The World According to Mitch

I was in the army and did not own a computer.  I had vowed to put the world of computers behind me.  But twenty years ago today, on August 24, 1995, Bill Gates got on to the stage and launched Windows 95.

Microsoft Windows was, of course, already ten years old at the time; Windows 1.0 was released in 1985 with very little fanfare or acceptance.  Windows 2.0 was really only used by people who wanted to use Ventura Publisher (a desktop publishing package).  Then when Windows 3.0 (and later 3.1 & 3.11) came out there was already a bit of an uptake.  But it was Windows 95 that really made a difference.  Before that day the majority of the mainstream had no idea who Bill Gates was… but they know now.

Thirty years after the launch of Windows and 20 years of Windows 9x and everyone knows who he is.  Microsoft changed the world, although whether it would have changed without them is a fair debate.

Happy birthday Windows 95… Many happy returns!