Dec 08
2007Windows 95 and NT 4.0
Filed Under (Windows Xp) by Admin on 08-12-2007
Tagged Under : api, database, Directories, DirectX, files, folders, game, Microsoft, ms dos, NT 4.0, Registry, windows, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT
If people had ever doubted that Windows would dominate the OS scene, Windows 95 removed that doubt. It came with better networking support, better device support, and it was better looking than any other version of Windows before it. But just like Windows 3.1 and before, it ran on MS-DOS. The user interface for Windows 95 was its most ground-breaking aspect. The new ‘Start’ button gave users a one-stop solution to access programs.
Directories were represented as the familiar ‘folders’, which contained files. It added support for filenames that were 255 characters long, although it still generated 8 character filenames for compatibility with DOS. Windows 95 was also when Microsoft introduced the Registry—a consolidated database of all software and hardware settings.
Even in Windows 95, game developers still preferred to program for graphics devices directly, and Microsoft wanted to stop them worrying about hardware so that they could focus more attention on programming game logic. They decided to provide them with an API that gave them a simpler way to talk to the hardware. This API was called DirectX, and promised the same support that DOS gave them. It took a while, but as it improved, DirectX found itself being accepted by more and more game developers.
Around the same time, Microsoft introduced its latest version of Windows NT—NT 4.0 had the strong heart of its older version and the pretty face of Windows 95. It still controlled every aspect of communication with hardware for security. It also still lacked good multimedia support, and was hence regarded as more of an enterprise OS than a home OS.