Windows 95

Windows 95 is a 32-bit desktop operating system. Unlike Windows 3.1, Windows 95 does not require MS-DOS as its operating system.

Windows 95 was designed to be fully compatible with all existing 16-bit software applications, while serving as the platform for newer 32-bit applications. In addition, Windows 95 is fully network compatible and supports connections to peers, such as other Windows 95 computers, and to servers, such as Windows NT Server.

Windows 95 provides features for hardware and file system support, making configuration of the operating system and hardware easier.

Plug and Play Hardware Support

The Windows 95 Plug and Play hardware standard allows a personal computer configuration to be modified without user intervention. Automatic device installationby connecting the device to the systemmakes new devices available immediately. Plug and Play is not supported on Windows NT version 4.0 and is not necessarily supported by all devices. However, it will be supported in the next major release of Windows NT Workstation. Before you install a device, verify that it supports the Plug and Play standard.

Windows 95 OSR2

The following enhancements have been included in the OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) update to Windows 95:

  • The FAT32 file system.
  • Internet Explorer 3.0.
  • DirectX 2.0 and ActiveMovie.
  • TCP/IP support for multiple DNS configurations.
  • Windows NT 4.0 messaging system client.

Windows 95 OSR2 also includes support for new and emerging hardware. This release includes updates to Windows 95 that were previously available in separate components . Currently, most computer manufacturers who pre-install Windows 95 on new PCs use OSR2.

FAT32 File System

Windows 95 OSR2 incorporates the FAT32 file system. FAT32 is an enhancement to the file allocation table (FAT) file system. If you run the FDISK tool in OSR2 on a system with a drive larger than 512 MB, you are asked whether support for large hard drives should be enabled. If you answer Yes, any partition you create that is larger than 512 MB is marked as a FAT32 partition.

FAT32 supports large drives by using disk space more efficiently . In a FAT16 scenario, the file allocation table is separated into 16K blocks. If a partial block is used, the remainder of the space in the block is lost. Because FAT32 uses 4K blocks, less disk space is lost within blocks that are only partially used. Also, the FAT16 file system only supported drives up to 2 gigabytes in size, but FAT32 supports drives up to 2 terabytes in size .

click to view at full size.

Figure 1.1 How FAT stores files

Most Win32-based applications do not need to be modified for FAT32. Only applications that use low-level disk structures, or that depend in other ways upon the on-disk format of data, will need to be revised.



Microsoft Windows Architecture Training
Microsoft Windows Architecture for Developers Training Kit
ISBN: B00007FY9D
EAN: N/A
Year: 1998
Pages: 324

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