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 Windows 98 is an operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998, and generally to retail on June 25, 1998. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit and 32-bit monolithic product with the boot stage based on MS-DOS.
Windows 98 is a heavily web-integrated operating system that bears numerous similarities to its predecessor. It heavily relies on the HTML language. Most of the improvements are cosmetic or designed to improve the user experience, but there are a handful of features that enhance system functionality and capabilities. These include improved USB support and accessibility, as well as support for hardware advancements such as DVD players. It was the first Windows operating system to adopt the Windows Driver Model. It also introduced features that would become standard in future generations of Windows, such as Disk Cleanup, Windows Update, multi-monitor support, and Internet Connection Sharing.
 Microsoft had marketed Windows 98 as a "tune-up" to Windows 95, rather than an entirely improved next generation of Windows. Upon release, it was generally well received for its web-integrated interface and ease of use, as well as for addressing issues that had been present in Windows 95, though users had pointed out that it was not significantly more stable than its predecessor. It saw one major update called Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) on May 5, 1999, and was succeeded by Windows Me in 2000. It sold an estimated 58 million licenses, and Microsoft ended mainstream support for both Windows 98 and 98 SE on June 30, 2002, and ended extended support on July 11, 2006.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_98
I, of course, upgraded to Windows 98 when it was released. But I don’t recall such excitement about it like I did when Windows 95 was released. But, then, it was not all that different and I personally did not  like all the web integration they did to it. I found it just slowed things down and I disabled it. At home, we enjoyed Windows 98 but when Windows ME came along the next year, we skipped that and waited instead until Windows XP was released to upgrade.
Now the one thing I really enjoyed about Windows 95 and 98 were the themes and the ability to add more themes. With Windows 95 this came in the form of the Plus! pack CD and for Windows 98 this would be no different. You could purchase (and I did) a Plus! CD with an assortment of themes which would allow you to change the full appearance of your system. Later when Windows 98SE was released, the themes from the Plus! pack that required an additional purchase were now included in that release. I spent a lot of time visiting ThemeWorld (still alive today!) when I tired of the themes in the Plus! pack, but having the ability to theme my system was just the best feature of these early Windows operating systems. Today, there is an element of themes left, but no where near the degree we had back then. The main area that bothers me about Windows 10 is you cannot change the borders around your windows with any true control or consistency. And “themes” today is relegated to changing your wallpaper and having the colors draw off of that. It’s just not the same. And sounds are largely ignored with the sound themes buried in settings. It’s just not the same. It’s not as fun.
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