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{{Short description|Microsoft personal computer operating system released in 1998}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}

factoids

AUTHOR=MICROSOFT WORK=SUPPORT ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20160106223642/HTTPS://SUPPORT.MICROSOFT.COM/EN-US/LIFECYCLE?SORT=ES&ALPHA=WINDOWS%2098 URL-STATUS=LIVE, Extended support ended on July 11, 2006| other_articles = | date = January 2011 url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991012111537weblink title=Windows 98 }}}}Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998, and generally to retail on June 25, 1998. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit and 32-bitWEB,weblink How 16-Bit and 32-Bit Programs Multitask in Windows 95, Microsoft, Microsoft, November 15, 2006, Support, May 25, 2015, monolithic product with the boot stage based on MS-DOS.WEB,weblink Windows 95 Architecture Components, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft TechNet, TechNet, February 20, 2014, May 25, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141017053409weblink">weblink October 17, 2014, live, Windows 98 is web-integrated and bears numerous similarities to its predecessor. Most of its improvements were cosmetic or designed to improve the user experience, but there were also a handful of features introduced to enhance system functionality and capabilities, including improved USB support and accessibility, and support for hardware advancements such as DVD players. Windows 98 was the first edition of Windows to adopt the Windows Driver Model, and introduced features that would become standard in future generations of Windows, such as Disk Cleanup, Windows Update, multi-monitor support, and Internet Connection Sharing.Microsoft had marketed Windows 98 as a "tune-up" to Windows 95, rather than an entirely improved next generation of Windows.WEB, Mossberg, Walter S., May 14, 1998, Windows 98 Offers Users Useful, Not Vital, Features,weblink live,weblink October 14, 2019, October 14, 2019, Wall Street Journal, Upon release, Windows 98 received a positive reception for its web-integrated interface and ease of use, as well as its addressing of issues present in Windows 95, although some pointed out that it was not significantly more stable than Windows 95.Windows 98 sold an estimated 58 million licenses and saw one major update, known as Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), released on June 10, 1999.After the release of its successor, Windows Me in 2000, mainstream support for Windows 98 and 98 SE ended on June 30, 2002, followed by extended support on July 11, 2006 along with Windows Me's end of extended support.

Development

Following the success of Windows 95, the development of Windows 98 began, initially under the development codename "Memphis". The first test version, Windows Memphis Developer Release, was released in January 1997.WEB,weblink Windows 97 in Beta, Thurrott, Paul, IT Pro Today, January 5, 1997, October 22, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180622203419weblink">weblink June 22, 2018, live, Memphis first entered beta as Windows Memphis Beta 1, released on June 30, 1997.WEB,weblink Next Windows goes into full beta, CNET, June 30, 1997, May 20, 2013, Alex, Lash,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140714203435weblink">weblink July 14, 2014, live, It was followed by Windows 98 Beta 2, which dropped the Memphis name and was released in July.WEB,weblink Memphis is Windows 98, Lash, Alex, July 23, 1997, CBS Interactive, CNET, May 25, 2015, September 29, 2021,weblink live, Microsoft had planned a full release of Windows 98 for the first quarter of 1998, along with a Windows 98 upgrade pack for Windows 95, but it also had a similar upgrade for Windows 3.x operating systems planned for the second quarter. Stacey Breyfogle, a product manager for Microsoft, explained that the later release of the upgrade for Windows 3 was because the upgrade required more testing than that for Windows 95 due to the presence of more compatibility issues, and without user objections, Microsoft merged the two upgrade packs into one and set all of their release dates to the second quarter.MAGAZINE,weblink Users unfazed by Windows 98 delay, Jacobs, April, Computerworld, September 22, 1997, 31, 38, 3, On December 15, 1997, Microsoft released Windows 98 Beta 3. It was the first build to be able to upgrade from Windows 3.1x, and introduced new startup and shutdown sounds.WEB,weblink Microsoft releases Windows 98 Beta 3, Windows IT Pro, December 15, 1997, May 20, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130912025545weblink">weblink September 12, 2013, dead, Near its completion, Windows 98 Release Candidate was released on April 3, 1998,WEB,weblink Windows 98 Review, Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows, June 25, 1998, May 20, 2013, Paul, Thurrott,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170712095647weblink">weblink July 12, 2017, dead, which expired on December 31 of the same year. This coincided with a notable press demonstration at COMDEX that month. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was highlighting the operating system's ease of use and enhanced support for Plug and Play (PnP). However, when presentation assistant Chris Capossela plugged a USB scanner in, the operating system crashed, displaying a Blue Screen of Death. Bill Gates remarked after derisive applause and cheering from the audience, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet." Video footage of this event became a popular Internet phenomenon.WEB,weblink CNN – Computer users on Windows 98: It's not revolutionary – April 21, 1998, Lefevre, Greg, April 21, 1998, CNN, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160414110931weblink">weblink April 14, 2016, April 17, 2019, Build 1998 was compiled as Windows 98 on May 11, 1998,{{kb|206071|General information about Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition hotfixes}} before being fully released to manufacturing on May 15. The company was facing pending legal action for allowing free downloads of, and planning to ship Windows licenses with, Internet Explorer 4.0 in an alleged effort to expand its software monopoly. Microsoft's critics believed the lawsuit would further delay Windows 98's public release;WEB, Mossberg, Walter S., May 14, 1998, Windows 98 Offers Users Useful, Not Vital, Features,weblink live,weblink October 14, 2019, October 14, 2019, Wall Street Journal, it did not, and the operating system was released on June 25, 1998.WEB,weblink Windows 98 release date set: June 25, March 11, 1998, February 18, 2017, WinInfo, Paul Thurrott,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100131180448weblink">weblink January 31, 2010, dead, A second major version of the operating system called Windows 98 Second Edition was later unveiled in March 1999.WEB, John G. Spooner, Mary Jo Foley, Mary Jo Foley, Windows 98 second edition?,weblink ZDNet, October 13, 2019, March 16, 1999,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170629110533weblink">weblink June 29, 2017, live, WEB, Stephanie Miles, Windows 98 to be relaunched with new IE,weblink CNET, October 13, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20000823031920weblink">weblink August 23, 2000, March 18, 1999, dead, Microsoft compiled the final build on April 23, 1999, before being fully released to manufacturing on May 5,WEB, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition Released to Manufacturing,weblink Microsoft, June 18, 2018, May 5, 1999,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150811215335weblink">weblink August 11, 2015, live, and publicly released on June 10, 1999. Windows 98 was to be the final product in the Windows 9x line until Microsoft briefly revived the line to release Windows Me in 2000 as the final Windows 9x product before the introduction of Windows XP in 2001, which was based on the Windows NT architecture and kernel used in Windows 2000.WEB,weblink Windows Millennium Edition ("Windows Me") FAQ, Thurrott, Paul, IT Pro, October 6, 2010, October 23, 2019,weblink October 23, 2019, live,

