Draft:Windows 98

Windows 98 is an operating system released by Microsoft in 1998. It is the successor to Windows 95. It reuses most of 95's wallpapers, as well as bundling several themes from Microsoft Plus! 95 and one from Microsoft Plus! for Kids by default. It was succeeded by Windows Me in 2000.

Wallpapers
The vast majority of Windows 98's wallpapers were reused from 95, and thus are not listed here. However, one additional tile was added, 1stboot. This was intended to be set on the desktop when booting Windows for the first time. There is also an Active Desktop wallpaper featuring a blue background with the Windows 98 logo in the top-right corner accompanied by a multicolored line.

Plus! theme wallpapers
Several themes from Microsoft Plus! 95, as well as the Underwater theme from Microsoft Plus! for Kids, are included with the default installation of Windows 98. All of these are identical to their original versions, save for the More Windows wallpaper featuring completely redone text to reflect the Windows version, while also adding a lens flare over the logo. No information is available regarding who produced these, although most likely in-house or outsourced.

Pre-release
This section is under construction. Beta 2 builds of Windows 98 feature the Windows 98 and clouds in a circle over a black background.

Setup background
This section is under construction.

In regular installations, the background used in Windows 98's setup is a very basic pattern of blue and black pixels. In upgrade installs, provided that high color drivers are installed, two different backgrounds are used: a clouds-like background is used in the first two stages of installation, then the third stage changes this to a lighter variant which fades out in the centre. Small dark gradients are present to make them flow seamlessly with the columns. In the bottom left corner, various photos of people are shown with a light blue backdrop. After restarting, the background here changes to the blue and black grid even if high color drivers are present.

The  included in C:/WINDOWS is a metallic-looking Windows logo with a drop shadow over a grey background. While this file was used as the setup finalization background in early builds, the final version of 98 does not use a background at this stage, but still includes the file as a selectable wallpaper. If it is selected as the wallpaper in 95, upgrading to 98 will change it to the new one.

[todo: add images]

Pre-release
Build 1351, the first leaked build of 98, introduces a new setup background, consisting of a spreadsheet screenshot, a game controller with an explosion underneath, and an Internet Explorer window with film reel on top. Two versions are included; one is monochrome while the other is 4-bit color. The former is the one that was used, where it appears in black and teal. It also introduces a new background for the setup finalization stage; while this background is included in the final release, no background is actually used during this stage.

Build 1410 replaces this background with a cropped version of Clouds. By build 1525, small dark gradients are added to the top and left to make it flow more seamlessly with the columns. A lighter variant is also used for later stages, where the clouds fade out towards the bottom left corner. A separate image is shown in the bottom left corner at this stage, showing a man and his child at a computer in a library, with clock, Earth and keyboard graphics to the right; this image is duplicated across 13 files. By build 1593, the backgrounds have now been changed to the ones used in the final release.

[todo: add images]