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SMALL UPDATE (5/18/2025): The last release had a faulty INF for the Sound Blaster PCI 128. Since VMware uses this device for Windows 9x guests, this bug was nasty enough that it would have stifled the reach of this operating system, hence a minor revision was necessary. The legacy device (for DOS games) does not function, however, and will not be fixed. If you need it, you can load the complete driver from its original source. In addition, Infsect (command line INF editor) was updated to version 0.8a, fixing a bug with finding sections where it would have gotten stuck in an infinite loop on certain conditions. The Microsoft Word for Windows Viewer was also added back in to satisfy a requirement of the included OEM Preinstallation Kit. (Yes, it really works with Windows 95D! Want to try it? I suppose a video is gonna have to be in order soon...) Windows 95D is a heavy modification of Windows 95 which integrates many of the essential updates for Windows 95 along with a wide selection of drivers for systems manufactured as late as 2002 (as a safe margin). It was formerly known as Windows 95D Lite; the "lite" branding has been dropped in acknowledgement of how large the project has become. The "D" indicates it is a step ahead of the last official release of Windows 95 from 1997, denoted as Windows 95C or OSR2.5. With the final release of Windows 95D on April 12th, 2025, this operating system is no longer being supported. The project had been developed since 2020 (2019 if you count the earlier incarnation), and with the majority of the practical grounds covered by now, I see no reason to continue working on it. In the future, I would prefer to create a command line tool that would enable users to integrate drivers and components into a Windows 9x distribution easily. Basically all of the software updates have already been in place long ago, apart from this build's more recent switch to the use of patcher9x for allowing Windows 95 to run on faster CPUs rather than FIX95CPU. The express installer has also been enhanced to allow you to select a time zone upfront, and it lets you eject the CD-ROM much sooner. Using the express method, it reboots into a temporary DOS environment on the hard disk to automatically run the setup program. To compensate for the lack of core updates, I've added a good plenty of things in the full CD-ROM, some coming from Windows 3.x and various Chicago builds. There's also a couple of new wallpapers and sets of boot splashes you can use if desired. Although the files in Windows 95D are already patched for fast CPUs, the program also includes DOS and Win32 builds of patcher9x as a convenience. The source code is located in a ZIP file in \SOURCE on the CD-ROM. For those who were fans of the original version from 2019, an installation package has also been included to easily load the system files necessary to enable gradient title bars. This may break some things, so if you do run into anything, remember to run PURIFY.EXE to restore the original files. Although Windows 95D will no longer be maintained, I hope it will continue to be a useful operating system for everyone who wants to get a Windows 95 machine up and running quickly. As Windows 95's 30th anniversary is on the horizon, you'll know how to celebrate in August. Thanks to everyone who has used Windows 95D and supported the project over the years. Download boot floppy (1.44 MB) Download base CD (110 MB) Download full CD (588 MB) The base CD-ROM is more compact, but only contains the core setup files and source code for some programs. Both CD-ROMs are bootable. A floppy image is provided for older computers which cannot boot from a CD-ROM. |