New and updated features

Web integration and shell enhancements

The first release of Windows 98 included Internet Explorer 4.01. This was updated to 5.0 in the Second Edition. Besides Internet Explorer, many other Internet companion applications are included such as Outlook Express,{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=21}} Windows Address Book, FrontPage Express,{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=13}} Microsoft Chat, Personal Web Server and a Web Publishing Wizard, and NetShow.{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=17}} NetMeeting allows multiple users to hold conference calls and work with each other on a document.{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=20}}The Windows 98 shell is web-integrated;{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=12}} it contains deskbands, Active Desktop, Channels,{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=133}} ability to minimize foreground windows by clicking their button on the taskbar,{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=9}} single-click launching, Back and Forward navigation buttons, favorites, and address bar in Windows Explorer, image thumbnails,{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=55}} folder infotips and Web view in folders, and folder customization through HTML-based templates. The taskbar supports customizable toolbars designed to speed up access to the Web or the user's desktop; these toolbars include an Address Bar and Quick Launch. With the Address Bar, the user accesses the Web by typing in a URL, and Quick Launch contains shortcuts or buttons that perform system functions such as switching between windows and the desktop with the Show Desktop button.{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=14}} Another feature of this new shell is that dialog boxes{{clarify|date=October 2019}} show up in the Alt-Tab sequence.Windows 98 also integrates shell enhancements, themes and other features from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 such as DriveSpace 3, Compression Agent, Dial-Up Networking Server, Dial-Up Scripting Tool and Task Scheduler. 3D Pinball Space Cadet is included on the CD-ROM, but not installed by default. Windows 98 had its own separately purchasable Plus! pack, called Plus! 98.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=427}}Title bars of windows and dialog boxes support two-color gradients, a feature ported from and refined from Microsoft Office 95.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=116}} Windows menus and tooltips support slide animation. Windows Explorer in Windows 98, as in Windows 95, converts all-uppercase filenames to sentence case for readability purposes;WEB,weblink Windows 'Prettified' Filenames, Microsoft, microsoft.com, August 26, 2017,weblink August 27, 2016, live, however, it also provides an option Allow all uppercase names to display them in their original case. Windows Explorer includes support for compressed CAB files.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=24}} The Quick Res and Telephony Location Manager Windows 95 PowerToys are integrated into the core operating system.

