Throwback Thursday: Watch this Windows 95 Launch Video

If you were around in the 90’s, then you’ve likely encountered this sound. Microsoft Windows 95 was released on August 24, 1995, and support for it ran until the turn of the century. But in its time, Windows 95 was the game-changing operating system that, unlike its predecessor Windows 3.1, became the foundation we’ve come to love today.

As you can see in the launch trailer for Windows 95, Microsoft had quite the ambition for a consumer-oriented desktop. Then brand new, the OS redesigned the essential desktop with shortcuts and taskbar. It also replaced the 3.1 File Manager with the smoother Windows Explorer. Under the hood, the transition to 32-bit architecture and ‘plug-and-play’ capabilities set Windows 95 as a flagship for its future iterations.

Even as ground-breaking as Microsoft Windows 95 was for PCs, one commenter called out the ridiculous scenes in its ‘Start Me Up’ launch commercial. “Sitting in a coffee shop with a desktop computer. #winning,” they teased. Yet in this case, it was just another example of the vision for technology just a little (or a lot) before its time.

While we may not be clamoring to bring our bulky CRT monitors out of the garage, it’s always nice to look back. What is your fondest memory of using Windows 95? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments below or tweet us @OnMSFT.