{"slug": "windows-95", "name": "Windows 95", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 7, "warners": 1, "score": 3.294, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-02-28", "latest": "2026-09-26", "why": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Windows 95"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 791111328, "item_id": 49444458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49444458", "by": "p0w3n3d", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew.", "excerpt": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew. However the most wonderful thing about software written at that time was it was written with care and skill.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 95 released August 24, 1995"}, {"id": 790995792, "item_id": 49437237, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49437237", "by": "rconti", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's hard to imagine not being impressed by the step up from 3.1", "excerpt": "It's hard to imagine not being impressed by the step up from 3.1 My 486 only had 4MB of RAM and I couldn't afford the $400-$500 to take it to 16GB so I actually switched to Linux in August of 95, amusingly enough.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 95 released August 24, 1995"}, {"id": 755228608, "item_id": 47201788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47201788", "by": "linguae", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have fond memories of Windows 95/NT 4/98/2000, Office 97, and Visual Basic 6.", "excerpt": "Steve Jobs is famous for his 1996 quote about Microsoft not having taste (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiOzGI4MqSU). I disagree; as much as I love the classic Mac OS and Jobs-era Mac OS X, and despite my feelings about Microsoft's monopolistic behavior, 1995-2000 Microsoft's user interfaces were quite tasteful, in my opinion, and this was Microsoft's most tasteful period. I have fond memories of Windows 95/NT 4/98", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}, {"id": 755223984, "item_id": 47201499, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47201499", "by": "hnthrowaway0315", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I think Windows 95/2000 and the contemporary MacOS (including the then future MacOS X) have the best UI", "excerpt": "I think Windows 95/2000 and the contemporary MacOS (including the then future MacOS X) have the best UI in everything I used in my 30+ years of tech life. I sincerely hope that one day we could go back to that road. If you want that achieved, please support me to join Apple/Microsoft to become the UI boss, fire all flat-design people and hire a small team to implement the older UI, then give a few passionate talks on", "context": "30+ years in tech", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 778379825, "item_id": 48648739, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648739", "by": "bombcar", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the CD-burner that couldn't work under Windows 95 without dying", "excerpt": "I can remember the day I switched to using Linux - the third coaster from the CD-burner that couldn't work under Windows 95 without dying, but Linux handled it fine while playing music if I reniced it. Terminators - now there's something I'm glad are gone, it was always fun finding out that something \"auto-terminated\" to \"help\" you.", "context": "", "use_case": "CD burning", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nintendo Wii U games running from a 1980's Bernoulli disk [video]"}]}], "who": [{"by": "hnthrowaway0315", "context": "30+ years in tech", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47201499", "date": "2026-02-28"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["reprogramming car ecm", "cd burning"], "compared": [{"slug": "linux", "name": "Linux", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49430007", "title": "Windows 95 released August 24, 1995", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47200904", "title": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848955", "title": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49693613", "title": "A 386 PC for Your RP2350", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622241", "title": "Nintendo Wii U games running from a 1980's Bernoulli disk [video]", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"warn": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797631408, "item_id": 49851963, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49851963", "by": "Froedlich", "date": "2026-09-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I still have a circa-1996 486 running Windows 95.", "excerpt": "I still have a circa-1996 486 running Windows 95. It has an EPROM burner card and software that I use to reprogram the ECM in my car. The cost of upgrading to modern software and hardware is substantial, plus the learning curve for something I only do rarely nowadays.", "context": "", "use_case": "reprogramming car ECM", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?"}, {"id": 795116976, "item_id": 49694811, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49694811", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i used Win95 on an AMD 386DX with 4MB of RAM back in the 90s", "excerpt": "It \"technically\" can - i used Win95 on an AMD 386DX with 4MB of RAM back in the 90s for a little. Most of the time was spent waiting for the computer to do something while the HDD was constantly working. The Pentium MMX with 32MB i replaced it with was MUCH faster, practically everything was instant.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A 386 PC for Your RP2350"}, {"id": 791111328, "item_id": 49444458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49444458", "by": "p0w3n3d", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew.", "excerpt": "My memories of windows 95 are very fond. I used to install it on Pentium 133 and boy it flew. However the most wonderful thing about software written at that time was it was written with care and skill.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 95 released August 24, 1995"}, {"id": 790995792, "item_id": 49437237, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49437237", "by": "rconti", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's hard to imagine not being impressed by the step up from 3.1", "excerpt": "It's hard to imagine not being impressed by the step up from 3.1 My 486 only had 4MB of RAM and I couldn't afford the $400-$500 to take it to 16GB so I actually switched to Linux in August of 95, amusingly enough.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 95 released August 24, 1995"}, {"id": 778379825, "item_id": 48648739, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648739", "by": "bombcar", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the CD-burner that couldn't work under Windows 95 without dying", "excerpt": "I can remember the day I switched to using Linux - the third coaster from the CD-burner that couldn't work under Windows 95 without dying, but Linux handled it fine while playing music if I reniced it. Terminators - now there's something I'm glad are gone, it was always fun finding out that something \"auto-terminated\" to \"help\" you.", "context": "", "use_case": "CD burning", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nintendo Wii U games running from a 1980's Bernoulli disk [video]"}, {"id": 755228608, "item_id": 47201788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47201788", "by": "linguae", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have fond memories of Windows 95/NT 4/98/2000, Office 97, and Visual Basic 6.", "excerpt": "Steve Jobs is famous for his 1996 quote about Microsoft not having taste (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiOzGI4MqSU). I disagree; as much as I love the classic Mac OS and Jobs-era Mac OS X, and despite my feelings about Microsoft's monopolistic behavior, 1995-2000 Microsoft's user interfaces were quite tasteful, in my opinion, and this was Microsoft's most tasteful period. I have fond memories of Windows 95/NT 4/98", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}, {"id": 755223984, "item_id": 47201499, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47201499", "by": "hnthrowaway0315", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I think Windows 95/2000 and the contemporary MacOS (including the then future MacOS X) have the best UI", "excerpt": "I think Windows 95/2000 and the contemporary MacOS (including the then future MacOS X) have the best UI in everything I used in my 30+ years of tech life. I sincerely hope that one day we could go back to that road. If you want that achieved, please support me to join Apple/Microsoft to become the UI boss, fire all flat-design people and hire a small team to implement the older UI, then give a few passionate talks on", "context": "30+ years in tech", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}]}