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There absolutely was TCP/IP support in Windows 95 from the very beginning. It was not installed by default but it was trivial to add via the Network applet in C

by einr 9y ago

There absolutely was TCP/IP support in Windows 95 from the very beginning. It was not installed by default but it was trivial to add via the Network applet in Control Panel. SLIP/PPP was also supported and you had basic utilities like Telnet and FTP included so you could connect to the Internet right out of the box. No web browser, though. Internet Explorer 1.0 shipped with the optional Plus! pack.

russellbeattie 9y ago
Yes, you're right. I misremembered it.
smoyer 9y ago
Since a large part of my work involved building networks of pre-DOCSIS cable modems at the time, I can tell you that the first Windows to support TCP/IP was Windows 3.11 (Windows for WorkGroups). This was carried into Windows 95 and by Windows 98 there was even Internet Explorer.
- zwieback 9y ago
  ...and it had preemptively multitasking 32 bit drivers, we built a Mac (AppleTalk) server product on top of that with pretty good performance. 3.11 was a huge step forward.
- dfox 9y ago
  But in windows 3.11 the TCP stack was not part of the installation or even on the installation media, it had to be installed separately together with win32s. In Windows 95 IIRC everything you needed for TCP/IP was on the installation media.
narag 9y ago
For some reason we used Trumpet stack. Could it be that OS stack didn't work very well at first?
- da_chicken 9y ago
  Probably inertia. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 didn't ship with a TCP/IP stack. You had to either have something like Trumpet or install Internet Explorer 2.1 (which, AFAIK, was a separate purchase) to get Winsock. Or you could try to use DOS drivers. Even Windows for Workgroups 3.1 only shipped with NetBEUI and IPX/SPX. It wasn't until Windows for Workgroups 3.11 that the OS shipped with TCP/IP.
cr0sh 9y ago
> There absolutely was TCP/IP support in Windows 95 from the very beginning. I could have sworn that was all in the Plus! package too, but 20+ years of time has eroded my memory on that...
- tinus_hn 9y ago
  The browser was in the Plus! package.

by einr 9y ago

russellbeattie 9y ago

Yes, you're right. I misremembered it.

smoyer 9y ago

Since a large part of my work involved building networks of pre-DOCSIS cable modems at the time, I can tell you that the first Windows to support TCP/IP was Windows 3.11 (Windows for WorkGroups). This was carried into Windows 95 and by Windows 98 there was even Internet Explorer.

zwieback 9y ago
...and it had preemptively multitasking 32 bit drivers, we built a Mac (AppleTalk) server product on top of that with pretty good performance. 3.11 was a huge step forward.
dfox 9y ago
But in windows 3.11 the TCP stack was not part of the installation or even on the installation media, it had to be installed separately together with win32s. In Windows 95 IIRC everything you needed for TCP/IP was on the installation media.

narag 9y ago

For some reason we used Trumpet stack. Could it be that OS stack didn't work very well at first?

da_chicken 9y ago
Probably inertia. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 didn't ship with a TCP/IP stack. You had to either have something like Trumpet or install Internet Explorer 2.1 (which, AFAIK, was a separate purchase) to get Winsock. Or you could try to use DOS drivers. Even Windows for Workgroups 3.1 only shipped with NetBEUI and IPX/SPX. It wasn't until Windows for Workgroups 3.11 that the OS shipped with TCP/IP.

cr0sh 9y ago

> There absolutely was TCP/IP support in Windows 95 from the very beginning. I could have sworn that was all in the Plus! package too, but 20+ years of time has eroded my memory on that...

tinus_hn 9y ago
The browser was in the Plus! package.