Microsoft Office 95
Clockwise from top-left: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint on Windows 95 | |
Developer(s) | Microsoft |
---|---|
Initial release | 24 August 1995 |
Last release |
7.0b[1]
|
Development status | Discontinued |
Operating system | Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Windows 98 |
Platform | IA-32 |
Type | Office suite |
License | Proprietary commercial software |
Standard(s) | OLE 2.0[2] |
Microsoft Office 95, also known as Microsoft Office for Windows 95, released on 24 August 1995,[3] was a version of Microsoft Office designed specifically for Windows 95, succeeding Office 4.3. Office 95 was replaced by Office 97 on 19 November 1996.
Features
Microsoft Office 95 includes six applications: Word (a word processor), Excel (a spreadsheet), PowerPoint (a presentation program), Access (a database management system), Schedule+ (a time management app) and Binder (a program for binding the work of the mentioned apps together). The CD-ROM version also includes Microsoft Bookshelf.
True to its namesake, this suite is designed specifically for Windows 95. Previously, Microsoft had released Office 4.2 for Windows NT for several architectures,[4] which included 32‑bit Word 6.0 for Windows NT and Excel 5.0 for Windows NT,[5] but PowerPoint 4.0 was 16‑bit. With Office for Windows 95, all components in the suite were 32-bit. All the Office 95 apps are OLE 2-enabled, meaning that they allow interoperability between themselves, as well as all other applications that support this data interchange protocol. Binder used this protocol to bind OLE objects together.[2]
Office for Windows 95 bears version number 7.0 to match Word's version number. Other components also bear the same version numbers to show that they are contemporaries, although their predecessors were not version 6.0. The previous versions of components were Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0, Schedule+ 1.0 and Access 2.0. Binder was a new app at the time with no predecessor. Microsoft Outlook was not included and used to be bundled with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5.
Microsoft Excel contained an easter egg, a hidden Doom–like game called Hall of Tortured Souls crediting the application's writers.
Contemporary components
Several additional programs were "compatible with Microsoft Office 95":
- Microsoft Project for Windows 95 (Version 4.1a)
- Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95 (Version 3.0)
- Microsoft FrontPage 1.1
- Office Small Business Pack for Office 95
Other contemporary Microsoft products were:
- Microsoft Works 4.0
- Microsoft Money 4.0
Editions
Office 95 was available in two versions. They contained the following applications:[6]
Application | Standard Edition | Professional Edition |
---|---|---|
Word[7] | Yes | Yes |
Excel[8] | Yes | Yes |
PowerPoint[9] | Yes | Yes |
Schedule+[10] | Yes | Yes |
Binder[11] | Yes | Yes |
Access[12] | No | Yes |
Bookshelf[13] | No | On CD-ROM version only |
Updates
There were no downloadable service packs or service releases for Office for Windows 95. Instead, two updated versions, 7.0a[14] and 7.0b[1] were released to fix bugs in the application. The updates could be ordered from Microsoft Support. A downloadable update was released in 1999 to address minor year 2000 problems.[15] All support for Microsoft Office 95 ended on December 31, 2001, the same day as Windows 95.[16]
Versions of Microsoft Jet database engine, 3.0 and 3.5 used by Access for Windows 95 (Access 7.0) and the later released, Access 97 respectively, had a critical issue which made these versions of Access unusable on a computer with more than 1 GB of memory.[17] While this problem was fixed for Jet 3.5/Access 97, it was never fixed for Jet 3.0 or Access 95.
System requirements
Microsoft Office 95 requires a 386DX or higher CPU, and either Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows NT 3.51. It also requires 8 MB of RAM for typical use. Regarding hard disk space, compact installations require 28 MB, "typical" installations require 55 MB, and full installations require 88 MB.
References
- 1 2 "OFF95: Summary List of Fixed Bugs in Microsoft Office Version 7.0b (Revision 1.3)". Support. Microsoft. 18 July 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- 1 2 Solomon, Christine (1996). Developing applications with Microsoft Office 95. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press. ISBN 9781556158988.
- ↑ Zisman, Alan (October 1995). "This Suite smells of success: MS Office 95 review of new features". Zisman.ca. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "Microsoft readies supporting versions of Microsoft Excel and Word for Windows NT The PowerPC". Thefreelibrary.com. Farlex. PR Newswire. 12 June 1995. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "Microsoft announced Word 6.0 and Excel 5.0 for Windows NT Workstation". Thefreelibrary.com. Farlex. PR Newswire. 19 September 1994. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ Microsoft Press, Issue #3 1997, sales catalogue Part No. 098-69985
- ↑ Microsoft Word for Windows 95 - Step by step. ISBN 1-55615-828-9.
- ↑ Microsoft Excel for Windows 95 - Step by step. ISBN 1-55615-825-4.
- ↑ Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95 - Step by step. ISBN 1-55615-829-7.
- ↑ "TOC - 10 Minute Guide to Schedule+ for Windows 95". ssuet.edu.pk. 21 June 2002. Archived from the original on 21 June 2002. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ↑ "Description of Office Binder support with Office 2003 and Office XP products". Support. Microsoft. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ Running Microsoft Access for Windows 95. ISBN 1-55615-886-6.
- ↑ Microsoft Bookshelf for Windows 95. Microsoft Press. August 1995. ISBN 978-1-57231-159-6.
- ↑ "List of Fixed Bugs in Word 7.0a for Windows 95 (Revision 1.1)". Support. Microsoft. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ Luening, Erich (17 March 1997). "Microsoft offers Y2K patch for Office 95". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "Microsoft Office Products Support Lifecycle FAQ". Support. Microsoft. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- ↑ ""Out of memory" error starting Microsoft Access (Revision 5.1)". Support. Microsoft. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2013.