29 Aug
2025
29 Aug
'25
4:57 p.m.
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years ago. It was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
29 Aug
29 Aug
8:12 p.m.
On 2025-08-29 5:57 p.m., Murray McCullough via cctalk wrote:
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years ago. It
was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
Well you could get it still on floppy.
It is all that stuff after 95 that was crap, like have windows look like
your web browser. We have gone from from running a program to do
something useful like spreadsheet, to running a app just to wipe your
ass on the toilet.
Ben.
9:15 p.m.
On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years ago.
Its first retail availability was August 24.
It was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
That's a great question. I had only started using PCs in 1993, so I don't
have an opinion. But for me personally I think W95 was the beginning of the
gradual end of my use of DOS outside of Windows.
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
--
Eric Christopherson
30 Aug
30 Aug
7:37 a.m.
On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via
cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
I made a laser photoplotter that needed DMA to send the
raster bits to the laser. I wrote that code in Win95 user
mode (didn't have the SDK to create a real driver.)Â But,
that locked me in to either 96 or 98 at the latest.
I have a circa 2000 pick and place machine that runs Win
95. It has a board that interfaces the ISA bus to a 68K VME
CPU that runs the motion hardware. Same issue, all this
runs in user mode.
Jon
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years
ago.
Its first retail availability was August 24.
> It was a game changer
> for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
> so sure.
> 
10:07 a.m.
On Fri, 2025-08-29 at 23:15 -0500, Eric Christopherson via cctalk
wrote:
On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via
cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
I was using OS/2 Warp 5 by then. It ran Windoze programs faster than
3.22 because it had a 32-bit graphics engine, while the Windoze
graphics engine was still 16-bit code.
I remember a quip in one of the trade rags that "Using Windows NT was
like having a child help you."
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years
ago.
Its first retail availability was August 24.
It was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows
3.1? Not
so sure.
That's a great question. I had only started using PCs in 1993, so I
don't
have an opinion. But for me personally I think W95 was the beginning
of the
gradual end of my use of DOS outside of Windows.
10:45 a.m.
I got Win95 as soon as it was available. Took me over a dozen attempts and hardware
reconfigs to get it to install. After installation, I hated it. On my 486-33 it was dog
slow. And I don't know why but even to this day I find point and click frustratingly
slow. Maybe because I could type with two hands? I remember just finding Win95 added
time to everything I wanted to do, not including when it crashed. I found it so much
easier to do something like search for a file with my trusty DIR /s. Windows search
couldn't find a file taped to its face. Even today if I do a search for an app
sitting right there in the start menu it often can't find it. Ever since then it
feels like Microsoft has been adding steps to formerly simple tasks, which means more
mouse clicks and more frustration for me.I actually uninstalled Win95 and reverted to DOS
after 2 weeks. Part of it was frustration but part was my PC ran my BBS, and Telegard
multiuser did *not* get along with Win95. I only went back when games forced me to,
because they began requiring DirectX.Still am faster and better with CLI.BradSent from my
Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: Van Snyder via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Date: 2025-08-30 10:16 a.m. (GMT-08:00) To:
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Cc: Van Snyder <van.snyder(a)sbcglobal.net> Subject: [cctalk]
Re: WIN 95 On Fri, 2025-08-29 at 23:15 -0500, Eric Christopherson via cctalkwrote:> On
Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via cctalk <>
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:> > > Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30
years ago.> > > Its first retail availability was August 24.> > > >
It was a game changer> > for the average PC computer user but more important than
Windows> > 3.1? Not> > so sure.> > > > That's a great
question. I had only started using PCs in 1993, so I> don't> have an opinion.
But for me personally I think W95 was the beginning> of the> gradual end of my use
of DOS outside of Windows.
11:34 a.m.
I wasn't impressed with '95 either and stayed with DOS6.22 and WFW3.1 until
WIN98 came out; especially with a faster computer, by then both WIN98 and
especially MS-DOS were substantially faster. I still use a dedicated DOS
box for some old software and even the CMD prompt for a few things that are
difficult at best in Windows today.
Command lines forever!!
