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I need to know for a script I am writing for VMware. Is Windows 95 32-bit or 16-bit and is Windows 98 32-bit or 16-bit?

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Both Windows 95 and Windows 98 are 32-bit, but they can run 16-bit applications and have a compatibility layer for 16-bit device drivers.

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All Windows versions (excluding x86-64) are 16 bit compatible via Virtual DOS machine, right? – Daniel Beck Jan 12 '11 at 19:59
Ah I see, thanks. – Solignis Jan 12 '11 at 20:03
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Windows 95 and 98 were hybrid in that some drivers and applications included were actually 16-bit, although it had a 32-bit kernel. Recently, the same has happened with the 32-bit to 64-bit transition, where Apple released Leopard as a hybrid 32/64-bit OS, followed by the 64-bit Snow Leopard.

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+1 for hybrid, which is closer to the truth. Some OS elements were 16 bit, and a thunking layer provided a translation between 16 and 32 bit. However, 32/64 bit OSes like Leopard or Linux don't do thunking, all of the os kernel is either 32 bit or 64 bit. – Rich Homolka Jan 12 '11 at 21:26
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Though, for the purpose of VMWare, it's 32 bit. – Rich Homolka Jan 12 '11 at 21:29
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Both are 32-bit. Via Wikipedia:

There were also major changes made at lower levels of the operating system, such as moving from a mainly 16-bit architecture to a pre-emptively multitasked 32-bit architecture.

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