US EditionWindows 95 at 30 - Way Ahead of Its Time, or the Greatest Microsoft Game-Changer?
Windows 95 introduced the Start menu and taskbar, sold 7 million copies in five weeks, and shifted to 32-bit architecture enhancing user performance, Microsoft said.
- On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95 at a carnival-like launch in Redmond, Washington, featuring Jay Leno and Bill Gates, while retail customers queued for the $99 midnight sale.
- Microsoft designed Windows 95 to merge with MS-DOS for IBM PC compatibility, shifted from 16-bit architecture in Windows 3.1 to 32-bit, and adopted plug and play to simplify hardware setup.
- Among new conveniences, Windows 95 offered the Start menu, taskbar, Briefcase for syncing files, 255-character file names, and user profiles for multiple users.
- The launch translated into blockbuster sales, with Windows 95 selling seven million copies in its first five weeks and 40 million units by its first anniversary, cementing Microsoft's PC platform leadership.
- Within a few years the internet became ubiquitous and Microsoft, which shipped Windows 95 without a web browser, raced to add Internet Explorer, while modern launches favor influencers, as Google Pixel promoted this past week with Jimmy Fallon.
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nin.rsThe American company Microsoft invested 300 million dollars in the promotion of the Windows95 operating system alone, eight of which went to the famous Rolling Stones for the song Start Me Up, which became the trademark of the new software.
The first Microsoft software with graphical interface responded to Bill Gates' ambition to bring computers to every desk and home. The colossal promotional campaign and record sales
Microsoft's iconic operating system has democratized the place of the computer in the homes.
Only the older ones know this: In an inconspicuous folder called »funstuff« a complete game was hidden in Windows 95. His name: Hover! Basically Hover! was a kind of catch and collect game that took place in a three-dimensional labyrinth. You steer a floating vehicle through an abstract world of walls and platforms. The goal is to collect all blue flags before the computer opponent caught the red ones. Power-ups gave you temporary invulnerabilit…
On Sunday Windows 95 becomes 30 years old. A farm still uses the operating system today - in an egg sorting machine.
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