Smart Computing Article - Windows 98 Files

May 2005 • Vol.9 Issue 3 Page(s) 157-160 in print issue Add To My Personal Library OS More Evolution Than Revolution Windows 98 did not generate nearly the excitement of its predecessor, Windows 95, when it launched. This incarnation of Microsoft’s crown jewel represented an evolutionary step in the Windows OS (operating system), a more stable release meant to fix many of the areas in which users found Win95 lacking. Win98 featured a first for Microsoft: tight integration with the company’s Internet product offerings, namely the Internet Explorer browser. Netscape’s Web browser ruled the Internet during the early to mid-’90s. Microsoft enjoyed little success with its first attempts to establish a beachhead in cyberspace with IE, and Netscape captured an overwhelming market share. Bill Gates realized his company’s inward focus during the development and release of Win95 caused Microsoft to be a late arrival at the Internet ball. In fact, many Microsoft antagonists felt the company had missed the Internet bandwagon and would never catch up. Of course, history proved quite different, but that is another story. Most people chose Win98 during the Y2K scare in the last part of the decade, when Microsoft and countless other software companies scrambled to patch up software so it would not fail when the 2000 rollover took place. As a result, Microsoft released a couple of major Y2K patches for Win98. What Win98 lacked in terms of revolutionary, “eye-candy” appeal, it made up for under the hood. Although the OS did not catch fire in the corporate world, consumers eagerly upgraded to the new OS, seeking a more stable alternative to the now mature, yet flawed, Win95. Indeed, many Microsoft critics exclaimed that Win98 was the OS Win95 should have been from the very beginning. In