At this time, Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and Windows NT 3.1 were still in development and Microsoft's plan for the future was focused on Cairo. The initial design and planning of Windows 95 can be traced back to around March 1992, just after the release of Windows 3.1. Some three years after its introduction, Windows 95 was succeeded by Windows 98.

It also had the effect of driving other major players (including OS/2) out of business, something which would later be used in court against Microsoft. In the marketplace, Windows 95 was a major success, and within a year or two of its release had become the most successful operating system ever produced. There were also major changes made at lower levels of the operating system, such as moving from a mainly 16-bit architecture to a pre-emptively multitasked 32-bit architecture. It featured significant improvements over its predecessor, Windows 3.1, most notably in its graphical user interface (GUI) and relatively simplified 'plug and play' features. Windows 95 integrated Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products. During development, it was referred to as Windows 4.0 (Windows 4.00) or by the internal codename Chicago.

It was released on Augby Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products. Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system built on top of MS-DOS. Mainstream support ended on DecemExtended support ended on December 31, 2001

Windows 95 sound pack