Microsoft's Windows 98 hits the desktop - Jun. 25, 1998 Win 98 hits the desktops June 25, 1998: 4:42 p.m.
ET Computer operating software upgrade goes on sale with muted hoopla NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In the months before its release, Microsoft Corp. Made a conscious effort to downplay the significance of Windows 98, pitching it as merely an evolutionary upgrade of Windows 95 rather than a revolutionary product.
Building an all new computer from 20 year old parts for the Windows 98 20th Anniversary. Here are the specs of The New Windows 98 PC: OS: Windows 98 Second Edition.
Now that the product is out, the Microsoft marketing machine is in full swing and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is out touting its advantages. Gates: Sales stronger than expected In an interview with CNNfn Thursday, Gates said early results indicate sales of Windows 98 upgrades have been stronger than expected. 'Windows 98 is a pretty common sense update,' he said. 'It doesn't change things in a difficult fashion like Windows 95 did so you can install it in less than 30 minutes. We're quite optimistic about this, the early results are much stronger than we expected, the word of mouth is very strong, and in terms of numbers, all the new PCs will be coming with Windows '98 as well.'
Gates declined to divulge Microsoft's sales targets for Windows 98 but he said the PC market is expected to grow 15 percent this year and that Windows 98 will be on virtually all those machines. 'Windows 98 has gotten really strong reviews from most people. You're never going to get perfect reviews, but people have seen the speed, Internet integration, reliability and hardware support and said it makes a lot of sense,' he said. Gates said more than 150,000 people tested Windows 98 and that Microsoft wouldn't have released the operating system this week if those testers had reported major problems and if it wasn't confident it would perform correctly.
Windows 98 launch low key Although Microsoft is touting the added features of the new product, the Windows 98 launch was low-key compared with the Windows 95 debut, which featured celebrities such as Jay Leno and constant television commercials that used the Rolling Stones song 'Start Me Up' as their anthem. Where Windows 95 brought many new features Windows 3.1 didn't have, Windows 98 is largely a collection of bug fixes combined with additional support for new devices that have come on the market since Windows 95.
The $90 Windows 98 upgrade allows users with television tuner cards to watch TV while using their PCs and even browse customized program guides. It also offers enhanced Internet functions, making it easier to set up an Internet connection for the first time. Internet Explorer can also be used to browse the contents of the computer's hard drive in addition to browsing the Web.
Analyst reaction mixed Industry observer reaction to the upgrade was mixed, with some saying most computer users shouldn't feel compelled to upgrade. 'It represents many bug fixes, many corrections to previously known problems, it also represents the first time that the convergence of consumer electronics and computers is underneath the auspices of one computer operating system,' said, editorial director of Computer Shopper Magazine. 'If they already have a computer system running Windows 95, there's not a lot of reason for them to go out and buy Windows 98,' said, software analyst at Dataquest. 'In fact, we expect the majority of Windows 98 upgrade sales to go to PC enthusiasts.'
(To see one enthusiast peruse the shelves in a 963Kb Quicktime movie, click ). Market research firm Dataquest - a division of Gartner Group Inc. expects the upgrade to sell nearly 57 million units this year, adding $400 million to Microsoft's earnings. Neil Herman, technology software analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, is actually predicting higher sales for Windows 98. 'Today, there are 35 million PCs out there capable of running Windows 98. When Windows 95 was released, there were less than 10 million, so this could be a bigger upgrade cycle at retail,' he said. Herman characterizes Windows 98 as more than a tune-up, saying it will enable computers to run faster and more efficiently.
The release might actually help increase PC sales in the months before this fall. Aside from Christmas, fall is the biggest period of the year for PC sales because many are sold for school-related use.
Or Computer retailers agree. 'We really think that this is the biggest single release of any technological product in the last three years,' said, executive vice president of CompUSA. 'So we think this is going to be very significant for the computer industry, for CompUSA, and, of course, for our customers.'
