Windows 98

 

Windows 98 Second Edition

Windows 98 Second Edition (often shortened to SE) is an updated release of Windows 98, released on 5 May 1999. It includes fixes for many minor issues, improved WDM audio and modem support, improved USB support and FireWire DV camcorder support, the replacement of Internet Explorer 4.0 with Internet Explorer 5.0 and related shell updates. Also included is Wake-On-LAN support (if ACPI compatible NDIS drivers are present) and Internet Connection Sharing, which allows multiple computers on a LAN to share a single Internet connection through Network Address Translation. Other features in the update include DirectX 6.1 which introduced DirectMusic, improvements to Asynchronous Transfer Mode support (IP/ATM, PPP/ATM and WinSock 2/ATM support), Windows Media Player 6.2 replacing the older Media Player, Microsoft NetMeeting 3.0, MDAC 2.1 and WMI. A memory overflow issue was resolved which in the older version of Windows 98 would crash most systems if left running for 49.7 days (equal to 2³² milliseconds)^[14]. Windows 98 SE could be obtained as retail upgrade and full version packages, as well as OEM and a Second Edition Updates Disc for existing Windows 98 users.

Cover of the Windows 98 Second Edition Upgrade (From Windows 95/3.11) Box

Release	Version	Release Date	Internet Explorer
Windows 98	4.10.1998	25 June 1998[15]	4.01
Windows 98 Second Edition	4.10.2222A	5 May 1999	5.0

[edit] Upgradeability

Several Windows 98 components which shipped at release time can be updated to newer versions. They include:

• Internet Explorer 6 SP1
• Windows Media Format Runtime and Windows Media Player 9 Series on Windows 98 SE and Windows Media Player 7.1 on Windows 98.
• DirectX 9.0c
• MSN Messenger 7.0
• Significant features from newer Microsoft operating systems can be installed on Windows 98. Chief among them are NET Framework versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0, Visual C++ 2005 runtime, Windows Installer 2.0, GDI+ redistributable library, Remote Desktop Connection client 5.1 and the Text Services Framework.
• Several other components such as MSXML 3.0 SP7, Microsoft Agent 2.0, NetMeeting 3.01, MSAA 2.0, ActiveSync 3.8, WSH 5.6, Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81 SP1, WMI 1.5 and Speech API 4.0.
• Office XP is the last version of Microsoft Office to be compatible with Windows 98.
• Although Windows 98 does not fully support Unicode, certain Unicode applications can run by installing the Microsoft Layer for Unicode.

[edit] Press demonstration

The release of Windows 98 was preceded by a notable press demonstration at Comdex in April 1998. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was highlighting the operating system's ease of use and enhanced support for Plug and Play (PnP). However, when presentation assistant Chris Capossela plugged a scanner in and attempted to install it, the operating system crashed, displaying a Blue Screen of Death. Gates remarked after applause and cheering from the audience, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet." Video footage of this event became a popular Internet phenomenon.^[16]

[edit] Product life cycle

Microsoft planned to discontinue its support for Windows 98 on January 16, 2004. However, due to the continued popularity of the operating system (27% of Google's pageviews were on Windows 98 systems during October-November, 2003)^[17], Microsoft decided to maintain support until July 11, 2006. Support for Windows Me also ended on this date^[18]. By that time, Windows 98 market share had diminished to 2.7%^[19]. Windows 98 is no longer available from Microsoft in any form due to the terms of Java-related settlements Microsoft made with Sun Microsystems^[20].

[edit] System requirements