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Microsoft

A Windows 95 Retrospective

By greg shultz June 16, 2010, 2:35 AM PDT

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A Windows 95 Retrospective

By Greg Shultz

By Greg Shultz

ntAs you may remember, when Microsoft released the Windows 95 operating system, it was quite a big deal in the computing industry. During those days I had the good fortune to be working at the Cobb Group and writing the Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal. As such I was pretty close to the center of it all. One of the benefits of that job at that particular time was that I had the easy access to a lot of software, books, and other stuff related to the operating system. I recently came across a box containing all this Windows 95 stuff and thought that it would make a good gallery.
nt
ntHere you can see a lapel pin and a keychain that I picked up at the Microsoft Windows 95 World Tour.

n

ntThis gallery was originally published in July 2010.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The flipside of the keychain.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is the CD that came with the Windows 95 Beta 2 kit which was issued October 28, 1994. This was listed as build 189.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The next CD in my collection is from an Interim Build that was issued on February 1, 1995.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This Pre-Release copy was issued in March 1995. This is the first CD in the collection that contained the now familiar Windows 95 logo on a cloud background.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The June 5, 1995 edition of the Microsoft WinNews Electronic Newsletter contained this announcement about the World Wide Live! Developing for Windows 95 show. This show was beamed live via satellite to more than 70 locations in the US. A bunch of us from the Cobb Group piled into a van and drove to a theater in Indianapolis to watch the show.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is the cover of an Interim Build that was handed out at the World Wide Live! Developing for Windows 95 show.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is the Build 484 CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Build 490 CD was released on June 6, 1995.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Build 490 was the CD first in my collection that displayed the autostart menu when you inserted the disk into the drive.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Build 490 was actually Release Candidate 1 and of course also came on a more commercial looking CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In July, I received my first copy of the Windows 95 Upgrade edition of the operating system on 13 floppy disks from the Final Test Release.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Somewhere around the middle of 1994, Adrian King, a former Microsoft director of system software products, wrote a book called Inside Windows 95 in which revealed a very technical, behind the scenes look at the development of Windows 95.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The back cover provided a nice synopsis of the contents of the book.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In early 1995, the Windows 95 Product Team released Introducing Microsoft Windows 95 to describe in detail the features and benefits of the operating system.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The last two sentences in top right section of the back cover read: This comprehensive overview will leave you with a clear vision of how the software looks, works, and acts. It includes everything you’ve wanted to know about Windows 95 but didn’t know who to ask!

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In early 1995, the Cobb Group released The Cobb Group’s First Look At Windows 95 u2013 a 40-page brochure that provided an overview look at all of the features in Windows 95.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Inside Microsoft Windows 95 premiered in May to support the Windows 95 Preview Program members.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The retail package of Windows 95, which hit the store shelves on August 24, 1995, contained an 85-page user guide.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Windows 95 Upgrade CD cover.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Windows 95 Upgrade CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In September 1995, the Cobb Group re-released the Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal covering the official version of the operating system.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The retail package of the Microsoft Plus! Companion for Windows 95 contained a 25-page user guide, which oddly had a black and white cover.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Microsoft Plus! Companion for Windows 95 CD cover was much more colorful.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Microsoft Plus! Companion for Windows 95 CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The August 1995 Microsoft TechNet CD package was dubbed the Windows 95 Special Issue and contained all sorts of technical information on the new operating system.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

To help the uninitiated users learn about the new operating system, Microsoft developed Windows 95 How & Why u2013 a Multimedia Reference guide for Windows 95. This is the front cover of the package.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is the back cover of the package

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is the Windows 95 How & Why CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Windows 95 Resource Kit provided detailed technical resource for rolling out, supporting, and understanding Windows 95.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Oddly enough, the first edition of the Windows 95 Resource Kit came with 3 floppy disks instead of a CD. To access the Windows 95 Resource Kit utilities, which were in a compressed format, you were instructed to use the new Add/Remove Programs tool in the Control Panel.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Cobb Group had a close working relationship with Microsoft, which allowed us to have a subscription promotion for the Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal included in the Windows 95 Resource Kit.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Windows 95 came with a new Help system and the Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit, provided developers with all the information that they needed to create the new Help files.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The CD contained the new Help compiler and sample files.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Believe it or not, the first edition of Windows 95 did not include Internet Explorer. However, if you bought the Windows 95 Internet Kit, you received a book that provided you with all the information that you needed to begin using Internet Explorer.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Internet Explorer was included on the floppy disk that came with the Windows 95 Internet Kit.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Windows 95 Training kit was designed to help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified Professional program.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The box housed 2 books and a CD, which unfortunately I misplaced somewhere along the line.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Of course, the Windows 95 release was accompanied with the release of Microsoft Office for Windows 95. This is the cover of the 600-page book that came with the package. Office 95 was available in two versions, Office 95 Standard and Office 95 Professional.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The CD version of Office 95 Professional, which included Access, also included Bookshelf.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

This is Disc 1 of the two disc set.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In order to help ensure its success on the Internet, Microsoft bought FrontPage from Vermeer Technologies and released it for Windows 95.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Microsoft FrontPage for Windows 95 came on three floppy disks.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

Among other revolutionary things, Windows 95, with its new ActiveX controls, was billed as the ultimate gaming platform. To help highlight that capability, Microsoft released Microsoft Fury3 for Windows 95. This is the Microsoft Fury3 CD cover. (The game was actually developed by a company called Terminal Reality and published by Microsoft.)

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The Microsoft Fury3 CD.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

In order to aid their push into the gaming arena, Microsoft introduced the SideWinder 3D Pro joystick, which was quickly followed by the SideWinder Precision Pro joystick. I no longer have the SideWinder 3D Pro and this is picture is from the SideWinder Precision Pro box. Notice the text up by the logo – it says: Joystick compatible with Windows 95 only.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The SideWinder Precision Pro CD cover.

A Windows 95 Retrospective

The SideWinder Precision Pro CD.

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By greg shultz
My first computer was a Kaypro 16 \"luggable\" running MS-DOS 2.11 which I obtained while studying computer science in 1986. After two years, I discovered that I had a knack for writing documentation and shifted my focus over to technical writing.
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