It’s been 15 years since Microsoft unveiled Windows 95, ushering in a new era for the software giant, and setting the stage in many ways for the future success of Windows XP and Windows 7.
We take a quick look back at the day that was, at Microsoft’s launch for what was a dramatic overhaul of the Windows experience, and about the impact that launch had years afterward. Datamation has the story.
The date was Aug. 24, 1995, and hundreds of media and influential corporate customers were crammed into a circus tent on Microsoft
’
s (NASDAQ: MSFT) campus for the official launch of Windows 95.
It was a festive affair: Outside, Microsoft had set up a Ferris wheel and food booths, and a rock band. But the real excitement was inside the tent, where then-CEO and chairman Bill Gates and celebrity guest host Jay Leno celebrated the debut of the operating system that would overhaul the stodgy feel of Windows 3.x with a sleeker, more user-friendly — and more modern — PC operating system.