Editing Windows 98 (section)

===Improvements to hardware support===

====Windows Driver Model====
{{Main article|Windows Driver Model}}
[[File:Windows 98 architecture.svg|thumb|The Windows 98 architecture is set up as a tier of layers in which the higher layers depend on any component of the layers below them. The difference between the architectures of this and Windows 95 is that the Windows Driver Model can now be used to access the Windows 98 core and the registry.<ref name=architecture>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc768198(v=technet.10)|title=Chapter 28 – Windows 98 Architecture|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|date=February 19, 2014|access-date=October 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302054042/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc768198(v%3dtechnet.10)|archive-date=March 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=PCMAGp325/>]]

Windows 98 was the first operating system to use the [[Windows Driver Model]] (WDM). This fact was not well publicized when Windows 98 was released, and most hardware producers continued to develop drivers for the older [[VxD]] driver standard, which Windows 98 supported for compatibility's sake. The WDM standard only achieved widespread adoption years later, mostly through [[Windows 2000]] and [[Windows XP]], as they were not compatible with the older VxD standard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244601/|title=How to troubleshoot unknown devices that are listed in Device Manager in Windows 2000|date=May 7, 2007|work=Microsoft Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717081308/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244601|archive-date=July 17, 2007}}</ref> With the Windows Driver Model, developers could write drivers that were compatible with other versions of Windows.<ref name=PCMAGp328>{{harvnb|PC Magazine, August|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4c8Qbd14llIC&pg=PA328 328]}}</ref> Device driver access in WDM is implemented through a VxD device driver, <code>NTKERN.VXD</code>, which implements several [[Windows NT]]-specific kernel support functions.<ref name=RK1322>{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=1322}}</ref>

Support for WDM audio enables digital mixing, routing and processing of simultaneous audio streams, and [[kernel streaming]] with high-quality [[sample rate conversion]] on Windows 98. WDM Audio allows for software emulation of legacy hardware to support MS-DOS games, [[DirectSound]] support, and [[MIDI]] [[Sample-based synthesis|wavetable synthesis]]. The Windows 95 11-device limitation for MIDI devices is eliminated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may00/articles/pcmusician.htm|title=PC Solutions For MIDI Musicians|work=soundonsound.com|access-date=March 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110123947/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may00/articles/pcmusician.htm|archive-date=January 10, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> A Microsoft [[Roland GS|GS]] Wavetable Synthesizer licensed from [[Roland Corporation|Roland]] shipped with Windows 98 for WDM audio drivers. Windows 98 supports digital playback of [[audio CDs]], and the Second Edition improves WDM audio support by adding DirectSound [[hardware mixing]] and DirectSound 3D hardware abstraction, [[DirectMusic]] kernel support, [[KMixer]] sample-rate conversion for capture streams, and multichannel audio support. All audio is sampled by the Kernel Mixer to a fixed sampling rate, which may result in some audio getting upsampled or downsampled and having a high latency, except when using Kernel Streaming or third-party audio paths like [[Audio Stream Input/Output|ASIO]] which allow unmixed audio streams and lower latency. Windows 98 also includes a WDM streaming [[class driver]] (''Stream.sys'') to address real time multimedia data stream processing requirements and a WDM kernel-mode video transport for enhanced video playback and capture.

Windows Driver Model also includes Broadcast Driver Architecture, the backbone for TV technologies support in Windows. [[WebTV]] for Windows utilized BDA to allow viewing television on the computer if a compatible [[TV tuner card]] is installed. TV listings could be updated from the Internet and WaveTop Data Broadcasting allowed extra data about broadcasts to be received via regular television signals using an antenna or cable, by embedding data streams into the [[vertical blanking interval]] portion of existing broadcast television signals.

====Other device support improvements====
Windows 98 had more robust USB support than Windows 95, which only had support in OEM versions OSR2.1 and later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253756|title=Availability of Universal Serial Bus Support in Windows 95|date=November 15, 2006|work=Microsoft Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304063841/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253756|archive-date=March 4, 2007}}</ref> Windows 98 supports [[USB hub]]s, USB scanners and imaging class devices. Windows 98 also introduced built-in support for some [[USB Human Interface Device class]] (USB HID) and PID class devices such as USB mice, keyboards, force feedback joysticks etc. including additional keyboard functions through a certain number of Consumer Page HID controls.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kbd.mspx|title=Human Interface Devices Design Guide|publisher=Microsoft|work=microsoft.com|access-date=December 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222201727/http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kbd.mspx|archive-date=December 22, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Windows 98 also supports [[UDMA]] and [[Streaming SIMD Extensions|SSE]].

Windows 98 introduced [[Advanced Configuration and Power Interface|ACPI]] 1.0 support which enabled ''Standby'' and ''[[Hibernation (computing)|Hibernate]]'' states. However, hibernation support was extremely limited and vendor-specific. Hibernation was only available if compatible (PnP) hardware and [[BIOS]] are present, and the hardware manufacturer or OEM supplied ACPI-compatible drivers. However, there are hibernation issues with the [[FAT32]] file system,<ref name="98I/O"/> making hibernation problematic and unreliable.

Windows 98, in general, provides improved — and a broader range of — support for IDE and SCSI drives and drive controllers, floppy drive controllers and all other classes of hardware as compared to Windows 95.<ref name="98I/O">{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc768180(v%3dtechnet.10)|title=Chapter 10 – Disks and File Systems|website=Microsoft Docs|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|language=en-us|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324082745/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc768180(v%3dtechnet.10)|archive-date=March 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> There is integrated [[Accelerated Graphics Port]] (AGP) support (although the USB Supplement to Windows 95 OSR2 and later releases of Windows 95 did have AGP support). Windows 98 has built-in DVD support and [[Universal Disc Format|UDF]] 1.02 read support. The Still imaging architecture (STI) with [[TWAIN]] support was introduced for scanners and cameras and Image Color Management 2.0 for devices to perform [[color space]] transformations.<ref name=RK509>{{harvnb|Resource Kit|1998|p=509}}</ref> Multiple monitor support allows using up to nine multiple monitors on a single PC, with the feature requiring one [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] graphics adapter per monitor.<ref name=gs75>{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=75}}</ref> Windows 98 shipped with [[DirectX]] 5.2,<ref name="maxpcdoctor">{{cite journal |title=SLI Odd Couples |journal=[[Maximum PC]] |date=January 1999 |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgIAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP79 |access-date=October 10, 2019 |issn=1522-4279 |archive-date=September 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929062320/https://books.google.com/books?id=IgIAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP79 |url-status=live }}</ref> which notably included [[DirectShow]]. Windows 98 Second Edition would later ship with DirectX 6.1.<ref name="98qaNYT">{{cite web |author1=J. D. Biersdorfer |title=Q & A: Windows 98, 2d Edition |url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/1999/08/12/technology/12ask.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 10, 2019 |date=August 12, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010193003/http://movies2.nytimes.com/1999/08/12/technology/12ask.html |archive-date=October 10, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>