The setup file for Windows 95, which was released in 1995, consisted of three types of programs: MS-DOS, 16-bit, and 32-bit. When upgrading from MS-DOS, Windows 3.1 was installed along the way.

Retro Potato: Longtime Microsoft software engineer Raymond Chen recently responded to an intriguing retro-tech question posed by a game developer on X. The developer inquired about the three distinct ...

You know your brand-new computer is all set to run today's top-of-the-line software. What you probably spend less time pondering is "legacy support." That is, while there may be compatibility issues, ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Before Windows, there was MS-DOS—that’s the Microsoft Disk ...

In a nutshell: When trying to install Windows 95 for the first time, PC users were presented with a dull text interface and no graphics. DOS could indeed "do graphics," but the Windows team decided to ...

When Microsoft Corp. introduces a new version of MS-DOS tomorrow, it will be a welcome upgrade that goes a long way toward lifting the decade-long curse on the operating system software that controls ...