Windows 95 wasn't a dissapointmwent as people think. It introduced Direct X. It brought in the modern Windows GUI. It became easier to use and faster.
Windows 98 was... IS the best OS out there. It dosn't take much resources to run, ihas MS-DOS, and is just as easy to use as the other OS. That and since everyone uses Xp, there arnt as many 98 hackers.
Windows ME is crap in my book. Windows 1.1 ran better in my opinion LOL. Crashed all the time and it weas nothing new.
btw the BEST bootscreen ever was the Windows NT 4 bootscreen. The pic were clouds and space meet

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Found a pic: