install is possible but slow)
- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (optional).[34]
Like its predecessor, Windows 95, and its successor, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), users can bypass hardware requirement checks with the undocumented /NM[35] setup switch. This allows installation on computers with processors as old as the 80386 SX.
Unlike Windows 95, Windows 98 checks at the install if the processor has a Floating-point unit (Math Coprocessor), unless the undocumented /NM setup switch is used[36] The Intel 80486DX and later Pentium processors include a floating-point unit as part of the CPU.
[edit] Physical RAM limit
The maximum amount of physical RAM in a PC that Windows 98 supports is 1.5 GB.[37]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me Support ends on July 11, 2006". Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean18. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
- ^ "How 16-Bit and 32-Bit Programs Multitask in Windows 95". support.microsoft.com. November 15, 2006. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/117567/EN-US/. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
- ^ "Windows 95 Architecture Components". technet.microsoft.com. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc751120.aspx. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c Microsoft. KB206071: General information about Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition hotfixes
- ^ Windows 'Prettified' Filenames
- ^ "You cannot use virtual device driver (.vxd) files common to Windows 98 or Windows 95 drivers with Windows 2000."
- ^ PC Solutions For MIDI Musicians
- ^ Availability of Universal Serial Bus Support in Windows 95
- ^ Enhanced Keyboards and Windows
- ^ a b Disks and File Systems: Windows 98 Resource Kit
- ^ Overview of Server Message Block signing
- ^ Network Setup Wizard Down Level Setup
- ^ Chapter 26 – Performance Tuning: Windows 98 Resource Kit
- ^ Chapter 31 - Windows 98 Registry: Windows 98 Resource Kit
- ^ Description of the Walign.exe and Winalign.exe Tools
- ^ Introducing Windows 98, Second edition.
- ^ How to Disable Fast Shutdown in Windows 98
- ^ Tools Included with the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit
- ^ Macromedia Shockwave(TM) and Flash(TM) Players Incorporated Into Windows 98
- ^ Overview of Web Folders in Internet Explorer 5
- ^ IEEE 1394 and the Windows platform
- ^ Miles, Stephanie. "Windows may crash after 49.7 days – CNET News". News.cnet.com. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-222391.html. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ Paul Thurrott (March 11, 1998). "Windows 98 release date set: June 25". WinInfo. http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/17693/windows-98-release-date-set-june-25.html. Retrieved February 2010.
- ^ KernelEx Homepage at Sourceforge http://kernelex.sourceforge.net/
- ^ Computer users on Windows 98: It's not revolutionary
- ^ "Zeitgeist". Google Press Center. Google. October–November 2003. http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/zeitgeist-nov03.html. Retrieved April 22, 2006. Note: A graphic depicting the decline in use of Windows 98 from June 2001 to June 2004 as an operating system to access Google is available on Wikimedia Commons; IMAGE.
- ^ Ward, Mark (July 11, 2006). "Technology | Microsoft shuts down Windows 98". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5164450.stm. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ "July 2006 market share by Hitslink". Marketshare.hitslink.com. http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=10&qpmr=24&qpdt=1&qpct=3&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=90. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ MSDN Subscriptions Subscriber Download Help
- ^ Windows 98 Second Edition: Last OS in the Windows 9x series that includes real mode MS-DOS.
- ^ Windows 98 System Requirements
- ^ Staff (December 28, 1999). "Windows 98 Large IDE Update". Microsoft Windows Update. Microsoft Corporation. http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/bigide/Default.asp. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
- ^ Staff (July 12, 2006). "Enable48BitLBA-Break-the-137Gb-barrier". MSFN. MSFN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080629041310/http://www.msfn.org/board/Enable48BitLBA-Break-the-137Gb-barrier-t78592.html. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ System requirements from the Microsoft Windows 98 SE manual
- ^ http://thpc.info/how/switches9x.html#undoc
- ^ "Err Msg: Windows 98 Requires a Computer with a Math Coprocessor". January 23, 2007. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189670. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ Physical RAM limit for Windows 98.
[edit] Further reading
- Windows 98 Resource Kit. Redmond, Washington, USA: Microsoft Press. 1998. ISBN 1-57231-644-6.
- Davis, Fred; Crosby, Kip (1998). The Windows 98 Bible. Berkeley, California: Peachpit Press. ISBN 0-201-69690-8.
[edit] External links
video by rivest266
Windows 95 Commercials set in New York City (one minute version
Prior to Windows 3.1, if you wanted to save your monitor from CRT burn-in, you either turned it off or installed a third-party screensaver such as After Dark. In version 3.1, Microsoft included four screensavers: Blank Screen (oooh!), Flying Windows (assorted Windows logos soaring by), Marquee (a phrase of your choice scrolling across the screen), and Starfield Simulation (a flight through space, with the stars streaking past).
Of course, users could install many more screensavers, which spawned a back-of-the-magazine cottage industry of screensaver plug-ins that functioned more as eye candy than as a genuine means to protect your monitor.
About Microsoft
XENIX
MS-DOS 1.x - 3.x
Windows 1.0 - 2.x
MS-DOS 4.0
Windows 3.x
MS-DOS 5.0 - 6.x
Windows NT 3.x
Windows 95
Windows NT 4.0
Windows CE 1.0 - 3.0
Windows 98 & 98 SE
Windows 2000
Windows ME
Windows XP
Microsoft Windows 1.0 was Microsoft's initial contribution to the GUI "operating system" market. The phrase operating system is used loosely here, because all Windows versions up to and including Windows for Workgroups 3.11 were not really operating systems, they were just shell enhancements that ran on top of MS-DOS (all versions of Windows NT were true operating systems, though). A true operating system gets loaded when the computer boots, and handles all interaction between the user and the hardware - the versions of Windows prior to Windows 95 did not do either (in reality neither did Windows 95 entirely; see that section for more details).Windows was by no means the first GUI interface for computers. The first computer to use a GUI, including a mouse pointer, icons and overlapping windows, was the Alto. It was designed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the early 1970s.5 Later, there was the Apple I by Apple Computer, which used a GUI interface similar to that of the Alto, and various short-lived GUI operating systems and applications intended for the IBM PC.
Initially called the Interface Manager before the product was released in 1985, the first version of Windows featured a taskbar and tiled windows that had drop down menus quite similar to those used today.30 Programs were accessed by clicking on icons, which brought up program "windows" on the screen. All of the windows that were opened would share the screen, and they could not be moved or overlapped. However, they could be "minimized," meaning the user could hide a window from view and make an icon for it appear on the taskbar. The software came on two 5.25" floppy disks and required a minimum of 192 KB of RAM, compared to 29 3.5" disks and 8 MB of RAM for Windows 95. Unlike Windows 95, 98 and beyond, Windows 1.0 did not detect any hardware by itself - users had to specify the I/O address (data path unique to each piece of hardware) of all of the computer's additional hardware, such as the mouse, serial and parallel ports.26
In 1987, Windows 2.0 provided overlapping, resizable windows and the ability to drag icons to new positions on the desktop. The graphics were improved slightly and the taskbar was removed. Some of the integrated utilities that were included with Windows 2.0 were the clock, the calculator, and Paint. Windows 2.1 was announced shortly after, and was available as either Windows/286 and Windows/386. The were both able to run multiple DOS applications at the same time, and Windows/386 was intended to take advantage of the advanced features of the Intel 80386 CPU.26, 30
video by Cruchaga
The commercial of Windows 1.0. Steve Ballmer telling about all the features of the OS
Don't worry, we won't post anything.
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