Microsoft has been the source of considerable attention in Washington, where antitrust regulators have accused the company of trying to use its dominance in the operating system software market to bully customers into using its Internet Explorer browser. However, Gates said the government's argument was weakened Tuesday when an appeals court struck down a 1997 that prevented the software giant from including Internet functionality into Windows 95.
While the ruling did not pertain directly to the government's broader antitrust case against Microsoft, Gates said the court's ruling cuts to the heart of the Justice Department's case. 'The key point is the very black and white language from the appeals court that says that improving the product is something that's great and the courts are not going to interfere with that,' he said. 'The heart of their case was trying to say that we couldn't put new features into Windows and, in particular, great Internet support. So the heart of their case has been taken away. We're hoping it will get resolved. Certainly it is a very positive thing to help us get Windows 98 and make it clear this is a good advance,' he said. Gates said Microsoft wasn't specifically aiming at archrival Netscape Communications Corp.
or any other competitor in particular when it decided the new features that Windows 98 would include. Or Gates reiterated that all Microsoft was lobbying for was the ability to innovate. He also said AT&T Corp.'
S decision this week to merge with cable company Tele-Communications Inc. will be a positive for Microsoft since TCI uses Internet set-top boxes that run its Windows CE operating system. RELATED STORIES - June 23, 1998 - June 17, 1998 RELATED SITES Note: Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney.
Twenty years ago Windows 98 became available for sale to the general public, yet the operating system enjoyed a mixed reputation. It brought new features and refined the concept of PNP (Plug & Play) devices which could automatically be detected by the system when connected to a USB port. However, Windows 98 was also famous for being the OS which displayed the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death): fatal errors which often resulted in users having to restart their system and lose any unsaved work. Yet the platform also supported some of the top games of the late 90's, such as Tomb Raider II. If you're feeling nostalgic, in this guide you'll learn how to relive your glory days on Windows 98. Some of the steps we suggest are only skin deep, such as installing a 'classic' theme in or Ubuntu Linux. Others will allow you to actually run programs designed for Windows 98 using a virtual machine or an emulator.
How to make Windows 10 look like Windows 98 Previous versions of Windows such as Windows 7 offered a 'Classic' theme for your desktop. This consisted of a more traditional grey Start menu, a vintage icon set and more basic graphics. However, Microsoft have not developed a Classic theme for Windows 10. But, thanks to the efforts of programmer 'kizo' there is a third party add on which achieves much the same effect. To get started visit and click 'Download' on the right hand side of the screen. The theme file will download automatically.
Install the theme Once the theme file has downloaded, open File Explorer and navigate to the Downloads folder. Locate the file named windowsclassicthemeforwindows.zip and double-click to extract its contents. The theme file (Windows Theme) will appear automatically in the same folder as the Zip file.
Right click the theme file and choose 'Copy'. Next, click the address bar at the top of the File Explorer window and enter 'C: Windows Resources Ease of Access Themes folder'. Right-click anywhere inside the folder window and choose 'Paste'. A tick box named 'classic' will now appear automatically on the left-hand side of the window. Left click on this once to activate the 'classic' theme.
A step further Once the classic theme is loaded, you'll notice that the Desktop background is a rather insipid shade of green which was used in early versions of Windows 98. For users of Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), this may not be too familiar. Fortunately there are plenty of good quality desktop backgrounds available online which imitate the Windows 98 desktop. To customize the desktop further, first find your chosen image from. Next, right-click the image and choose 'Save Image As' to download it to an easy to remember location (such as your 'Pictures' folder). Once the download is complete, open the Windows 10 File Explorer and navigate to the location of the image.
Double-click to open the image in the Photos app. Finally, right-click on the image choose 'Set as Desktop'. The desktop background will now be changed to the Windows 98 image that you downloaded. Undo your changes As nostalgic as the classic theme appears, it may not work well with more modern features. For instance, when using the Microsoft Edge browser, the grey look and feel can make individual buttons hard to distinguish. To deactivate the classic theme, go to the Windows menu and type in 'Themes'. Click on 'Themes and related settings'.
