Windows 95 facts
While investigating facts about Windows 95, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Brian Eno wrote the Windows 95 start up sound on a mac
The Codex Leicester, a collection of famous scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, was sold to Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8M. After Gates acquired the Codex, he had its pages scanned and distributed as screen savers and wallpapers for Windows 95.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about Windows 95 I managed to collect.
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Doom was so popular in 1995 that it was installed on more PCs than Windows 95. Bill Gates briefly considered buying ID software, but settled for getting a team at Microsoft to port the game to Win95. The team was led by Gabe Newell.
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The music video for the song "Buddy Holly" by Weezer was included with Windows 95.
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With the release of Windows 95, Microsoft couldn't figure out how to make the system more intuitive for people to use, and they hired a trained behavioral psychologist who would then create the solution: the Start button.
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The Museum of Endangered Sounds exists to allow streaming of once popular technological sounds. ie. the dial-up tone, ICQ chat tone, Windows 95 startup
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Brian Eno was paid $35,000 to compose the Windows 95 start up tune.
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Users had to pay $20 to beta-test Windows 95. The beta copies were timed and not upgradeable, and the beta testers were not eligible for any discount on the final version.
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Weezer's music video "Buddy Holly" was included on the install disc for Windows 95 and 20 years later the band was playing regularly at Microsoft retail store openings.
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The next version of Windows will be 10 because lots of existing software checks for Windows 95 / 98 installations by only looking for the number 9.
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Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry starred in a Windows 95 video guide
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Back in the 1990s, Indian government wanted to ban Windows 95 because the map on time zone selection screen showed India not controlling the Pakistan-occupied part of Kashmir. Microsoft "fixed" the problem by disabling the map altogether
What is true about windows 95?
You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.
Gabe Newell helped port Doom to Windows 95 because Bill Gates saw that Doom was installed on more PCs than Microsoft Windows
The music video for the song "Buddy Holly" by Weezer skyrocketed to popularity after it was included with the Windows 95 CD-ROM. - source
Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry made a Microsoft Windows 95 Video Tape Tutorial, Acting it out in a Comedy. It was also taped in Bill Gates own Office, on his Personal Computer.
In late 1995, Doom was estimated to be installed on more computers worldwide than Microsoft's new operating system Windows 95, despite million-dollar advertising campaigns for Windows 95. - source
In 1999 the chief scientist at an Internet security company claimed Microsoft had built in a "key" for the N.S.A.to the cryptographic standard used in Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT4 and Windows2000. The software giant denied the report.
Microsoft had to pull the Simplified Chinese version of Windows 95 from stores in the PRC because it contained slurs against Chinese Communists
Brian Eno composed the Windows 95 start up sound.
Windows 95 was the second most installed piece of software on computers in 1995; videogame DOOM was first.
Composer Brian Eno created the Windows 95 startup sound for Microsoft on an Apple Macintosh computer
Brian Eno created the iconic Windows 95 startup music; he composed it using a Mac, however, because he "doesn't like PCs"
