Microsoft's iconic Windows 95 turns 25

New Delhi, August 25

Twenty-five years ago, people were lining up across the US to buy a new piece of software. No, it was not any game or a new Apple device; it was Microsoft Windows 95.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates launched the iconic Windows 95 on August 24. The software was so popular that seven million copies were sold during the first five weeks.

Microsoft added several features to Windows 95 but the best ones were a new Start button, menu and taskbar to navigate the operating system with so much ease.

“Multitasking improvements and the graphical interface were a big leap from Windows 3.1 and the days of MS-DOS, but the interface was rather similar for Macintosh and OS/2 users at the time,” reports The Verge.

Besides being a 32-bit operating system, a key addition was support for long filenames, up to 250 characters.

Another big feature was the introduction of Plug and Play, to automatically detect and install hardware.

A new MSN app came bundled with a prominent icon on the desktop.

“MSN was designed to provide access to email, chat rooms, newsgroups, and the first WWW homepages through a dial-up connection”.

Microsoft charged a monthly fee to access MSN, and if you used it for more than three hours a month, there were extra charges.

Microsoft also introduced its first idea of syncing data between multiple machines in Windows 95.

The company also introduced user profile support in Windows 95 to allow multiple family members to sign in and have their own separate profiles with links and applications. IANS