But for whatever reason, maybe because it sounded too technical, users in these Windows studies wouldn't click a System button no matter what.īut once they renamed it the "Start" button, people understood it intuitively. Originally, Oran says, it was called the "System" button, and it lived at the top of the screen. So instead, he thought to give them one single button to push that led them to everything, the same way he had to teach the chimps, button by button, how to use software. If users couldn't figure out where to go in Windows, Oran says, it was a design failure. Then he had an epiphany on his commute to Microsoft's Redmond headquarters. Oran's original sketch for the Windows Start menu concept. "And even he couldn't figure out Windows." "He was literally a rocket scientist," Oran says. But then they talked to that user, and it turns out that he was actually a propulsion engineer for Boeing. But that relief would be short lived: "Our customers are morons!" exclaimed the programmer. Finally, a programmer spoke up that this was unacceptable, to Oran's relief. The Windows programmers wouldn't recognize that the problem was with the operating system and not the users.įor instance, one study subject took twenty minutes of staring at a Windows 3.1 desktop before being able to open a text editing program. This would become a frustrating experience for Oran very quickly. As part of a usability study, Oran and some programmers would instruct a subject on how to complete a simple task and watch how they did it. One of the first steps along the way was to watch how customers were actually using Windows in the wild. And as a big fan of Apple's Mac operating system, Oran could come at it from an outsider's perspective. Windows 3.1, the version in use around 1992, had a reputation of being hard to use. It often indicates a user profile.Īt the time, Microsoft needed the help. If you manage to find an old computer with Windows 95 on it, do yourself a favor and take a trip down memory lane - assuming you’re old enough to have memories from those years.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. For better or worse, many of the intuitive features we use every day on our computers were groundbreaking at the time - and they’ve become an integral part of consumer technology. Still, the legacy of Windows 95 is undeniable. Some of these issues would be fixed with Windows 98 others, like goddamn Ctrl-Alt-Del would plague Microsoft for years and years to come. And it had a big problem with handling a multi-tasking environment well enough. Introduced in the early days of the internet, Windows 95 was rife with security problems. We still had to deal with Ctrl+Alt+Del as our only recourse for unresponsive apps and confusing issues. Of course, Windows 95 wasn’t without its flaws. It conferred a bit more power to the consumer and enabled them to organize things as they saw fit - and as operating systems evolved since then, they worked harder and harder to give users more power over their own computing experience. Yes, it’s almost a stupidly simple feature, but it gave users a bit more power over how to deal with what they were seeing on their desktop. Windows 95 was the first operating system to give the option to minimize, maximize, and close out different windows and applications. Users can change their preferences, access different options of the application, and investigate how to troubleshoot any problems they run into.Īnd let’s not forget how much better all the “windows” on the new OS were to cycle through. The “File,” “Edit,” “View,” and (most importantly) “Help” headings are now staples of the majority of applications. Along the idea of the start menu, the tool bar - for any application - gave users a go-to place at the top of the screen for when they needed to figure out how to make an application work the way they wanted. The tool bar was also an essential part of Windows 95. The start menu was the rubicon that made computers into a consumer-friendly market - plain and simple. It was like a gateway that led to a whole new world of possibilities - from solitaire and minesweeper to kill time, to Winamp and Napster for your music needs, to your choice of Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer as your Internet browsing tools. After the computer booted up, users could access almost all of the computer’s applications or files simply by clicking on the little button on the bottom left-hand side. The first and foremost of which is the start menu. And it’s all thanks to just a few, simple innovations we now take for granted. Windows 95 is basically the computer age’s version of the dinosaur - extinct today, but the ruling species of its time. Nostalgia for the ‘90s aside, Windows 95 was one of the most influential things to happen to modern computing, transforming these machines of digital language and processing into tools that were accessible and easy for almost anyone.
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