Windows 95
Coverage of Windows 95 in the Nexus archive.
- 30 years ago, AT&T gave Internet Explorer the default advantage
30 years ago, AT&T partnered with Microsoft to make Internet Explorer 3 the default browser for its WorldNet service in 1996, helping Microsoft gain ground in the browser wars against Netscape. The deal bundled IE3 with Windows 95 and contributed to Internet Explorer's decade-long dominance before antitrust actions later emerged.
- Windows 95 detected installers by looking for magic words and hoping for the best
Windows 95 identified installer programs by checking their names against a list of 'magic words' like 'setup', 'install', and 'inst'. If a match was found, the OS performed cleanup checks for modified system files. This approach was due to limitations in detection methods during the 1990s.
- You can now run WSL on Windows 95, in case you're crazy, too
A developer has successfully run the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on Windows 95, an older operating system, calling it one of their greatest hacks. This achievement allows WSL to function on Windows 9x systems, which were previously incompatible.