Windows 95 Chicago

Windows 95 offered, at long last, a well designed document-oriented desktop shell that worked much like the 1984 Macintosh Finder. It also included a new way of finding installed applications through a "Start" menu. And it included the same networking abilities as Windows for Workgroups.

It integrated the ability to run 32-bit applications similar to Windows NT or Windows 3.1 with Win32s. It no longer ran on a separate DOS product. But Windows 95 was not a pure "32-bit" OS: It was still based around the framework of Windows 3.x, 2.x and 1.x. It still ran on top of DOS, but bundled its own special "Windows 95" DOS (AKA MS-DOS 7). It could even still make use of DOS drivers. The 95 architecture was continued with Windows 98.

Most 95 CDs are NOT BOOTABLE. If a download does not include a boot floppy, please see Microsoft Windows Boot Disks

If the listed serials below do not work for a specific release, please see the Serials thread

You may also override the install type (no serial needed) by creating a file name MSBATCH.INF with the lines "[Setup]", and then "ProductType=1", placing that in the Win95 setup folder, and then running setup.

VMWare and VirtualBox are problematic with Windows 95. If you use those, you may need to disable various acceleration features first, and/or install the Windows 95 CPU speed fixes. Windows 95 has many issues on faster machines or VMs, requiring a number of patches in order to operate. Consider emulators like x86Box or PCem instead.

Other Windows Versions:
| 1.0 | 2.x | 3.x | NT 3.x | 95 | NT 4.0 | 98 | 2000 | ME | All |



Screenshots

Release notes

"Chicago" was the code name for early development versions of Windows 95. These releases illustrate the step-by-step transition from Windows 3.11 to the final product, and the involved research.

Please be on the lookout for fake or questionable builds. Please see the thread about fake Chicago 56, 73(no letter), and 78 builds.

Installation instructions

We strongly recommend using the 86Box or PCEm emulators to try these builds out. Do NOT use VirtualBox or VMWare, as they are known to have serious issues.

Product type
OS
Release date
1994
Minimum CPU
386
User interface
GUI
Platform
Windows
Download count
671 (27 for release)

Downloads

Download name Version Language Architecture File size Downloads
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.116) (ISO) 4.00.116 Prerelease English 114.09MB 3
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.122) 4.00.122 Prerelease English 22.41MB 3
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.122) VHD 4.00.122 Prerelease English 40.9MB 2
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.189 FE) 4.00.189 Prerelease English 27.74MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.189) 4.00.189 Prerelease English 27.53MB 2
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.216) 4.00.216 Prerelease English 28.55MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.224 Debug) 4.00.224 Prerelease English 28.48MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.224) 4.00.224 Prerelease English 27.5MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.263) 4.00.263 Prerelease English 31.44MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.267) 4.00.267 Prerelease English 31.48MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.275) 4.00.275 Prerelease English 31.75MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.347) 4.00.347 Prerelease English 186.03MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.347) (3.5-DMF) 4.00.347 Prerelease English 92MB 2
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.440) 4.00.440 Prerelease English 29.25MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.456) 4.00.456 Prerelease English 138.25MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.462) 4.00.462 Prerelease English 43.04MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.468) 4.00.468 Prerelease English 33.74MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.490) 4.00.490 Prerelease English 292.91MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.501) 4.00.501 Prerelease English 353.94MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.58s) 4.00.58s Prerelease English 9.65MB 5
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.73f SDK) 4.00.73f Prerelease English 27.3MB 2
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.73g) 4.00.73g Prerelease English 11.52MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.81) 4.00.81 Prerelease English 12.02MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.81) VHD 4.00.81 Prerelease English 37.23MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.90c) 4.00.90c Prerelease English 14.94MB 0
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.950 r-2) 4.00.950 r-2 Prerelease English 33.82MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (''Chicago'' 4.00.99) 4.00.99 Prerelease English 20.51MB 1
Microsoft Windows 95 (4.00.950) (alt) (RC 6/30/95?) ? English 358.62MB 0

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