Why did Windows 95 setup use three operating systems?

I love that little nugget of info at the end. You could originally run excel standalone without an OS and it came with windows 2.1 bundled

Most interesting part of the whole thing for me! The later WinPE environments are some of the most overlooked computer environments out there but they were absolutely everywhere. EPOS, ATMs, digital signage, vending machines.

And of course the subject of so many BSOD photos…

>The later WinPE environments are some of the most overlooked computer environments out there but they were absolutely everywhere. EPOS, ATMs, digital signage, vending machines.

Those are probably CE and not PE?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Embedded_Compact

or Embed based on CE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_IoT#Embedded_family

Unrelated to WinCE, WinPE is the version of the NT kernel that the Windows setup DVD or netboot installer uses, since Vista and higher.

You could probably build a really nice UI atop of it if one were so inclined. To prevent people from doing this as a way to bypass Windows licensing, there is a timer that will cause WinPE to periodically reboot itself if you leave it running.