Windows 98SE - box, disk contents, installation (video and text review - optional)
For a Russian user, a licensed box with Windows is not very familiar. Therefore, it seemed to me interesting to consider what is inside the Russian box of Windows 98SE, as well as a little through the contents of the installation disk. Under the cut - a text version of the information from the video.
Attention, traffic! In the post a lot of photos and screenshots!
This box fell into my hands quite simply, though suddenly: the viewer of the Old-Hard program offered to buy it for a nominal sum. Well, as you can see, I could not resist) The size of this box is quite typical for boxed products of those years, although for example, a little more than the box of the same Quake. I don’t really understand why what for - the content would in principle fit into a smaller box. Have an idea on this topic? Write in the comments!
Naturally, the box is covered with inspiring inscriptions, such as the promise that Windows 98 "improves the performance of the computer." Curious about what it improves? Regarding Dos? Windows 95? OS / 2? Windows NT? In general, advertisers are such advertisers.
The next interesting point - a mark on the left side of the compatibility with previous operating systems from Microsoft. It is a true mark, because something, and backward compatibility they always turned out well.
On the right side of the box is, so to speak, a licensed sticker. Not holographic and not iridescent in the sun, alas. Above the sticker is the advice to buy hardware and software, tested for compatibility with Windows. Oakui.
The back of the box is also filled with a bunch of promotional promises.
In addition to them, there are also the minimum system requirements: 486 processor at 66 megahertz, 24 megabytes of RAM and a disk in the region of 256 megabytes. Do not be too lazy to specify even the CD drive, mouse and VGA monitor! But the need for floppy and keyboard is not indicated, their presence is implied, unlike the same mouse.
Also on the box it is honestly indicated that these are the minimum requirements for the OS itself, and the programs for it can have higher requirements. Again - quite logical.
On now - let's look inside the box, for how much can you beat around the bush. It is filled soundly.
First, inside is a CD in a cardboard box. Alas, the box is not plastic, but it may be preferable for a large box. There is a serial key on the back side of the cardboard with a disk, for without it. And there is also practical advice that if you do not agree with the license agreement, do not install this product, but return the money for it in the store.
Next comes an envelope of thick paper, again covered with inscriptions that either agree with the license, or do not use the product. Interestingly, the envelope looks like it is designed to accommodate two floppy disks. But here we have only one, this is the MS-DOS boot disk.
The fact is that booting from a CD really became ubiquitous a bit later, so booting from a DOS diskette - to run the installation from a CD - does not seem strange.
And then we have a damn positive inscription on the registration form.
The next part of the waste paper is a list of addresses for sending the same registration card. Address for residents of Russia - in stock.
True, open sources suggest that "ZAO Microsoft" with such a zip code has already been eliminated, and not so long ago, only at the end of 2011. Apparently now this company is registered in Russia somehow differently, which means it's too late to send a registration card.
Next comes the text of the limited warranty license agreement, part of the same text that no one ever reads. But there certainly is something interesting, if you translate from legal to human. Here's a curious fact to you, for example: in case of any problems, Microsoft is ready to refund the user a maximum of $ 5. So it goes.
And finally, the last in the list of documents is a thick, 128-page book “getting started”. Quite a sensible book, a sort of course for a young fighter. There are enough tips and about the process of installing Windows, and about using it after installation; for those who switch from old versions of Windows, and for those who use a computer for the first time. In general, quite an interesting document, written, as it seemed to me, quite adequate language.
Next - a few interesting points about the contents of the disk.
Although the disk itself is almost full, the OS installer itself occupies only 112 megabytes.
Another 96 or so megabytes are occupied by additional drivers for all kinds of devices: modems, sound cards, adapters, printers, and other useful things.
The tools folder takes up quite a bit, 29 megabytes, and contains, as the name implies, all sorts of utilities and software. Specially I will highlight old versions of applications from Windows 95, for example - an old WordPad, in modern versions (Windows 8.1 x64) without additional gestures does not start.
Also in the root of the disk is the addons folder, where Microsoft Personal Web Server is hiding, which makes it possible to pick up on your computer that. Although I do not really understand why it was placed separately, and not in the tools folder.
And finally, I left the largest folder on the disk - cdsamples, it weighs as much as 291 megabytes.
