Happy Birthday Win 95

15 years ago, Microsoft launched Windows 95 to the tune of the Stones “Start Me Up!”. Mircrosoft was founded in 1975.

Though the blockbuster launches of Apple products these days have been eclipsing Microsoft’s newspaper coverage spaces, yet we should not forget that the Windows 95 launch then was a big deal.

Yes, it’s hard to imagine it now. But the Win 95 launch was greeted with a big hype: the Empire State Building lit in Windows colours, midnight queues outside PC shops, wall-to-wall news coverage and that Rolling Stones riff.

Windows 95 had catapulted Microsoft into the mainstream consumer consciousness, in a way that no other Microsoft product ever had;  and set up Microsoft for five years of awesome financial performance that nearly made the company so valuable in the world.

And as seen in the video, it featured a massive publicity campaign, headlined by the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.” And yes, Bill Gates was then arguably an even more awe-inspiring figure than Steve Jobs is today.

Microsoft is the largest software company in the world. It was founded by Bill Gates. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, and is most recognized for Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft Office Suite.

And I know few people who still have Windows 95 installed in their computers.