Hacker News with Generative AI: Windows 95

Why didn't Win 95 setup use a miniature version of Win 95 as its fallback GUI? (microsoft.com)
One of the reactions to my discussion of why Windows 95 setup used three operating systems (and oh there were many) was my explanation that a miniature version of Windows 3.1 was used to get MS-DOS customers upgrading to Windows 95. But why not use a miniature version of Windows 95?

Operating Systems, Windows 95, History, Software Development, User Interface

50 points by soheilpro 15 days ago | 6 comments

Why is there a screen that says "It is now safe to turn off your computer"? (2016) (microsoft.com)
I don’t know whose idea it was, but Windows 95 added a screen that appeared when you shut down Windows.

Windows 95, Operating Systems, User Interface, Technology, Nostalgia

93 points by susam 45 days ago | 94 comments

A wrinkle in how Windows 95 setup bootstrapped its initial GUI step (microsoft.com)
Recall that Windows 95 setup could potentially use three operating systems. Now, most of the work happened in the 16-bit Windows GUI app, and that code wanted to use fancy new controls like list views and property sheets.

Operating Systems, Windows 95, History, User Interface, Software Development

19 points by taspeotis 133 days ago | 0 comments

Why did Windows 95 setup use three operating systems? (microsoft.com)
Twitter users @tthirtle asked why Windows 95 setup goes through three operating systems: MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and then Windows 95. Why not go from MS-DOS straight to Windows 95?

Operating Systems, History, Windows 95, MS-DOS

307 points by mooreds 136 days ago | 192 comments

Wing Commander III changed how the copy hotkey works in Windows 95 (theregister.com)