On Sat, Aug 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM brad via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
I got Win95 as soon as it was available. Took me over
a dozen attempts
and hardware reconfigs to get it to install. After installation, I hated
it. On my 486-33 it was dog slow. And I don't know why but even to this
day I find point and click frustratingly slow. Maybe because I could type
with two hands? I remember just finding Win95 added time to everything I
wanted to do, not including when it crashed. I found it so much easier to
do something like search for a file with my trusty DIR /s. Windows search
couldn't find a file taped to its face. Even today if I do a search for an
app sitting right there in the start menu it often can't find it. Ever
since then it feels like Microsoft has been adding steps to formerly simple
tasks, which means more mouse clicks and more frustration for me.I actually
uninstalled Win95 and reverted to DOS after 2 weeks. Part of it was
frustration but part was my PC ran my BBS, and Telegard multiuser did *not*
get along with Win95. I only went back when games forced me to, because
they began requiring DirectX.Still am faster and better with CLI.BradSent
from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: Van Snyder via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Date: 2025-08-30 10:16 a.m. (GMT-08:00) To:
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Cc: Van Snyder <van.snyder(a)sbcglobal.net> Subject:
[cctalk] Re: WIN 95 On Fri, 2025-08-29 at 23:15 -0500, Eric Christopherson
via cctalkwrote:> On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via
cctalk <> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:> > > Microsoft released WIN 95
on
this day 30 years ago.> > > Its first retail availability was August 24.>
>
> It was a game changer> > for the
average PC computer user but more
important than Windows> > 3.1? Not> > so sure.> > > >
That's a great
question. I had only started using PCs in 1993, so I> don't> have an
opinion. But for me personally I think W95 was the beginning> of the>
gradual end of my use of DOS outside of Windows.
12:11 p.m.
On Sat, 2025-08-30 at 14:34 -0400, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote:
I wasn't impressed with '95 either and stayed
with DOS6.22 and WFW3.1
until
WIN98 came out; especially with a faster computer, by then both WIN98
and
especially MS-DOS were substantially faster. I still use a dedicated
DOS
box for some old software and even the CMD prompt for a few things
that are
difficult at best in Windows today.
Command lines forever!!
I use XTerm with tcsh in Debian Linux all day every day.
12:13 a.m.
On 30/08/2025 00:57, Murray McCullough via cctalk wrote:
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years ago. It
was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
Define "More Important". I think so, because it enabled the
networking
in general and the Internet in particular. Yes you needed the plus pack,
but it was almost internet ready.
It had File Sharing built in. It had TCP/IP for LAN and WAN built-in..
On the downside, by including TCPIP as a standard no-cost option, it
killed the business model of a few companies..
.. in fact this, I think the way networking was at the heart of 95 plus
the fact that OS/2 could not run WIN32 programs killed OS/2...
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
Dave
3:28 p.m.
IIRC there had been 3rd party add-ons for Win 3.1 looking like the win 95
start menu.
I preferred the win 3.1 file manager and program manager to win 95.
if anybody knows a desktop for modern (linux) systems, like the win 3.1,
please let me know.
On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years ago. It
was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
--
--Carey
7:58 p.m.
I believe you’re thinking of Calmira
http://www.calmira.de/downloads/
It was a fun customization and I installed it on my secondary work PC.
//m
On Sun, 31 Aug 2025 at 8:36 am, Carey Schug via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
IIRC there had been 3rd party add-ons for Win 3.1
looking like the win 95
start menu.
I preferred the win 3.1 file manager and program manager to win 95.
if anybody knows a desktop for modern (linux) systems, like the win 3.1,
please let me know.
On Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM Murray McCullough via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Microsoft released WIN 95 on this day 30 years
ago. It was a game changer
for the average PC computer user but more important than Windows 3.1? Not
so sure.
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
--
--Carey
31 Aug
31 Aug
2:36 a.m.
Carey Schug via cctalk [2025-08-31 00:28:42]:
I preferred the win 3.1 file manager and program
manager to win 95.
if anybody knows a desktop for modern (linux) systems, like the win 3.1,
please let me know.
<https://github.com/jcs/progman.git>.
--
Hilsen Harald
Слава Україні!
12:52 p.m.
On Saturday, August 30th, 2025 at 15:36, Carey Schug via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
if anybody knows a desktop for modern (linux) systems,
like the win 3.1,
please let me know.
If there still is such a thing, it's probably somewhere in here:
https://www.gilesorr.com/wm/xwmtable.html
The Doctor [412/724/301/703/415/510]
WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/
Get thee down. Be thou funky.
15
days inactive
17
days old
13 comments
12 participants
participants (12)
-
ben -
brad -
Carey Schug -
David Wade -
Eric Christopherson -
Harald Arnesen -
Jon Elson -
Michael Mulhern -
Mike Stein -
Murray McCullough -
The Doctor -
Van Snyder