setup programs

Raymond Chen, a longtime Microsoft software engineer, discussed the setup process of Windows 95 in response to a game developer's inquiry about the three distinct user interfaces used during the transition from MS-DOS to Windows 3.x. He explained that this design choice was made to minimize the code required for the Windows 95 configuration experience. The Windows 95 setup was designed to facilitate upgrades from MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 itself, requiring compatibility across different computing environments. The setup program was primarily an MS-DOS application that installed a streamlined version of Windows 3.1, which then launched a 16-bit GUI setup program. This program managed essential tasks for the installation, including user interaction, configuration data collection, OS component installation, and hardware detection. After copying Windows 95 files and drivers, the setup transitioned to a genuine Win32 application to complete the installation, including printer and peripheral configurations. By interlinking these three setup programs, Microsoft streamlined development and reused a single codebase across all installation scenarios.