Improvements to hardware support

Windows Driver Model

File:Windows 98 architecture.svg|thumb|The Windows 98 architecture is set up as a tier of layers in which the higher layers depend on any component of the layers below them. The difference between the architectures of this and Windows 95 is that the Windows Driver Model can now be used to access the Windows 98 core and the registry.WEB,weblink Chapter 28 – Windows 98 Architecture, (Microsoft]], February 19, 2014, October 20, 2019,weblink March 2, 2019, live, )Windows 98 was the first operating system to use the Windows Driver Model (WDM). This fact was not well publicized when Windows 98 was released, and most hardware producers continued to develop drivers for the older VxD driver standard, which Windows 98 supported for compatibility's sake. The WDM standard only achieved widespread adoption years later, mostly through Windows 2000 and Windows XP, as they were not compatible with the older VxD standard.WEB,weblink How to troubleshoot unknown devices that are listed in Device Manager in Windows 2000, May 7, 2007, Microsoft Support, Microsoft,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070717081308weblink">weblink July 17, 2007, With the Windows Driver Model, developers could write drivers that were compatible with other versions of Windows.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=328}} Device driver access in WDM is implemented through a VxD device driver, NTKERN.VXD, which implements several Windows NT-specific kernel support functions.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=1322}}Support for WDM audio enables digital mixing, routing and processing of simultaneous audio streams, and kernel streaming with high-quality sample rate conversion on Windows 98. WDM Audio allows for software emulation of legacy hardware to support MS-DOS games, DirectSound support, and MIDI wavetable synthesis. The Windows 95 11-device limitation for MIDI devices is eliminated.WEB,weblink PC Solutions For MIDI Musicians, soundonsound.com, March 12, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120110123947weblink">weblink January 10, 2012, live, A Microsoft GS Wavetable Synthesizer licensed from Roland shipped with Windows 98 for WDM audio drivers. Windows 98 supports digital playback of audio CDs, and the Second Edition improves WDM audio support by adding DirectSound hardware mixing and DirectSound 3D hardware abstraction, DirectMusic kernel support, KMixer sample-rate conversion for capture streams, and multichannel audio support. All audio is sampled by the Kernel Mixer to a fixed sampling rate, which may result in some audio getting upsampled or downsampled and having a high latency, except when using Kernel Streaming or third-party audio paths like ASIO which allow unmixed audio streams and lower latency. Windows 98 also includes a WDM streaming class driver (Stream.sys) to address real time multimedia data stream processing requirements and a WDM kernel-mode video transport for enhanced video playback and capture.Windows Driver Model also includes Broadcast Driver Architecture, the backbone for TV technologies support in Windows. WebTV for Windows utilized BDA to allow viewing television on the computer if a compatible TV tuner card is installed. TV listings could be updated from the Internet and WaveTop Data Broadcasting allowed extra data about broadcasts to be received via regular television signals using an antenna or cable, by embedding data streams into the vertical blanking interval portion of existing broadcast television signals.

Other device support improvements

Windows 98 had more robust USB support than Windows 95, which only had support in OEM versions OSR2.1 and later.WEB,weblink Availability of Universal Serial Bus Support in Windows 95, November 15, 2006, Microsoft Support, Microsoft,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070304063841weblink">weblink March 4, 2007, Windows 98 supports USB hubs, USB scanners and imaging class devices. Windows 98 also introduced built-in support for some USB Human Interface Device class (USB HID) and PID class devices such as USB mice, keyboards, force feedback joysticks etc. including additional keyboard functions through a certain number of Consumer Page HID controls.WEB,weblink Human Interface Devices Design Guide, Microsoft, microsoft.com, December 26, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101222201727weblink">weblink December 22, 2010, dead, Windows 98 also supports UDMA, 3DNow! and SSE.Windows 98 introduced ACPI 1.0 support which enabled Standby and Hibernate states. However, hibernation support was extremely limited and vendor-specific. Hibernation was only available if compatible (PnP) hardware and BIOS are present, and the hardware manufacturer or OEM supplied ACPI-compatible drivers. However, there are hibernation issues with the FAT32 file system, making hibernation problematic and unreliable.Windows 98, in general, provides improved — and a broader range of — support for IDE and SCSI drives and drive controllers, floppy drive controllers and all other classes of hardware as compared to Windows 95.WEB,weblink Chapter 10 – Disks and File Systems, Microsoft Docs, Microsoft, en-us, April 17, 2019,weblink March 24, 2019, live, There is integrated Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) support (although the USB Supplement to Windows 95 OSR2 and later releases of Windows 95 did have AGP support). Windows 98 has built-in DVD support and UDF 1.02 read support. The Still imaging architecture (STI) with TWAIN support was introduced for scanners and cameras and Image Color Management 2.0 for devices to perform color space transformations.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=509}} Multiple monitor support allows using up to nine multiple monitors on a single PC, with the feature requiring one PCI graphics adapter per monitor.{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=75}} Windows 98 shipped with DirectX 5.2,JOURNAL, SLI Odd Couples, Maximum PC, January 1999, 4, 1, 75,weblink October 10, 2019, 1522-4279, September 29, 2021,weblink live, which notably included DirectShow. Windows 98 Second Edition would later ship with DirectX 6.1.WEB, J. D. Biersdorfer, Q & A: Windows 98, 2d Edition,weblink The New York Times, October 10, 2019, August 12, 1999,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20191010193003weblink">weblink October 10, 2019, live,

