‘With Windows 95, Microsoft keeps us sweet’

The above was headlined by the Volkskrant almost 20 years ago after the introduction of Windows 95 on August 24, 1995. The media hype surrounding the anniversary operating system was unprecedented at the time, with the title of Stones song ‘Start me up’ as the advertising slogan.

‘Start me up’, or the arrival of the start button to start programs, was what the entire campaign was about. That’s not surprising: the OS comes out at a time when the computer world is changing very quickly, both hardware and software. IBM’s OS/2 Warp is then seen in the media as a worthy opponent that could potentially gain significant market share. Apple is having a hard time and can barely keep its head above water. To top it all off, the self-writable CD-ROM and CD-ROM player also entered the consumer market. Anyone could write their own CDs for a few thousand guilders, a ‘disturbing development for software makers’, the AD writes in January 1995.

Two weeks before the introduction of the new OS, Trouw headlined: “Windows 95 already illegal for trade”. According to the report, illegal CD-ROMs could be obtained by mail order for 65 guilders. The official sale price would be 199 guilders.

Meanwhile, Apple is getting ‘lost in the Windows hype’, headlines the NRC Handelsblad two days before the day that people are in tents in front of shops to get their hands on the new operating system. The Cupertino company’s market share dwindled from 9.4 percent in 1993 to 8.1 in 1994. Earlier that year, Apple tried to enforce a sales ban on Windows 95 for being too similar to Apple’s “graphics computer menu.” writes Trouw in February 1995.

“Midnight madness in American computer stores” headlines the NRC Handelsblad in the evening edition of August 24, 1995. It is part of a publicity stunt whereby software stores in America are allowed to put the OS on sale from 12 o’clock in the morning. The total cost of publicity is estimated at around a billion dollars.

So what does Microsoft want to keep us sweet in 1995? The author of the Volkskrant article Peter van der Landen states that Microsoft wants to use Windows 95 to pave the way for the introduction of the superior Windows NT. “A strategic tour de force”, says Van der Landen.

In the first week, many already switch to the new OS. According to a source in de Volkskrant of September 8, 1995, even ‘ten percent of users’ switch to Windows 95 in the first week. The operating system was available on CD-ROM or on 13 diskettes.

Still, Windows 95 was a game changer. It was the first move from MS-DOS to a graphical environment for many people. Windows 3.1 and Apple Macintosh were used, but the average consumer still started their Word Perfect by typing ‘wp’ within the DOS interface.