From here you can choose a theme more suited for you such as 'Windows 10' theme. To revert your desktop background, right click anywhere on your desktop and choose 'Personalize'. The 'Background' option should appear automatically. From here you can choose a Windows 10-inspired background.
![Windows 98 desktop computer Windows 98 desktop computer](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125557644/523572813.jpg)
How to run Windows 98 in a virtual machine While it's relatively easy to make your Windows 10 desktop resemble Windows 98, this won't change your default system applications or allow you to run certain classic Windows programs. However, you can do this by running Windows 98 as a 'virtual' machine. Virtual machines are designed to mimic a computer as closely as possible while running inside your operating system. You can manage them via a VM Manager application such as VirtualBox. The downside to using VM's is that they can only use a portion of your PC's resources but as Windows 98 only requires 24MB of RAM this won’t be an issue.
To begin, visit the and click the link to download. This will take you to the downloads page. Choose the latest version of VirtualBox suitable for your platform e.g. Windows host. Once download is complete double click to launch the installer. Set up the virtual machine Once the installer launches, click 'Next' to begin.
Click 'Next' again to install default features. To complete installation, VirtualBox will disconnect your machine briefly from the internet. Save any open files and close your browser before proceeding. Windows 10 may ask you to confirm software installation.
Once installation is complete click 'Finish' and VirtualBox will launch automatically. Click 'New' at the top left hand corner of the window to start creating your virtual machine. Select the 'Name' field and type 'Windows 98 SE'. VirtualBox will automatically choose the correct OS type for you. Click 'Next' to proceed. Click 'Next' to accept the suggested RAM allocation (64MB).
Do the same in the 'Hard Disk' section to create a virtual 2GB hard drive. Click 'Create' to confirm your VM settings.
VirtualBox will now prompt you to choose a Hard Disk type. Select 'Next' to choose the default configuration. Click 'Create' to finalize your virtual hard disk settings. Install Windows 98 Although you have now created a virtual machine capable of running Windows 98, its virtual hard drive is currently blank.
To install Windows 98 you need either an original CD from Microsoft (these are still available from websites like eBay) or a valid ISO file of the same. We recommend using Windows 98 SE, as this version of the OS is designed to be bootable. Once you've obtained one of these, re-launch virtual box and select your Windows 98 VM on the left hand side.
Click the 'Settings' icon at the top of the window. Select the 'Storage' tab. Under 'Attributes' on the right hand side, select the CD icon and 'Choose Virtual Optical Disk File'. From here you can navigate to the ISO file for Windows 98. Click 'OK' to confirm. Click 'Start' from the main VirtualBox window to activate your virtual machine. The VM will ask you to boot from hard disk or CD-ROM.
Press 2 to choose CD ROM. Press return to launch Windows 98 setup. Windows 98 installation Once the Windows 98 setup launches, press 'Enter' to begin installation. Press 'Enter' once again to have Windows 98 partition your virtual hard drive for you. Use the 'Down' key to choose to use 'large disk support' and then press 'Enter' again to continue.
Press 'Enter' once again to restart your VM. Once the VM reboots choose to start from a CD. Next, choose option 1 to enter the 'Setup' process. You will then see a screen showing the Hard Disk being formatted.
![Windows 98 desktop computer for sale Windows 98 desktop computer for sale](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125557644/268949549.png)
Once this is completed, you need to press 'Enter' in order to initialize a routine system check. After the system check is complete, a Windows 98 Setup Box will appear.
From here you can start the process, which can take between 30 to 60 minutes. Click 'Continue'. The Windows 98 Setup Wizard will now launch. Complete the Windows 98 installation Windows 98 Setup will now ask you to enter your name and a company name as applicable. Click 'Next' when you are done. Choose 'I accept the agreement' then click 'Next' to proceed.
Setup will now ask for a product key. You can find this on the packaging that came with your Windows 98 CD. Product keys are 25 digits long, arranged in groups of 5 e.g. Click 'Finish' to complete setup.