Windows 98 Development Codename

During the mid-1990s, Microsoft developed the successor to Windows 95 under a specific internal project title prior to its commercial release. This article covers the official development codename for Windows 98, the naming conventions Microsoft used during that era, and the key milestones achieved while the operating system was being created under that internal moniker.

The Codename: Memphis

The primary codename used during the development of Microsoft Windows 98 was Memphis.

Microsoft initiated the project in 1996 as an update to Windows 95. Early development milestones were explicitly labeled with the Memphis name, appearing in internal build strings, setup screens, and documentation as "Windows Memphis" or "Microsoft Memphis."

Geographic Naming Conventions

During the 1990s, Microsoft routinely assigned city names as internal codenames for its operating system projects:

  • Chicago: Windows 95
  • Daytona: Windows NT 3.5
  • Nashville: A planned intermediate release between Windows 95 and Windows 98 (often unofficially dubbed Windows 96) that was eventually canceled, with its web-integration technologies folded into Memphis
  • Memphis: Windows 98
  • Cairo: An unreleased project whose object-oriented file system technologies were integrated into Windows NT 4.0 and later systems

Memphis, Tennessee, fit squarely within this geographic naming pattern.

Development History of Project Memphis

Development began around the time Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) was completed. Key milestones included:

  • Memphis Developer Release (1996): The earliest test builds distributed to select developers, which largely resembled Windows 95 with early Internet Explorer 4.0 shell enhancements.
  • Memphis Beta 1 (Mid-1997): The first broadly distributed beta build, officially testing native FAT32 file system support and the controversial Active Desktop integration.
  • Transition to "Windows 98" (July 1997): With the release of Memphis Beta 2, Microsoft officially announced that the retail product would be named Windows 98, though internal build numbers and system components continued to reference Memphis until general availability.

Key Features Introduced Under Memphis

The Memphis development team focused on stabilizing the hybrid 16-bit/32-bit architecture while introducing modern hardware and web capabilities:

  • Hardware Support: Built-in Universal Serial Bus (USB) support, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), and multiple monitor support.
  • File System Enhancements: Full support for FAT32 partitions, allowing hard drive partitions larger than two gigabytes.
  • Driver Architecture: Introduction of the Windows Driver Model (WDM), designed to standardize driver development across consumer Windows and the Windows NT kernel.
  • Web Integration: Deep integration of Internet Explorer 4.0 into the Windows Explorer shell, allowing web-based views and the Active Desktop.

Windows 98 was officially released to manufacturing (RTM) on May 15, 1998, and reached retail shelves on June 25, 1998, marking the formal end of the Memphis project.