Windows ME Final

Windows Millennium Edition (internally Windows 4.90) was the last in the line of DOS-based Windows products. Like Windows 95 and Windows 98 it used the same hybrid 16/32 bit kernel that ran on top of a bundled version of DOS (MS-DOS 8.0).

Windows ME was often criticized for its poor stability. Microsoft had made numerous internal changes at the device driver level. However with the news that this architecture was at an end, vendors did not update their Windows 98 drivers for Windows ME. While existing 98 drivers usually “worked”, they were often buggy and unstable under ME. Additionally, users were becoming used to the increased stability of Windows 2000 (NT 5.0) and the new MacOS X.

Although Windows ME still runs on top of DOS, just like Windows versions back to 1.01, it crippled the ability to start up to or exit to DOS. Many Windows 95 and 98 users had relied on that, as many popular games and utilities were still DOS based. If you wish to set up an older computer for use with DOS programs, we recommend you use nothing later than Windows 98 SE.

Feature-wise, Windows ME changes the desktop appearance to be on par with Windows 2000. It adds Windows Movie Maker, Internet Games, System Restore, Explorer Web View, Personalized Menus, and new common dialogs.

Windows ME targeted the home market, while the NT-based Windows 2000 targeted the business market. Initiated during the Windows 2.0 days, Microsoft finally realized its dream of merging these two markets under one single, more powerful OS, with the release of Windows XP.

If a download does not include a boot disk, please see Microsoft Windows Boot Disks

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

• Beta
• Final (current)

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