A veteran Microsoft engineer has finally addressed a long-standing question about Windows 95's installation process, revealing that while MS-DOS could handle graphics, the company deliberately chose a text-based setup interface.
Raymond Chen, who has worked at Microsoft for over three decades, explained that although MS-DOS technically supported graphics capabilities, implementing them would have been remarkably complex and resource-intensive during Windows 95's development.
"MS-DOS could do graphics, in the sense that it didn't actively prevent you from doing graphics," Chen stated. However, he noted that the graphics support was extremely primitive, limited to basic BIOS calls for plotting individual pixels - a method he described as notably slow and impractical.
The challenges extended far beyond simple pixel plotting. A graphical setup would have required developing a comprehensive graphics library, managing complex dialog boxes, creating a window manager, and implementing keyboard support. The system would also need to handle non-alphabetic languages like Japanese, requiring coordination with international teams across different time zones.
Perhaps most challenging was the technical constraint of fitting these features within the 640KB memory limitation of MS-DOS. While solutions like protected mode management existed, they would have added another layer of complexity to the development process.
Chen pointed out that Microsoft already had a solution to these challenges in the form of Windows 3.1 runtime, which included "fully debugged video drivers, a graphics library, a dialog manager, a scheduler, a protected mode manager, and input methods."
This revelation sheds new light on what many users considered a puzzling design choice in Windows 95, an operating system that otherwise revolutionized the PC interface with innovations like the Start menu and taskbar. The decision to maintain a text-based setup appears to have been driven by practical development considerations rather than technical limitations.
The disclosure comes as Windows 95 approaches its 30th anniversary in 2025, while Microsoft continues its push toward Windows 11 adoption.