

It was based on Windows NT like Windows 2000, but brought the consumer-friendly elements from Windows ME. Photograph: Schrift-Architekt/flickrĪrguably one of the best Windows versions, Windows XP was released in October 2001 and brought Microsoft’s enterprise line and consumer line of operating systems under one roof. Later revisions of Windows 95 included IE by default, as Netscape Navigator and NCSA Mosaic were popular at the time. Internet Explorer also made its debut on Windows 95, but was not installed by default requiring the Windows 95 Plus! pack. MS-DOS still played an important role for Windows 95, which required it to run some programmes and elements. Windows 95 also introduced a 32-bit environment, the task bar and focused on multitasking. That was the idea it didn’t always work in practice. It also introduced the concept of “plug and play” – connect a peripheral and the operating system finds the appropriate drivers for it and makes it work. As the name implies, Windows 95 arrived in August 1995 and with it brought the first ever Start button and Start menu (launched with a gigantic advertising campaign that used the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up, and a couple of months later Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry.
