5 'legendary' features from Windows 95 still exist after nearly 30 years

Windows 95 launched in 1995 has many new features, considered a significant step forward and an important milestone for Microsoft. After nearly 30 years, some features such as the Start button, Taskbar, trash can. appeared on Windows 95 but are still present on Windows 11 or even versions about to be released today.

Start button

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The Start button is one of the characteristics of the Windows interface design, containing a convenient Menu for users. When it was introduced in 1995, the button was a large steel gray box, containing the Windows 95 icon with the word Start bolded with a black border.

Taskbar Taskbar

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In Windows 95, a gray Taskbar appears in the bottom corner of the screen, the system clock and the task tab of the active window and program.

When a new program or file is opened, its icon will appear in the Taskbar so users can immediately call up that window to display on the screen by clicking on it, saving time and money. operation.

Microsoft adds the feature of sticking programs to the Taskbar to quickly open them in later updates.

Plug and play

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Before Windows 95, users would have to manually install customizations on the computer when plugging a peripheral device into a personal computer (except for the keyboard integrated into the system).

Windows 95 added a new feature "Plug and Play" that allows users to plug a peripheral device into the correct port on the PC and Windows will automatically recognize and reconfigure it properly.

After nearly 30 years, the feature still exists on Windows 11.

Recycle Bin

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In 1995, Windows first had a new trash bin called Recycling Bin (Recycle Bin), which acts as a temporary file, allowing users to check the document files in there before completely deleting them from the computer.

Give the file a long name

File names stored on MS-DOS and its predecessors were limited to a maximum of eight characters in length and included a three-letter extension. On Windows 95 this limit is removed, file names can be up to 255 characters long, and the format extension is also longer.

Marvin Fry

Update 30 October 2023