Getting Windows 95 online in the mid-90s felt like unlocking a new world. Launched in August 1995, the OS didn’t even ship with built-in Internet Explorer until the OSR1 update in early 1996, so most of us relied on third-party dial-up software from AOL, CompuServe, or Netscape Navigator to get connected. You’d plug your computer into a 14.4 or 28.8 kbps modem, fire up Dial-Up Networking, and listen to that iconic screeching handshake as your PC negotiated with the ISP. Once Service Pack 1 and OSR2 (1996–1997) dropped, things got smoother with bundled TCP/IP support and better modem drivers. It was clunky, slow, and sometimes disconnected if someone picked up the phone—but for the first time, your beige box could surf the web, and that was magic.