Development and History

Windows 98 was originally codenamed Memphis, and was later renamed to Windows 97.... Only it was changed to Windows 98, when Microsoft realised they were going to miss their intended 1997 release date.

System Requirements

• 66MHz 486 Processor, or Equivalent.
• 16MB RAM for the First Edition, 24MB RAM for the Second Edition.
• VGA Graphics System
• FAT16 or FAT32 Boot Drive, NTFS and HPFS are not supported.

Hard Drive Space Requirements

• An Upgrade from Windows 95 required approximately 195MB of free hard drive space. Disk Space needs range from 120MB to 295MB
• A Full Install of Windows 98 on a FAT16 Partition requires 225MB Free Space, but may range between 165MB and 355MB.
• A Full Install of Windows 98 on a FAT32 Partition requires 175MB Free Space, but may range between 140MB and 255MB.

Features

First Edition

• Active Desktop - Enables Web related detail on your desktop. Such as an animated .GIF file playing in your corner, or a Web based desktop background.
• Native Support for the FAT32 File System
• DriveSpace 3 is preinstalled
• Native USB 1.1 Support
• DVD Drive Support
• ACPI Support
• Internet Explorer 4.0
• DirectX 6.0
• WebTV

Second Edition

• All Features of the First Edition
• Improved Windows Driver Model with better USB, audio and modem support and added WMI support
• Full USB device class support for most hardware except printers and mass storage devices and added FireWire DV camcorder and SBP-2 protocol support
• Adds MDAC 2.1, Web Folders, Wake-On-LAN and Internet Connection Sharing and improves Asynchronous Transfer Mode
• Replaces RealPlayer 4.0 and the classic 95/3.x media player with Windows Media Player 6.1
• Windows 98 Service Pack 1
• Internet Explorer 5
• DirectX 6.1 with improved Direct Sound
• NetMeeting 3.0
• WebTV & Active Channels were removed
• WinG is no longer installed by default

Available Versions

Windows 98 Version List

Windows 98 Version List: First Edition | Second Edition

Service Packs

Complete Microsoft Windows Service Pack List

Complete Microsoft Windows Service Pack List: Windows 95: SP1 Windows 98: SP1 Windows NT 3.1: SP1 | SP2 | SP3 Windows NT 4.0: SP1 | SP2 | SP3 | SP4 | SP5 | SP6 | SP6a Windows 2000: SP1 | SP2 | SP3 | SP4 Windows XP: SP1 | SP2 | SP3 Windows Server 2003: SP1 | SP2

Microsoft Operating System Versions

Microsoft Operating System Versions: MS-DOS: QDOS | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.11 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.21 | 3.3 | 3.3A | 3.31 | 4.0 | 4.01 | 4.01A | 5.0 | 5.0A | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.21 | 6.22 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 8.0 Windows 1.x: 1.0 | 1.01 | 1.02 | 1.03 | 1.04 Windows 2.x: 2.0 | 2.01 | 2.1 | 2.2 Windows 3.x: 3.0 | 3.0A | 3.1 | 3.11 | 3.2 Windows for Workgroups 3.x: 3.1 | 3.11 Windows 9x: 95 | 98 | ME Windows NT: 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.51 | 4.0 | 2000 | XP | 2003 Windows NT: Vista | Longhorn Server | Blackcomb Server Windows NT: Windows 8 | Windows 10 | Windows 11 Windows CE: 1.0 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.11 | 2.12 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 5.0 Windows Embedded: NT | XP Windows Mobile: 2003 | 5.0 Previous Windows Codenames: Janus | Snowball | Kato | Daytona | Chicago | Memphis | Millennium | Cairo | Odyssey | Neptune | Whistler | Longhorn | Blackcomb