This page and essay were made in Summer 2022 as a project in understanding the cultural legacy of Windows 95.
By numbers, it was the largest initiation of computer users in history. (Source)
Yet the operating system presented few actual innovations: the features were actually more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Instead, the success of Windows 95 came largely as a result of Microsoft’s decisive timing. Just as the internet began entering cultural consciousness, Microsoft came to market with this consolidated bundle of personal computing’s most powerful features to-date. The release became a breakthrough moment for consumer computing. Windows 95 became the first product to eclipse technology and exist in the social mainstream.
"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products… Their products have no sort of spark of intuition or creativity… It's just nothing original."
-Steve Jobs, 1996
(Source)
Founded in 1975, Microsoft was the first true PC software company. In it’s first decade, the company shipped an operating system (DOS) and Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Yet by the 90s, the company had grown colossally bloated and developed a reputation as unimaginative.While other players (Xerox, Apple, Lotus) drove innovation, Microsoft gradually adopted the of riding in this wake and, instead of innovating, iterating on competitors’ PC features.
As unoriginal as this approach was, Microsoft played a central role in popularizing personal computing and shaping the landscape to this day.
Windows 95 stood on the shoulders of two innovations: The GUI of the 1980s and the Web of the early 90s.
Like most other computers at the time, Windows 95 adopted a graphical user interface (GUI).
Seeded in the 1950s (Sketchpad, PARC) and popularized by Apple in the 80’s (Macintosh), graphical user interfaces rendered computers more intuitive than ever.
Based on the familiar desktop metaphor of windows, folders, and icons, GUIs eliminated the need type exact coded commands into a terminal. Humans could now click, drag, and scroll.
By abstracting away complexities, GUIs drastically reduced the barriers to engaging with computers. It enabled a more accessible, human experience. (Hertzfeld)
Yet because computing to this point had oriented towards corporations and enterprises, computer software—what you could do with the technology—remained geared for productivity.
Software’s evolution beyond tools like word-processing and data-crunching would be a gradual, decade-long transition.
Personal computing remained without a consumer-level killer app.
Productivity steered personal computing into the 1990s, where the World Wide Web would begin to seize the public imagination. The new promise of personal computing became instant communication & information.
In April 1995, the National Science Foundation relinquished control of the Internet, opening up for the interlinking of personal, commercial, and government networks to merge—for the first time.
By May, Gates set Microsoft’s scope on this newly-discovered, unmapped infinitude. It became clear: a web browser would the killer app for mainstream computer users.
“The Internet is the most important single development to come along since the IBM PC was introduced in 1981. It is even more important than the arrival of the graphical user interface (GUI).”
-Bill Gates, May 1995
Internet Tidal Wave memo
But Netscape Navigator (1994) had already been the first mover. This free web browser became the first threat to Microsoft’s monopoly in the company’s 20 years.
They would need to build their own competitor: Internet Explorer.
Yet Microsoft found themselves in familiar positions: they were probably the best at copying adapting the innovations of others. Netscape was based on the open-source Mosaic, meaning Microsoft could access the blueprint. Ultimately they were able to ship Internet Explorer under three months after Gates’ memo.
Microsoft released Windows 95 in August 1995.
The release itself was a cultural affair. A launch event was hosted by Jay Leno, a sitcom-style tutorial was released starring Friends’ Rachel and Chandler, and the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” synced to a Microsoft TV ad which ran nationwide.
The product was marketed as an accessible, easy-to-use computer. A solution to everyday problems.
Each copy came with Microsoft’s own browser, Internet Explorer, pre-installed. (Contrast this to Netscape, whose releases came as CDs that needed configuration. Absolute chess move). Internet Explorer quickly became the easiest way to access the web, and Microsoft was in driver’s seat of the proceeding browser wars.
Windows 95 sold 1 million copies in its first four days, and 7 million in its first five weeks. By the end of June 1996, just over a year after its launch, The OS sold an impressive 20 million copies.
While Apple marched to the mantra of ‘Think Different’, Microsoft adopted more or less a “Think Normie” approach.
Windows 95 bundled the top innovations across personal computing of the time and made it available in one single CD install.
It’s 8 million lines of code powered an experience so intuitive that a majority of users never even considered the code.
And while Apple came to market with ostensibly better technology a decade prior, Microsoft’s success was in it’s reach. Win95 was the first to ripple all the way to the non-technical user.
Savviness or lucky timing, Windows 95 was instrumental to not only personal computing, but also the proliferation of the web. Within a year of its release, web access grew 300%. (11/1995: 12 million, 12/1996: 36 million).
It’s success changed the industry, and put many companies out of business (Netscape).
I was initiated into personal computing with a machine running Win95. The computer I spent my summers surfing the web in my grandma’s living room ran Win95. The first computer I build ran Win95.
The OS introduced a new dimension of reality: a world of my own construction.
Experiencing first-hand how pervasive this OS has been, even 28+ years after it’s release, I became curious why. Research (and then replicating it in a modern web browser) became a year-long side project. There are many others that exist and may be more robust, but this was a great experience in building entirely independently.
There were a few key features I focused on: window manipulation, animation physics, and the Start bar.
Windows: Open multiple windows at once and switch manipulating between the two.
Start bar: Iconic quick-action tool. Originated with this OS.
Animation physics: Win95 offered a click-and-drag interactive desktop, which is recreated using mostly the original icons.
Icons are sourced from original files, some are lifted directly from archival asset repositories.
Display: 800x600 (compared to the 3840 x 2160px laptop screen I’m writing this on) meant pixelation and cathode-ray tube artifacting. I also made my own CRT animation using CSS:
On a technical note, Windows 95 shipped as 32-bit, meaning it could handle 32 bits of data at once. This offered—among other things—enhanced multimedia capabilities like video and audio playback… check out the easter egg audio button in the taskbar!
I also added the capability to Right-click to change wallpaper. I had to overwrite the context menu shortcut, so to view the source of this page you’ll have to Command ⌘ + Shift ⇧ + C.
A lot of this was hacked together. It was my first time manipulating objects in the DOM using Javascript. In total I spent around 80 hours developing this page.