Networking enhancements

Windows 98 networking enhancements to TCP/IP include built-in support for Winsock 2, SMB signing,WEB,weblink Overview of Server Message Block signing, Microsoft, microsoft.com, June 22, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101120173639weblink">weblink November 20, 2010, live, a new IP Helper API, Automatic Private IP Addressing (also known as link-local addressing), IP multicasting, and performance enhancements for high-speed high bandwidth networks. Multihoming support with TCP/IP is improved and includes RIP listener support.The DHCP client has been enhanced to include address assignment conflict detection and longer timeout intervals. NetBT configuration in the WINS client has been improved to continue persistently querying multiple WINS servers if it failed to establish the initial session until all of the WINS servers specified have been queried or a connection is established.Network Driver Interface Specification 5 support means Windows 98 can support a wide range of network media, including Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Token Ring, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), ISDN, wide area networks, X.25, and Frame Relay. Additional features include NDIS power management, support for quality of service, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and support for a single INF file format across all Windows versions.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=572}}Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking supports PPTP tunneling,{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=135}} support for ISDN adapters, multilink support, and connection-time scripting to automate non-standard login connections. Multilink channel aggregation enables users to combine all available dial-up lines to achieve higher transfer speeds. PPP connection logs can show actual packets being passed and Windows 98 allows PPP logging per connection. The Dial-Up Networking improvements are also available in Windows 95 OSR2 and are downloadable for earlier Windows 95 releases.For networked computers that have user profiles enabled, Windows 98 introduces Microsoft Family Logon which lists all users that have been configured for that computer, enabling users to simply select their names from a list rather than having to type them in.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=798}}Windows 98 supports IrDA 3.0 which specifies both Serial Infrared Devices and Fast Infrared devices, which are capable of sending and receiving data at 4 Mbit/s. Infrared Recipient, a new application for transferring files through an infrared connection is included. The IrDA stack in Windows 98 supports networking profiles over the IrCOMM kernel-mode driver. Windows 98 also has built-in support for browsing Distributed File System trees on Server Message Block shares such as Windows NT servers.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=688}}{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=690}}UPnP and NAT traversal APIs can be installed on Windows 98 by installing the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard.WEB,weblink Network Setup Wizard Down Level Setup, April 14, 2010, Microsoft Developer Network, Microsoft, April 16, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121022192342weblink">weblink October 22, 2012, live, An L2TP/IPsec VPN client can also be downloaded. By installing Active Directory Client Extensions, Windows 98 can take advantage of several Windows 2000 Active Directory features.

Improvements to the system and built-in utilities

Performance improvements

Windows 95 introduced the 32-bit, protected-mode cache driver VCACHE (replacing SMARTDrv) to cache the most recently accessed information from the hard drive in memory, divided into chunks. However, the cache parameters needed manual tuning as it degraded performance by consuming too much memory and not releasing it quickly enough, forcing paging to occur far too early. The Windows 98 VCACHE cache size management for disk and network access, CD-ROM access and paging is more dynamic compared to Windows 95, resulting in no tuning being required for cache parameters.WEB,weblink Chapter 26 – Performance Tuning, February 20, 2014, Microsoft Technet, Microsoft, April 17, 2019,weblink August 26, 2017, live, On the FAT32 file system, Windows 98 has a performance feature called MapCache that can run applications from the disk cache itself if the code pages of executable files are aligned/mapped on 4K boundaries, instead of copying them to virtual memory. This results in more memory being available to run applications, and lesser usage of the swap file.Windows 98 registry handling is more robust than Windows 95 to avoid corruption and there are several enhancements to eliminate limitations and improve registry performance.WEB,weblink Chapter 31 – Windows 98 Registry, Microsoft, microsoft.com, February 20, 2014, August 26, 2017,weblink August 26, 2017, live, The Windows 95 registry key size limitation of 64 KB is gone. The registry uses less memory and has better caching.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|pp=1437–1438}}Disk Defragmenter has been improved to rearrange program files that are frequently used to a hard disk region optimized for program start.BOOK, Introducing Windows 98, Second edition, Despite this, however, the message "Drive contents changed....restarting." still exists in this version (i.e. if the contents of the hard drive changed, then the entire drive is then rescanned and then progress resumed where it had left off), as with Windows 95. If it gets stuck on the same area too many times, it will ask the user if it should keep trying or give up. This quirk was removed with Windows Me's version of Disk Defragmenter and will function on Windows 98 or Windows 95 if the user simply copies it over.WEB, PC Hell: Defrag Does Not Complete - Solutions,weblink 2020-07-19, www.pchell.com, July 2, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200702071708weblink">weblink live, Windows 98 also supports a Fast Shutdown feature that initiates shutdown without uninitializing device drivers. However, this can cause Windows 98 to hang instead of shutting down the computer if a buggy driver is active, so Microsoft supplied instructions for disabling the feature.WEB,weblink How to Disable Fast Shutdown in Windows 98, Microsoft Support, Microsoft,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090505123756weblink">weblink May 5, 2009, Windows 98 supports write-behind caching for removable disk drives. A utility for converting FAT16 partitions to FAT32 without formatting the partition is also included,{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=123}} however it is not compatible with DriveSpace.WEB, www.helpwithwindows.com, HelpWithWindows.com, Arie Slob, 14 July 1998, Windows 98, FAT32,weblink 2024-03-30, HelpWithWindows.com,

