Windows 95, Take 3

Microsoft expects to deliver the second major upgrade to its Windows 95 operating system to PC vendors this month so that they can begin loading it on new computers.

The second OEM Service Release for Windows 95 will ship to hardware vendors by the third week of August, company officials said. It will come with version 3.0 of Internet Explorer and will implement a previously announced plan to feature installation software for America Online and CompuServe directly on the Windows 95 desktop.

In addition to broadening the online access options for Windows 95 users, the upgrade will deliver more hardware device drivers, bug fixes, and FAT32 (file allocation table), an addition to the system software that manages disk space better on hard drives larger than 2GB.

Most buyers of new computers probably won't see the operating system in new computers until late fall, when PCs fresh off the manufacturing line make their way through distribution, but users will be able to download most of the upgrade from Microsoft's Web site. The FAT32 file system, however, will be available only on new machines, a Microsoft spokesperson said.