Of these, 170 are promotional videos of various toys, applications, and even a piece of hardware with a microsoft label. Videos go to a frantic resolution of 320x240, 8-bit color and a bitrate of about megabits. The set of clips is actually quite curious from a historical point of view. For example, did you know that Microsoft produced not only gamepads, but also steering wheels?
Or that besides Microsoft’s “star jungle” built into certain versions of Windows, did Microsoft release more sophisticated pinballs?
In general, if you are interested in the history of ayti - I recommend these vidyashki find and see. The second largest directory is demos, in which live demos of old toys live, namely: Age of Empire, Golf 1999, Motocross Madness (necessarily requiring a three-dimensional accelerator!), Monster Truck Madness 2 and the already mentioned pinball. And not a single first-person shooter :-(
Also, the application to account for the finances of Microsoft Money 99 was made for toys. Again, a good choice.
The last interesting item in the cdsamples folder is catalog. The name speaks for itself - this is a catalog of all the same soft and hardware sold by microsoft. Again, today it is more interesting for historical reasons, but at that time it was certainly useful both to Microsoft and to the buyer of the operating system.
Next, in the video, I show the installation process, and on a real computer, and not on a virtual machine. But, I think, here the process of installing the system is already known to many, so I’ll dwell only on the most interesting moments.
Firstly, for some reason, my disk out of the box turned out to be non-bootable, although the selected second Pentium from the CD can boot, and I repeatedly used this opportunity. So the bundled boot floppy came in handy.
Secondly, you can run setup.exe from the CD with a damn bunch of keys.
Thirdly: you can choose the installation folder! For example, would you like Windows to be installed in the C: \ WIN98 folder or even just C: \ W? Yes please!
Fourthly: in Windows 95/98, you can select a set of components during installation.
Well, in the fifth: although the installation process already has two stages of searching for suitable equipment, the system began to determine the monitor and video card, as well as installing drivers for them only AFTER the installation was completed and during the first full system load. Why? I do not know.
And finally - the system looks like this in 16-color mode, without installing the appropriate drivers on the video card.
Now, of course, it would be possible to begin the fascinating process of installing the missing drivers and using the computer for some useful or interesting activity. But this, let's say, is a completely different story ...
Attention, traffic! In the post a lot of photos and screenshots!
This box fell into my hands quite simply, though suddenly: the viewer of the Old-Hard program offered to buy it for a nominal sum. Well, as you can see, I could not resist) The size of this box is quite typical for boxed products of those years, although for example, a little more than the box of the same Quake. I don’t really understand why what for - the content would in principle fit into a smaller box. Have an idea on this topic? Write in the comments!
Naturally, the box is covered with inspiring inscriptions, such as the promise that Windows 98 "improves the performance of the computer." Curious about what it improves? Regarding Dos? Windows 95? OS / 2? Windows NT? In general, advertisers are such advertisers.
The next interesting point - a mark on the left side of the compatibility with previous operating systems from Microsoft. It is a true mark, because something, and backward compatibility they always turned out well.
On the right side of the box is, so to speak, a licensed sticker. Not holographic and not iridescent in the sun, alas. Above the sticker is the advice to buy hardware and software, tested for compatibility with Windows. Oakui.
The back of the box is also filled with a bunch of promotional promises.
In addition to them, there are also the minimum system requirements: 486 processor at 66 megahertz, 24 megabytes of RAM and a disk in the region of 256 megabytes. Do not be too lazy to specify even the CD drive, mouse and VGA monitor! But the need for floppy and keyboard is not indicated, their presence is implied, unlike the same mouse.
Also on the box it is honestly indicated that these are the minimum requirements for the OS itself, and the programs for it can have higher requirements. Again - quite logical.
On now - let's look inside the box, for how much can you beat around the bush. It is filled soundly.
First, inside is a CD in a cardboard box. Alas, the box is not plastic, but it may be preferable for a large box. There is a serial key on the back side of the cardboard with a disk, for without it. And there is also practical advice that if you do not agree with the license agreement, do not install this product, but return the money for it in the store.
Next comes an envelope of thick paper, again covered with inscriptions that either agree with the license, or do not use the product. Interestingly, the envelope looks like it is designed to accommodate two floppy disks. But here we have only one, this is the MS-DOS boot disk.
The fact is that booting from a CD really became ubiquitous a bit later, so booting from a DOS diskette - to run the installation from a CD - does not seem strange.
And then we have a damn positive inscription on the registration form.
The next part of the waste paper is a list of addresses for sending the same registration card. Address for residents of Russia - in stock.
True, open sources suggest that "ZAO Microsoft" with such a zip code has already been eliminated, and not so long ago, only at the end of 2011. Apparently now this company is registered in Russia somehow differently, which means it's too late to send a registration card.
Next comes the text of the limited warranty license agreement, part of the same text that no one ever reads. But there certainly is something interesting, if you translate from legal to human. Here's a curious fact to you, for example: in case of any problems, Microsoft is ready to refund the user a maximum of $ 5. So it goes.
And finally, the last in the list of documents is a thick, 128-page book “getting started”. Quite a sensible book, a sort of course for a young fighter. There are enough tips and about the process of installing Windows, and about using it after installation; for those who switch from old versions of Windows, and for those who use a computer for the first time. In general, quite an interesting document, written, as it seemed to me, quite adequate language.
Next - a few interesting points about the contents of the disk.
Although the disk itself is almost full, the OS installer itself occupies only 112 megabytes.
Another 96 or so megabytes are occupied by additional drivers for all kinds of devices: modems, sound cards, adapters, printers, and other useful things.
The tools folder takes up quite a bit, 29 megabytes, and contains, as the name implies, all sorts of utilities and software. Specially I will highlight old versions of applications from Windows 95, for example - an old WordPad, in modern versions (Windows 8.1 x64) without additional gestures does not start.
Also in the root of the disk is the addons folder, where Microsoft Personal Web Server is hiding, which makes it possible to pick up on your computer that. Although I do not really understand why it was placed separately, and not in the tools folder.
And finally, I left the largest folder on the disk - cdsamples, it weighs as much as 291 megabytes.
Of these, 170 are promotional videos of various toys, applications, and even a piece of hardware with a microsoft label. Videos go to a frantic resolution of 320x240, 8-bit color and a bitrate of about megabits. The set of clips is actually quite curious from a historical point of view. For example, did you know that Microsoft produced not only gamepads, but also steering wheels?
Or that besides Microsoft’s “star jungle” built into certain versions of Windows, did Microsoft release more sophisticated pinballs?
In general, if you are interested in the history of ayti - I recommend these vidyashki find and see. The second largest directory is demos, in which live demos of old toys live, namely: Age of Empire, Golf 1999, Motocross Madness (necessarily requiring a three-dimensional accelerator!), Monster Truck Madness 2 and the already mentioned pinball. And not a single first-person shooter :-(
Also, the application to account for the finances of Microsoft Money 99 was made for toys. Again, a good choice.
The last interesting item in the cdsamples folder is catalog. The name speaks for itself - this is a catalog of all the same soft and hardware sold by microsoft. Again, today it is more interesting for historical reasons, but at that time it was certainly useful both to Microsoft and to the buyer of the operating system.
Next, in the video, I show the installation process, and on a real computer, and not on a virtual machine. But, I think, here the process of installing the system is already known to many, so I’ll dwell only on the most interesting moments.
Firstly, for some reason, my disk out of the box turned out to be non-bootable, although the selected second Pentium from the CD can boot, and I repeatedly used this opportunity. So the bundled boot floppy came in handy.
Secondly, you can run setup.exe from the CD with a damn bunch of keys.
Thirdly: you can choose the installation folder! For example, would you like Windows to be installed in the C: \ WIN98 folder or even just C: \ W? Yes please!
Fourthly: in Windows 95/98, you can select a set of components during installation.
Well, in the fifth: although the installation process already has two stages of searching for suitable equipment, the system began to determine the monitor and video card, as well as installing drivers for them only AFTER the installation was completed and during the first full system load. Why? I do not know.
And finally - the system looks like this in 16-color mode, without installing the appropriate drivers on the video card.
Now, of course, it would be possible to begin the fascinating process of installing the missing drivers and using the computer for some useful or interesting activity. But this, let's say, is a completely different story ...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/409817/