Other system tools

A number of improvements are made to various other system tools and accessories in Windows 98. Microsoft Backup supports differential backup and SCSI tape devices in Windows 98. Disk Cleanup, a new tool, enables users to clear their disks of unnecessary files. Cleanup locations are extensible through Disk Cleanup handlers. Disk Cleanup can be automated for regular silent cleanups.{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=44}}Scanreg (DOS) and ScanRegW are Registry Checker tools used to back up, restore or optimize the Windows registry. ScanRegW tests the registry's integrity and saves a backup copy each time Windows successfully boots. The maximum number of copies could be customized by the user through "scanreg.ini" file. The restoration of a registry that causes Windows to fail to boot can only be done from DOS mode using ScanReg.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=325}}System Configuration Utility is a new system utility used to disable programs and services that are not required to run the computer.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=342}} A Maintenance Wizard is included that schedules and automates ScanDisk, Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleanup.{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=79}} Windows Script Host, with VBScript and JScript engines is built-in and upgradeable to version 5.6. System File Checker checks installed versions of system files to ensure they were the same version as the one installed with Windows 98 or newer. Corrupt or older versions are replaced by the correct versions.{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=131}} This tool was introduced to resolve the DLL hell issue and was replaced in Windows Me by System File Protection.Windows 98 Setup simplifies installation, reducing the bulk of user input required.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=22}} The Windows 98 Startup Disk contains generic, real-mode ATAPI and SCSI CD-ROM drivers that can be used instead in the event that the specific driver for a CD-ROM is unavailable.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=75}}The system could be updated using Windows Update. A utility to automatically notify the user of critical updates was later released.MAGAZINE,weblink The Update update, Nott, Tim, Personal Computer World, May 1999, October 27, 2019, 234, Windows 98 includes an improved version of the Dr. Watson utility that collects and lists comprehensive information such as running tasks, startup programs with their command line switches, system patches, kernel driver, user drivers, DOS drivers and 16-bit modules. With Dr. Watson loaded in the system tray, whenever a software fault occurs (general protection fault, hang, etc.), Dr. Watson will intercept it and indicate what software crashed and its cause.Windows Report Tool takes a snapshot of system configuration and lets users submit a manual problem report along with system information to technicians. It has e-mail confirmation for submitted reports.

Accessories

Windows 98 includes Microsoft Magnifier,{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=31}} Accessibility Wizard and Microsoft Active Accessibility 1.1 API (upgradeable to MSAA 2.0.) A new HTML Help system with 15 Troubleshooting Wizards was introduced to replace WinHelp.Users can configure the font in Notepad. Microsoft Paint supports GIF transparency. HyperTerminal supports a TCP/IP connection method, which allows it to be used as a Telnet client. Imaging for Windows is updated. System Monitor—used to track the performance of hardware and software—supports output to a log file.{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=1221}}

Miscellaneous improvements

• Telephony API (TAPI) 2.1
• DCOM version 1.2
• Ability to list fonts by similarity determined using PANOSE information.
• Tools to automate setup, such as Batch 98 and INFInst.exe, support error-checking, gathering information automatically to create an INF file directly from a machine's registry, customizing IE4, shell and desktop settings and adding custom drivers.
• Several other Resource Kit tools are included on the Windows 98 CD.WEB,weblink Tools Included with the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit, Microsoft Support, Microsoft,weblink September 15, 2017, April 17, 2019,
• Windows 98 has new system event sounds for Low Battery Alarm and Critical Battery Alarm.
• Windows 98 also introduced new and updated system sounds. The new startup sound for Windows 98 was composed by Microsoft sound engineer Ken Kato, who considered it to be a "tough act to follow".WEB,weblink Interview: 343 Industries Audio Manager – Ken Kato, February 19, 2014, SpeakHertz, April 17, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190417135108weblink">weblink April 17, 2019, live,
• Windows 98 shipped with Flash Player and Shockwave Player preinstalled.WEB,weblink Macromedia Shockwave(TM) and Flash(TM) Players Incorporated Into Windows 98, Free Online Library, dead,weblink May 20, 2017, September 19, 2019,

