Windows 95 supports network device drivers having either the network driver interface specification (NDIS) miniport or Full NDIS media access control model. The preferred driver model is the miniport model, as described in the Windows NT(tm) Device Driver Development Kit (DDK) version 3.51. Developers of miniport drivers should obtain the Windows NT 3.51 DDK and use it to develop a driver that is binary-compatible between Windows 95 and Windows NT version 3.51.
The Windows 95 DDK describes a method for building a driver that fits the Full NDIS media access control driver model, see . This documentation, which originally appeared in the Windows NT version 3.5 DDK, is included in the Windows 95 DDK for developers who must still use that model. Remember that the preferred driver model for a Windows 95 NDIS 3.1 driver is the miniport model.
The NDIS 3.1 specification is specific to Windows 95 and is essentially the NDIS 3.0 specification with Plug and Play capability added. For more information about Plug and Play networking, see .
It is important to note that for network adapter card drivers, an NDIS 3.1-compliant Full NDIS media access control driver can be built by compiling the NDIS 3.0 Full media access control driver sources with the Windows 95 DDK tools.
If you build a miniport driver, it is by definition NDIS 3.1-compliant, that is, the driver is a Plug and Play device.