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Comment by sincerely | Hacker News Reader

>What really stands out are the main qualities that Windows 95, as a product, had and that are not common nowadays. It had a memorable launch, it was honest regarding its objectives, focused on the user, objective and transparent.

Maybe it's because I wasn't paying attention to computer stuff in '95, but I found the author's focus on "a memorable launch" somewhat out of place compared to the rest of the essay.

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I was barely a teenager when windows 95 launched and my father took me to CompUSA which was staying open late for the launch.

We purchased it when it was released at midnight and we then went home to stay up crazy late and install it. It was hands down the most memorable OS launch I have ever been a part of and a defining moment for my childhood.

I think the talk about the launch helps highlight that 95 was worthy of a launch, it was actual innovation and they threw it a party. However, I also agree that the initial focus on it is a bit unbalanced with what I consider the main argument later.

It was a big deal. The Stones got paid $3 million for the use of Start Me Up in a win95 commercial. https://www.networkworld.com/article/2220097/data-center/wha...

That was a milestone on the software industry.

The launch is just a sort of introduction, whilst the qualities that made Win95 relevant are the main focus. I don't mean to say that Win95 is outstanding, but it was surely very important at launch and made a difference in computer usage. It's more about its impact than its performance over other operating systems.

I guess I'd say it this way... there was a very simple case for Windows 95 that allowed for a big launch. The innovations were obvious, and the product was clearly superior to what it was replacing (Windows 3.x).

As a thought experiment, how would you even do a big launch for Windows 10 or the latest MacOS? I like both products quite a bit, but I'm not even sure what you would launch? A big pile of marginally useful features?

To be fair, Apple does do a big "launch" every year of their new MacOS and iOS version. Not Windows 95 big but definitely an event with many people in attendance.

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