Windows 98 Second Edition {{anchor|SE}}

Windows 98 Second Edition (often shortened to Windows 98 SE and sometimes to Win98 SE or 98 SE)MAGAZINE,weblink Windows 98 Second Edition, Sems, Marty, Smart Computing, September 1999, October 8, 2019, 10, 9, 14, is an updated version of Windows 98 released on June 10, 1999, eight months before the release of Windows 2000.WEB, 1999-05-06, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) Review,weblink 2024-04-08, ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More, en, It includes many bug fixes,MAGAZINE,weblink Windows 98 Second Edition, Mendelson, Edward, PC Magazine, May 25, 1999, October 8, 2019, 18, 10, 35, September 29, 2021,weblink live, improved WDM audio and modem support, improved USB support, added SSE2 support, the replacement of Internet Explorer 4.0 with Internet Explorer 5.0, Web Folders (WebDAV namespace extension for Windows Explorer),WEB,weblink Overview of Web Folders in Internet Explorer 5, Microsoft, microsoft.com, February 11, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120105015555weblink">weblink January 5, 2012, live, and related shell updates. Also included is basic OHCI-compliant FireWire DV camcorder support (MSDV class driver) and SBP-2 support for mass storage class devices.WEB,weblink The IEEE 1394 Driver Stack, Microsoft, microsoft.com, August 19, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111108214828weblink">weblink November 8, 2011, live, Wake-On-LAN reenables suspended networked computers due to network activity, and Internet Connection Sharing allows multiple networked client computers to share an Internet connection via a single host computer.Other features in the update include DirectX 6.1 which introduced major improvements to DirectSound and the introduction of DirectMusic, improvements to Asynchronous Transfer Mode support (IP/ATM, PPP/ATM and WinSock 2/ATM support), Windows Media Player 6.1 replacing the older Media Player, Microsoft NetMeeting 3.0,{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=38}} MDAC 2.1 and WMI. A memory overflow issue was resolved in which earlier versions of Windows 98 would crash most systems if left running for 49.7 days (equal to 232 milliseconds),WEB, Miles, Stephanie,weblink Windows may crash after 49.7 days â€“ CNET News, News.cnet.com, March 11, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110615045104weblink">weblink June 15, 2011, live, which was also present on Windows 95. Windows 98 SE could be obtained as retail upgrade and full version packages, as well as OEM and a Second Edition Updates Disc for existing Windows 98 users. USB audio device class support is present from Windows 98 SE onwards. Windows 98 Second Edition improved WDM support in general for all devices, and it introduced support for WDM for modems (and therefore USB modems and virtual COM ports). However, Microsoft driver support for both USB printers and USB mass-storage device class is not available for Windows 98.

Removed features

The Active Channels Channel Bar from the original release of Windows 98 was removed in Windows 98 Second Edition and is not installed upon first boot, but is retained if upgrading from the original release of Windows 98 to Windows 98 Second Edition.Windows 98 Second Edition did not ship with the WinG API or RealPlayer 4.0, unlike the original release of Windows 98, due to both of these having been superseded by DirectX and Windows Media Player, respectively.

Upgradeability

Several components of both Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition can be updated to newer versions. These include:

• Internet Explorer 6 SP1 and Outlook Express 6 SP1
• Windows Media Format Runtime and Windows Media Player 9 Series on Windows 98 Second Edition (Windows Media Player 7.1 on Windows 98 original release)
• Windows Media Encoder 7.1 and Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility
• DirectX 9.0c (the latest compatible runtime is from October 2007.)WEB,weblink DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtime, October 17, 2007, Microsoft Download Center, May 11, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180617012504weblink">weblink June 17, 2018, live,
• MSN Messenger 7.0
• Significant features from newer Microsoft operating systems can be installed on Windows 98. Chief among them are .NET Framework versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0, the Visual C++ 2005 runtime, Windows Installer 2.0, the GDI+ redistributable library, Remote Desktop Connection client 5.2 and the Text Services Framework.
• Several other components such as MSXML 3.0 SP7, Microsoft Agent 2.0, NetMeeting 3.01, MSAA 2.0, ActiveSync 3.8, WSH 5.6, Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81 SP1, WMI 1.5 and Speech API 4.0.
• Office XP is the last version of Microsoft Office that is compatible with Windows 98.WEB,weblink System Requirements, May 30, 2001, Microsoft, Office Support,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20021201084248weblink">weblink December 1, 2002, February 25, 2017, dead,
• Although Windows 98 does not fully support Unicode, certain Unicode applications can run if the Microsoft Layer for Unicode is installed.

