Ten years ago today Microsoft's Windows 95 debuted. A flashy ad campaign costing close to $300 million dollars heralded its arrival, $12 million of which were spent securing the rights to the Rolling Stones song "Start Me Up," which played in the background as Bill Gates himself booted up the program in a ceremony at Microsoft headquarters that was viewed via satellite around the world. In addition to making many "a grown man cry" as indicated by the second verse of the ubiquitous Stones song, Windows 95 was notable for a number of innovations, including the introduction of the "Start" button and taskbar for the mass-market PC.
Speaking of the Start button, according to this article in Wikipedia, British electronic musician/producer Brian Eno is the composer behind the "start sound" you hear when Windows boots up. Eno has collaborated with such music industry heavyweights as David Bowie, The Talking Heads and U2. Take a trip back through time with this Washington Post article from this day 10 years back and get a more modern spin in this article on eWeek.
By the way, in case Mr.
News RSS