Editing Windows 9x (section)

===Windows Me===
{{main|Windows Me}}
[[File:Microsoft Windows Me logo.svg|thumb|right|Wordmark logo for Windows Me]]
On September 14, 2000, Microsoft introduced Windows Me (Millennium Edition; also known as Windows ME), which upgraded Windows 98 with enhanced multimedia and Internet features. Code-named "Millennium", It was conceived as a quick one-year project that served as a stopgap release between Windows 98 and Windows XP (then code-named Whistler at the time). It borrowed some features from the business-oriented [[Windows 2000]] into the Windows 9x series, and introduced the first version of [[System Restore]], which allowed users to revert their system state to a previous "known-good" point in the case of a system failure. Windows Me also introduced the first release of [[Windows Movie Maker]] and included [[Windows Media Player|Windows Media Player 7]]. [[Internet Explorer 5.5]] came shipped with Windows Me. Many of the new features from Windows Me were also available as updates for older Windows versions such as Windows 98 via [[Windows Update]]. The role of MS-DOS has also been greatly reduced compared to previous versions of Windows, with Windows Me no longer allowing real mode DOS to be accessed.

Windows Me initially gained a positive reception upon its release, but later on it was heavily criticized by users for its instability and unreliability, due to frequent freezes and crashes. Windows Me has been viewed by many as one of the worst operating systems of all time, both in critical and in retrospect. ''PC World'' was highly critical of Windows Me months after it was released (and indeed when it was no longer available), with their article infamously describing Windows Me as "Mistake Edition" and placing it 4th in their "Worst Tech Products of All Time" feature in 2006.<ref name="mistake">{{cite web|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/125772/worst_products_ever.html?page=2|title=The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time|author=Tynan|first=Dan|date=May 26, 2006|publisher=[[PC World]]|access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref> Consequently, many home users that were affected by Windows Me's instabilities (as well as those who negatively viewed Windows Me) ultimately stuck with the more reliable Windows 98 Second Edition for the remainder of Windows Me's lifecycle until the release of Windows XP in 2001. A small number of Windows Me owners moved over to the business-oriented Windows 2000 Professional during that same time period.

The inability of users to easily boot into real mode MS-DOS like in Windows 95 and 98 led users to quickly figure out how to hack their Windows Me installations to provide this missing functionality back into the operating system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mvps.org/dts/WinME_DOS/Win-ME.htm|title=How to restart from Windows Millennium into Windows 98 DOS mode.|website=mvps.org|access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref>

Unlike Windows 95 and Windows 98, Windows Me never received a dedicated Microsoft Plus! add-on made specifically for it.