Which Windows release introduced System Restore?

Windows Me was the Windows release that introduced System Restore.

System Restore is a recovery feature that lets users roll back important system components to an earlier restore point. It can restore system files, installed applications, drivers, the Windows Registry, and system settings after a failed installation or other software problem. It is not a general backup system because it does not normally restore personal files such as documents, photographs, music, or videos.

Microsoft introduced the feature in Windows Millennium Edition, commonly called Windows Me, which reached retail customers on September 14, 2000. System Restore was designed to simplify troubleshooting for home users by recording system changes and allowing a return to a previously working configuration.

Windows XP retained the feature and later Windows versions expanded its implementation. Beginning with Windows Vista, System Restore used the Volume Shadow Copy service and could be launched from the Windows Recovery Environment when Windows would not boot normally. This history can cause confusion: Windows XP is strongly associated with System Restore, but Windows Me was the first Windows release to include it. Windows 98 had related protection tools, but not System Restore itself.