Windows 98, 2000, Me.

Windows 98 is a graphical operating system that was released in 1998. It was the most popular user-oriented operating system with a friendly interface and multitasking capabilities. Windows 98 is an updated version of popular operating system Windows 95 and like that earlier version it was a hybrid 16-bit or 32-bit product and DOS compatible. So all programmes written for DOS could work under the new operating system.

Among features of a new operating system were better AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port or Advanced Graphics Port) support, functional USB (Universal Serial Bus) drivers, support for multiple monitors and Web TV. Internet Explorer continued to be integrated into the Windows Explorer interface like in later releases of Windows 95.

This Windows version was substantially larger and slower than Windows 95 although the upgrade sold well from the outset. So in 1999 an enhanced version of Windows 98 under the brand name Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) was released. It included fixes for many minor issues such as the replacement of Internet Explorer 4 with the significantly faster and lighter Internet Explorer 5.

Internet Connection Sharing as a new feature appeared in Windows 98 SE which allowed multiple computers on a LAN (Local Area Network) to share a single Internet connection through Network Address Translation. Among other added features were Netmeeting 3 and support for DVD Playback.

The system requirements of Windows 98 SE are: a 66 MHz processor, 24 MB RAM and at least 210 MB of free hard disk space.

Windows 98 was succeeded by Windows Millennium (Me) when a ”consumer” version of Windows 2000 was abandoned. Windows Me was in turn succeeded by Windows XP. Windows 2000 is a graphical, business-oriented operating system. It was released in 2000. Windows 2000 is still very popular especially in big corporations where the operating systems’ upgrades on a great number of computers face serious technical problems.

Windows Millennium Edition (also known as Windows Me) was an operating system released in 2000 by Microsoft. A successor to Windows 95 and Windows 98, Windows Me mainly comprised relatively small upgrades such as Internet Explorer 5,5. It also provided Windows Media Player 7, which was meant to rival the then dominant media player Real Player and included the new Movie Maker software, which provided basic video editing and was designed to be for home users.

One of the most publicized changes in Windows Me was that it no longer included real mode MS DOS. That means that unlike Windows 95 and 98 Windows Me did not load DOS before loading a Windows graphic shell. However, it should be noted that all those changes to Windows Me were minor and that operating system consequently was succeeded by Windows XP.