On this day 17 years ago ...


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Then: Windows 95, the multitasking, multi-window OS.

Now: Windows 8, the micro-tasking, fullscreen-locked app-based OS.

Heh, that's evolution indeed...

WTF?! They took multitasking and multi-windows out? When did this happen?

17 years ago I was a wee lad, or perhaps I was an elderly gentleman. I forget. But, I don't even recall the PC we had. I do recall playing Sierra's line of games on it. King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry. I also played Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as well on that thing.

I remember waiting for pages to load on the internet. You could leave the room, go to the kitchen, microwave something, bring it back and the page may or may not have loaded by that time. Ah. Good times.

17 years ago today (August 24th), Windows 95, a revolutionary version, was released to the public.

I had just started my 6th grade year in August 1995.

Now we have another revolutionary release, Windows 8.

On the day of the Windows 95 release, I was at the Launch Day event in Washington, DC (I was just one of *many* Windows 95 beta testers that showed up at various Launch Day events worldwide). In my case, I was making the rounds at various booths and kiosks and found - at different times - microphones from local TV stations stuck in my face. Even though I had made no secret that I was going to be attending the Launch Day event, I had zero idea how much snarkback I would get the next day when various cousins would let me know they saw my ugly mug all over the local news.

If there will be a Windows 8 Launch Day event, I'll still be attending. However, this time, I'll be better prepared for the snarkfest.

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