System requirements

The majority of copies of Windows 98 was distributed in CD-ROM. A {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy disk version was available for older machines, albeit only via mail order. The floppy disk version of Windows 98 came on 39 DMF formatted floppy disks and excluded some additional software components that the CD-ROM version might have featured. The original release of Windows 98 was the last version of Windows to be available on floppy disks, as Windows 98 Second Edition was released exclusively on CD-ROMs. Microsoft Plus! for Windows 98 was also only available on CD-ROMs.The two major versions of Windows 98 have minimum requirements needed to be run.{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%"|+Minimum system requirements!rowspan="2"|Field!colspan="2"|System!class="unsortable" rowspan="2"|Comments!class="unsortable"|Windows 98{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=26}}!class="unsortable"|Second Edition{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=30}}!ProcessorIntel 80486 66 MHz or higherDATE=JANUARY 23, 2007ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20121026121053/HTTP://SUPPORT.MICROSOFT.COM/KB/189670ACCESS-DATE=APRIL 23, 2019, !RAM|16 MB|24 MB|24 MB recommended; it is possible to run on 8 MB machines with /nm option used during the installation process!Storage

• Upgrading from Windows 3.1 or 95: 120–295 MB (typically 195 MB).
• New installation (FAT16): 165–355 MB (typically 225 MB).
• New installation (FAT32): 140–255 MB (typically 175 MB).|The amount of space required depends on the installation method and the components selected, but virtual memory and system utilities as well as drivers should be taken into consideration.

!DisplayVGA or higher resolution monitor (640×480)|!Media driveCD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive|Floppy install is possible but slow!InputMicrosoft Mouse or compatible pointing device|Users can bypass processor requirement checks with the undocumented /NM setup switch. This allows installation on computers with processors as old as the Intel 80386.MAGAZINE,weblink Exploring the latest secrets and tips for using Windows 98, Livingston, Brian, InfoWorld, September 13, 1999, October 26, 2019, 21, 37, 45,

Limitations

The original release of Windows 98 may fail to boot on computers with a processor faster than 2.1 GHz. Windows 98 is only designed to handle up to 512 MB of RAM without changes.WEB, "Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed,weblink 2.1, 2007-01-27, Support, Microsoft, 2013-09-03, 253912, If a computer running Windows contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: You may be unable to open an MS-DOS session (or command prompt) while Windows is running. Attempts to do so may generate the following error message: "There is not enough memory available to run this program." The computer may stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message: "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.", September 22, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130922050847weblink">weblink dead, The maximum amount of RAM the operating system is designed to use is up to 1 GB of RAM. Systems with more than 1.5 GB of RAM may continuously reboot during startup.WEB,weblink Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM, Microsoft Support, Microsoft,weblink Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1 GB of RAM. More than 1 GB can lead to potential system instability., June 2, 2015, dead, April 17, 2019, Both Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition have problems running on hard drives of capacities larger than 32 GB in systems with certain Phoenix BIOS configurations. A software update fixed this shortcoming.WEB,weblink Windows 98 Large IDE Update, December 28, 1999, Microsoft Windows Update, Microsoft,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20001205173800weblink">weblink December 5, 2000, dead, August 30, 2006,

Support lifecycle

Computers running Windows 98 can be directly upgraded to Windows XP, providing they meet the requirements for Windows XP. Support for Windows 98 under Microsoft's consumer product life cycle policy was originally planned to end on June 30, 2003,WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20021211153658weblink">weblink 2002-12-11, Windows Desktop Product Life Cycle Support and Availability Policies for Consumers, www.microsoft.com, April 25, 2021, however, in December 2002,WEB,weblinkweblink 2016-03-06, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Support Extended @ Archive.org, support.microsoft.com, August 24, 2020, Microsoft extended the support window to January 16, 2004.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20030224124551weblink">weblink 2003-02-24, Windows Desktop Product Life Cycle Support and Availability Policies for Consumers, www.microsoft.com, April 25, 2021, This date would then be extended again to June 30, 2006 on January 13, 2004WEB,weblink Microsoft extends Win 98 and ME support to 2006, www.computerweekly.com, April 25, 2021, April 25, 2021,weblink live, up to a final end of support date of July 11, 2006,WEB,weblink Windows End of support for Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows XP Service Pack 1, August 24, 2020, Microsoft,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20061121152144weblink">weblink 2006-11-21, dead, citing support volumes in emerging markets as the reason for the extension.Retail availability for Windows 98 ended on June 30, 2002, and later became completely unavailable from Microsoft in any form (through MSDN or otherwise) due to the terms of Java-related settlements Microsoft made with Sun Microsystems.WEB,weblink What products are included with MSDN subscriptions?, Microsoft Developer Network, Microsoft,weblink August 29, 2017, dead, August 24, 2020, The Windows Update website continued to be available after Windows 98's end of support date, however, in 2011, Microsoft retired the Windows Update v4 website and removed the updates for Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE from its servers.WEB,weblink I can't access Windows Update v4 - Windows 9x/ME - MSFN, msfn.org, August 27, 2011, April 25, 2021, April 25, 2021,weblink live, WEB,weblink Where is Windows Update for Win98? - BetaArchive, www.betaarchive.com, April 25, 2021, April 25, 2021,weblink live,

