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Yes, Windows 95 really was released on August 24, 1995; I still have the special issue of The Times that heralded the event.
But I distinctly remember thinking that it was late, back at that time.
That’s not surprising: Microsoft had been trumpeting the release of the next version of Windows for a long time, and there was widespread coverage in the media for a long time before the actual release, which was originally announced for 1994. Many magazines had lengthy articles about “Windows 4” or “Chicago” (the operating system’s code name) in 1994 and even 1993; they also shipped a number of demo disks quite a while before the actual release, and Microsoft themselves had a “preview” program available in some countries. The Windows 95 name was settled on late in 1994. As a result of all this, Windows 95 was perceived as “coming soon” for a very long time before its actual availability.
This wasn’t new for Microsoft; MS-DOS 6 had also had a lengthy beta program with a lot of users quite a long time before its release.
For a long time (starting late 1992/ early 1993), what was to become Windows 95 went under the name of "Chicago".
Only in september 1994 (beta 1.4 / build 189), did it become Windows 95. Microsoft must have been reasonably sure they were going to release in 1995 by then.
Early Chicago Usability Testing builds - 1992/93
Last Chicago labeled build - build 180
First Windows 95 branded build - build 189
Windows 95 Release to manufacturing (RTM) - build 950 r-6