Tech events unveiling new software, gadgets, and services are pretty common nowadays. However, back in the earlier times of computers, it was still a nerd's paradise. Computers were a niche product, existing mostly in professional settings or schools. The Internet was still in its infancy. So, to say that Microsoft's Windows 95 was a big deal, it's all true.
The Blue OS Museum YouTube account has unearthed and posted the full 90-minute video showing Microsoft's event. It has everything you could ever want from a company flexing its semi-might at a pivotal point in computing history.
From the clothes, to Jay Leno, to Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates still being in peek nerd form, this event is lovable Microsoft at its best cringe. And I mean that in the best way possible. Florence Ion over at Gizmodo has a slideshow breaking down some of these great moments if you don't want to watch the full event.
For a little background, Windows 95 was the first giant leap in non-Mac computing. Microsoft had gained some momentum in the PC space with Windows 3.11 and looked to become dominant with Windows 95.
The buildup was many months in the making. Commercials were everywhere. Windows 95 brought a huge amount of features still around today: Start menu, Taskbar, file explorer, long filenames, plug & play, TCP/IP networking + Internet Explorer (after some updates past V1.0), and many more.
To this day, I STILL think of Windows 95 any time I hear Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones.