Windows 9x

Windows 9x (also known as Win9x) is a generic term referring to a former line of Windows, a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft. It had releases between 1995 and 2000, and were based on the kernel first introduced in Windows 95, which was continuously updated in later versions. MS-DOS support was retained in order to facilitate booting into Windows as well as providing real mode support for DOS. The first version of the Windows 9x series was Windows 95, which was succeeded by Windows 98 and then Windows Me, which was the third and last version of Windows in the series before it was superseded by Windows XP. It is predominantly known for its use in home desktops. In 1998, Windows made up 82% of operating system market share. The internal release number for versions of Windows 9x is 4.x. The internal versions for Windows 95, 98, and Me are 4.0, 4.1, and 4.9, respectively. Previous MS-DOS-based versions of Windows used version numbers of 3.2 or lower. Windows NT, which was aimed at professional users such as networks and businesses, used a similar but separate version number between 3.1 and 4.0. Since the release of Windows XP, all versions of Windows are based on the Windows NT codebase.