Anyone remember Windows 95?

[NNN0LHI]

That operating system was the first I had and just about made me give up computing. Seemed like all I was doing here was reloading all my programs and drivers after the thing crashed. Which was almost a daily occurrence.

I had the sledgehammer ready to beat that machine to death more than once. Never did it. But I sure came close a few times.

The bad old days.

Don

[BlueJazz]

1. It took forever to install the damn thing. It would turn off 20 times..

...during the install process and you had to have drivers for every-little-tiny-thing.

AgggH! :)

Although I DID like the videos that were included on the disk...mmm..ah Weezers and the video with the Girl singing on the streets of New York.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Shoot it was a half a day job getting everything loaded

And I was still working then. Seemed like all I was doing was going to work and then coming home and work on my computer for hours on end. Catch a few hours sleep and then back to the job. It was a horror show.

The service techs at Gateway were on a first name basis with me after just hearing my voice I was calling there so much. And then I finally upgraded to Windows 98 which was better than 95 but not much. Then I had to send the machine back to Gateway for warranty repairs and it came back with Windows 95 installed back in it. I couldn't believe it.

Don

[RoyGBiv]

3. I still have scars ...

... deep, deep emotional scars.

And I'm only half kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z2LSovum00

I think I still have that file I copied off the machine saved to a CD somewhere.

My disdain for Microsoft as a company began with Windows 95 (ME was just salt in the wound). I could deal with the steaming pile that was Windows 3.1 because it ran on top of DOS, which at least kept the system itself from dying every half hour. On computers I used with Win 3.1 I typically put the window manager away somewhere for when I really needed it and did everything from a command prompt.

Windows 95 was my first conscious introduction to the concept that is Microsoft's mantra. The system requirements they advertise are roughly half what you need to keep from having a nervous breakdown while running a machine with their software. I spent FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS on an 8 MB memory upgrade (prices of course plummeted a few months later), which did in fact improve the stability of the machine as well as its usability.

[CK_John]

4. I still have Win 95 running on an old Thinkpad760E that I fire up every once in a while

just for the hell of it. No USB but wireless PCMCIA net card 1354MB HD and 72MB RAM.

[Statistical]

5. All of microsoft .1 version have been the winners.

Win 3.11 successful. Based on Win 3.0 which sucked.
Windows 98SE successful. Based on windows 95 which sucked.
Windows NT 4 successful. Based on Windows NT 3.5 which sucked.
Windows XP successful. Based on Windows 2000 which sucked.
Windows 7 successful*. Based on Windows vista which sucked.

For the record
2000 is NT kernel 5.0
XP is NT kernel 5.1

Vista is NT kernel 6.0
Windows 7 is NT kernel 6.1

Seeing the trend?

I didn't have many problems with 95 until USB came along. 95 "supported" USB but it was a nightmare. 98SE had true plug & play USB support.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. That's a bit harsh on 2k

OK it took a few service packs but it turned out pretty rugged. I've still got it on a laptop I use occasionally...

[DainBramaged]

6. This summer I threw out the DOZENS of WIN 95 installation discs

and even a couple of unopened floppy upgrades I had accumulated. I had forgotten about them and they were in a box in my Mom's basement.


Memories........


I fucking HATED WIN95. I stuck with 3.1 until 98 came out.

[Why Syzygy]

7. I re-installed it monthly.

But I had all my drivers and download programs on FLOPPIES! That won't work these days.

[madokie]

8. It was dos 3.2 for me then we had windows 3 followed shortly by 3.1

and dos bumped up to 5 and we thought we were in hog heaven. I remember telling one of my friends that I had patience that I didn't know I had when my first computer didn't bounce off the floor that first night. seems like I seen a lot of 'bad command or file name', hell I even tried the four letter words on it and none of them worked either.

[travelingtypist]

10. I just got rid of Win98 about two years ago.

I got XP just as Windows came out with Vista.

Um, I guess I'm not an early adopter.

I had a Win95 Toshiba Satellite laptop that I just loved. I beat that machine to death and it still kept working for me.

Ah, the good old days.

[Warpy]

11. I have an old Win 95 machine kicking around

and I use it when the first line box conks out to go online and get instructions on fixing the first line box.

It's a 1998 NEC and it's indestructible.

That blue screen of death is a two or three times a day nuisance. It's still not as bad as Win 98 was.