It's not about winning, I'm trying to understand what you are trying to say. I don't know why we have to be so confrotational about the whole thing.
The kernel is not the same thing as the OS. The OS can be whatever you want, so if Microsoft labeled the OS as "Windows 95" then I guess Windows 95 is an OS. What's the point in arguing that? If you wanted to ask the OP about the kernel version you could've said that.
For example, here you have a few definitions of the term:
An operating system is software that manages a computer's hardware. It also provides a basis for application programs and acts as an intermediary between the computer user and the computer hardware.
If you think about it, what is involved in acting as an intermediary between the user and the computer? It could literally be anything.
Here's another one:
Computer software can be divided roughly into two kinds: system programs, which manage the operation of the computer itself, and application programs, which perform the actual work the user wants. The most fundamental system program is the operating system, whose job is to control all the computer's resources and provide a base upon which the application programs can be written.
Again, controlling the computer's resources. What is that? Memory management? Assigning CPU time slices?
Here's something that may be of interest:
Most computer users have had some experience with an operating system, but it is difficult to pin down precisely what an operating system is. Part of the problem is that operating systems perform two basically unrelated functions, extending the machine and managing resources, and depending on who is doing the talking, you hear mostly about one function or the other.
Extending the machine could also mean anything. It could mean providing a level of abstraction to the programmer, or to the user, or to virtually anything.
Instead of trying to pin down what an OS is, why not just agree that Microsoft decided to call it's OS "Windows 95," and leave it at that?