It has been one of the most important releases in the history of personal computing. Windows 3.x and Windows 95 will be no more. These two operating systems, changed the face that we know of as personal computing. Albeit that I haven't had that much experience with Windows 3.x, Windows 95 was the operating system I have used for many years.
In a few days, (Jan 1, 2003). Microsoft will no longer be releasing any patches or be giving any support for these operating systems. Microsoft calls this EOL or End Of Life for their products. Although its nearing the EOL for these two important products that Microsoft has created, it is more like the end of an era. I remember when Windows 95 was first released, It was the best thing since sliced bread. There were masses of people lined up to purchase this operating system which promised a new outlook on computers, and offered what could be the easiest and a friendlier way of computing.
Microsoft did get this done, although there are still people who do say that Windows 95 often crashed their computer or was unstable, I was not one of them. Windows 95 opened the gateway to revolutionizing the way we did our computing. No longer was computing for the geek, but now it was being opened up for the user who didn't have a clue how to operate one before. This was an operating system for the people and it was much embraced by those who had a lot of success with it.
Programs started to get better, the use of the computer started to increase and increased functionality was possible. The personal computer was really born with Windows 95, and promised us a great outlook and vision of what computers can do for us in the future.
What does this mean?
For those who still use, or might turn back to Windows95 for any reason, should download all the updates availbale. Once Jan. 1, 2003 comes, users of Windows 3.x and Windows 95 will be out of luck. The best solution is to install a new copy of the operating system and install all possible updates and then create an image of the drive and burn it to CD. This will garantee you that you have a fully functional and stable version of Windows 95 whenever you need it.
This does not mean there won't be new software wouldn't work on your Windows 95 machine. Games will undoubtedly affect you when you're not using the latest drivers or DirectX. DirectX 9 is not supported for users of Windows 95 and thus, when games evolve, you'll be left in the dark.
Driver support will also decrease, as some of you may noticed, but who knows whether or not a new driver will still work. They may say Windows 98 as a minimum but there shouldn't be any problems.
Conclusion
Windows 95 revolutionized the way we used computers. This operating system opened up the doors for newcomers to start learning how to use a computer and made the world of computing more accessible. Gone were the days of DOS prompts in which no one who was even new to computers would get a hang of.
Programs that did things for people started to come out because it was now possible to help and create products for people who would be able to do what they want. It was a starting point for things to come, and it is sure that Windows 95 helped get to where we are today in computing. With all the releases of Windows after Windows 95, there has not been this kind of adoption of an operating system to date, but with the release of Windows XP, things sure look bright in the future for computers.