Reception

Windows 98 was released to positive reviews, with praise directed to its improved graphical user interface and customizability, ease of use,MAGAZINE,weblink Smart Computing, Sandhills Publishing, August 1998, 9, 8, {{rp|30–31}} and the degree to which it addressed complaints that users and critics had with Windows 95.MAGAZINE,weblink Windows 98: Worth the Wait?, Bott, Ed, PC Computing, July 1998, 80–81, Michael Sweet of Smart Computing characterized it as heavily integrating features of the Internet browser, and found file and folder navigation easier.{{rp|30–31}} Ed Bott of PC Computing lauded the bug fixes, easier troubleshooting, and support for hardware advances such as DVD players and USB. However, he also found that the operating system crashed only slightly less frequently, and criticized the high upgrade price and system requirements. He rated it four stars out of five.

Sales

Windows 98 sold 530,000 licenses in its first four days of availability, overtaking Windows 95's 510,000.WEB,weblink Microsoft's Windows 98 Sells Much Better Than Expected, Lohr, Steve, The New York Times, July 1, 1998, October 7, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150527073059weblink">weblink May 27, 2015, live, It later sold a total of 580,000 and 350,000 licenses in the first and second months of availability, respectively.WEB,weblink Windows XP sales lag, CNET, January 31, 2002, October 7, 2019,weblink October 7, 2019, live, In the first year of its release, Windows 98 sold a total of 15 million licenses – 2 million more than its predecessor. However, International Data Corporation estimated that of the roughly 89 million shipped computers in the desktop market, the operating system had a market share of 17.2 percent, compared to Windows 95's 57.4 percent. Meanwhile, the two operating systems continued to observe a trend whereby Windows 98 improved in sales performance, whereas Windows 95 dwindled.WEB,weblink Windows 95 remains most popular operating system, CNET, July 20, 1999, October 7, 2019,weblink July 23, 2015, live, After a legal dispute and subsequent settlement with Sun Microsystems over the former's Java Virtual Machine, Microsoft ceased distributing the operating system on December 15, 2003,WEB,weblinkweblink dead, August 3, 2020, Microsoft Yanks Older Products, Evers, Joris, PCWorld, December 8, 2003, October 27, 2019, and IDC estimated that a total of 58 million copies were installed worldwide by then.WEB,weblink Microsoft Extends Win 98 Support, Evers, Joris, PCWorld, January 12, 2004, October 27, 2019,weblink May 6, 2019, live,

References

{{Reflist}}

• MANUAL, {{harvid, Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98, 1998, |url=https://archive.org/details/gettingstartedmi00micr|title=Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|publisher=Microsoft|date=1998|access-date=October 11, 2019|url-access=registration}}
• BOOK, {{harvid, Resource Kit, 1998, |title=Windows 98 Resource Kit|location=Redmond, Washington, USA|publisher=Microsoft Press|year=1998|isbn=1-57231-644-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781572316447}}
• MAGAZINE, {{harvid, PC Magazine, August, 1998, |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4c8Qbd14llIC|title=PC Magazine|date=August 1998|access-date=October 9, 2019|volume=17|issue=14|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806015857weblink|url-status=live}}
• MAGAZINE, {{harvid, Smart Computing, June, 2000, |url=https://archive.org/details/smartcomputing-learning-series-v6i6|title=Smart Computing|date=June 2000|access-date=October 10, 2019|volume=6|issue=6}}

Further reading

• BOOK, Davis, Fred, Kip, Crosby, The Windows 98 Bible, Berkeley, California, Peachpit Press, 1998, 0-201-69690-8,

External links

{{Prone to spam|date=January 2013}}

• "Windows 98." â€“ Microsoft (Archive)
• GUIdebook: Windows 98 Gallery {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927085131weblink |date=September 27, 2010 }} â€“ A website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces

{{Microsoft Windows family}}{{Authority control}}