20 years of Windows 95: How it changed the world

Long time ago ago, at a time when smartphones, tablets, social networks and streaming services did not exist, the Windows 95. Presented by Bill Gates on August 24, 1995, it consisted of a package with 13 floppy disks and completed 20 years last Monday (24th) and was responsible for some of the most important novelties of the system, present until today. and in times of Windows 10, it is worth remembering everything that happened at that time, including some examples of how the Win95 revolutionized the world:

He brought the Start Menu

If every operating system today has a start menu, it's thanks to Windows 95. Microsoft has always strived to make computers user-friendly and easy to use. As we already published, games like Patience e FreeCell they had purposes beyond fun, and they served as subliminal tutorials to help users.

O Start is also part of this initiative, bringing together all the programs and system settings in one place. It became so important that when the ecosystem tried to retire him Windows 8, was heavily criticized and forced to bring it back in Windows 10.

The taskbar revolutionized multitasking

If the Windows 3.1, which already had a graphical interface was a huge mess, the Win95 brought with him the taskbar, which managed to organize the house and revolutionize multitasking and because of that, it remains on the system until today, having been copied by other systems such as Linux, in KDE, for example, and Mac OS, which keeps it in form of However, until today.

Love it or hate it, he brought the web home with Internet Explorer

The most beloved browser of the 90s, the Internet Explorer, was introduced in Windows 95 and did not exit the operating system ecosystem until today. If you love it or hate it (see here why many hate him) IE, you have to admit that if you're over 20, it was your first browser, and back then, with a glorious 56K dial-up and “super lightweight” flash sites, it wasn't even that bad, just that not…

Connected, now you can use

If today it is more than common to plug a peripheral or USB device into the PC and use it, then before Windows 95 it was not so easy. To connect a mouse or keyboard, for example, it was necessary to turn off the computer, so that it would recognize the new hardware. The 95 brought with it the “plug'n'play“, which no matter how much needed it at that time, today it is indispensable. Can you imagine having to restart your computer whenever you need to plug your flash drive or smartphone into your PC?

It brought the most “fun” font on Windows

The most hated font by designers around the world, Comic Sans, was designed by the designer of ecosystem Vincent Connare, with the aim of illustrating Microsoft Bob's speech bubbles, a Windows 3.1 graphical interface aimed at children.

As it was completed in 1994, it ended up only entering the Windows 95, and has not left the system. Despite being famous and funny, she is considered the worst source of Windows.

As the new system was a landmark at the time, the Windows 95 gained prominence in the media. See the announcement of the new system in the Jornal Nacional of 1995, presented by Cid Moreira. It is interesting to note what computing was like at that time:

It was also in Win95 that came the MSN, Microsoft Network, which is designed to access emails, chats and chat rooms. Pure nostalgia!

If you haven't had the opportunity to use this system, you can try a virtual simulator that shows what it was like Windows 20 years ago.

And finally, a short video of the system launch party, with Steve Ballmer, super excited and entitled to Bill Gates dancing, like a good nerd, obviously!

What was your experience with Windows 95, did you use it? Tell us what your first PC was.