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When Matthew Perry Met Windows 95 (youtube.com) 60

Posted by EditorDavid from the one-where dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: In 1994 the TV show Friends premiered, and its first season's high ratings made it the 8th most-popular show. The next year Microsoft released Windows 95 — and filmed a promotional video for it with 25-year-old Matthew Perry and 26-year-old Jennifer Aniston.

"They'll be taking you on an adventure in computing that takes place in the office of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates," explains the video's narrator, adding "Along the way, they meet a wacky bunch of propellor-heads.... And are introduced the top 25 features of Windows 95!"

It's a journey back in time. (At one point the video refers to Windows as the operating system "with tens of millions of users.") Their 30-minute segment — billed as "the world's first cyber sitcom" — appears in an hour-long video introducing revolutionary features like the new "Start" button. Also demonstrated in Excel are the new minimize and maximize "features" in "the upper right-side of the window". And the two actors marvel at the ability to type a filename that was longer than eight characters...

Watch for reminders that The Microsoft Windows 95 Video Guide was filmed nearly three decades ago. When the desktop appears after waking from screensaver mode, Perry notes that there's "no messy DOS build-up." And later the video reminds viewers that Windows 95 is compatible "with DOS games like Flight Simulator." There's also a brand new feature called "Windows Explorer" (which is described as "File Manager on steroids"), as well as a new "Find" option, and a brand new icon named "My Computer". And near the end they pay a visit to the Microsoft Network — which was mostly a "walled garden" online service — described in the video as "your on-ramp to the information superhighway".

The video even explains how Windows 95 "uses the right mouse button for what Microsoft calls power users."

And by the end of it, Jennifer Anniston finds herself playing Space Cadet 3D pinball.
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When Matthew Perry Met Windows 95 More

When Matthew Perry Met Windows 95

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  • Windows 95 UI (Score:4)

    by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) on Sunday October 29, 2023 @08:50PM (#63964380)
    Very close to perfect I think and very unobtrusive compared to any modern Windows. I think the only people that wouldn't like it today are the tiling WM aficionados.

    • Nobody liked it back then either: http://hallofshame.gp.co.at/ms... [gp.co.at]

      • Try it again now.
        • Now with telemetry!
        • Indeed. Many of those examples are terribly nit-picky when compared to the interface woes of windows 11. It's not like the Win95 GUI was perfect, just like it's not that the P3 was perfect that Intel based the future on those instead of committing to refining the P4. At some point it's just easier to start over from your last good idea instead of persisting with the dead end. Unfortunately I get the impression Microsoft is well aware of what people don't like about 11, they just don't care. Their goals have

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sosume ( 680416 )

        "nobody" - sure, there were haters back then as well. Most people were simply amazed and appreciated the upgrade from Windows 3.1. Bill gates didn't become a billionaire because nobody liked his software.

        • That's what monopolies do. They force people to buy things even though they don't like them.

          • Orâ¦maybe people make companies monopolies after purchasing their favourite OS from them?

            Linux was (and one begs to differ probably still is) a usability nightmare around that time. What was it at? Version 1? Ha!

            Your comment couldnâ(TM)t be further from the truth and sounds like a toxic hater, just-because.
          • This was still the era when making quality software mattered. Sure they had a big market position but that doesn't negate the actual improvements in Win 95. It was a huge advancement. And so was Win 2000, which was the peak of Windows stability and usability.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by StormReaver ( 59959 )

          Bill gates didn't become a billionaire because nobody liked his software.

          He became a billionaire because he was handed the keys of the kingdom by IBM, and then used those keys to threaten computer manufacturers against using any other operating system. Product quality had little to nothing to do with it.

          • and then used those keys to threaten computer manufacturers against using any other operating system

            He didn't "threaten" the computer manufacturers. The PC manufacturers just knew that their customers wanted PCs that ran DOS, not CP/M, Xenix, Unix or OS/2 Warp.

            Those customers would have been pretty upset if they'd bought an Amstrad PC only to find it didn't run Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect or MONKEY KONG.

            • He didn't "threaten" the computer manufacturers.

              Yes, he did. He told computer manufacturers that they would lose their license to sell Windows if they put anything else on their computers. Have you totally forgotten the 1999 antitrust trial?

              • > Have you totally forgotten the 1999 antitrust trial?

                Have you? That trial was about bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, not threatening computer manufacturers who might have put CP/M or OS/2 Warp on their PCs.

                • That trial was about bundling Internet Explorer with Windows...

                  A lot more came out of that trial than just talking about Internet Explorer. Many of Microsoft's tactics were made public.

                  • Yes, but threatening PC manufacturers who went with another OS wasn't one of them.

                    I'm old enough to remember that if you could order an IBM PC with Gary Kildall's CP/M if you wanted. No one wanted to, because all the popular applications ran in DOS.

                    It was market forces, not "threatening."

      • Nobody liked it back then either: http://hallofshame.gp.co.at/ms... [gp.co.at]

        Who is "nobody"? Some asshole on the Internet bitching that 95 gave us more ways to do things on the desktop than before?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by guruevi ( 827432 )

          I was alive back then, I actually used Windows 95, it was way worse in terms of usability than the average X windows system, it was way worse than OS/2 Warp in terms of stability, usability and speed. Multi-tasking in Windows 95 was still painful whereas other OS had figured it out decades before. Drivers were an issue.

          Professionals by and large didn't like it because it looked (and acted) like a toy, the masses liked it because of it.

    • Very close to perfect I think and very unobtrusive compared to any modern Windows. I think the only people that wouldn't like it today are the tiling WM aficionados.

      That's why I use the XFCE desktop. It's a lot like Windows95 with all of the bugs fixed.

  • Those were the days... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29, 2023 @09:13PM (#63964410)
    ... back when you could use the Windows-F key combination to find something. Nowdays it opens a stupid "feedback wizard."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      These day's it's just the Windows key by itself to open the Start Menu and focus on the search box. Unfortunately Windows Search has got really bad. No, I didn't want to search Bing.

      My advice is install Powertoys and use the Run feature. I think the default keyboard combo is alt-space, at least that's what I use. You can configure exactly what you want to search, but I keep mine to just apps. It can do stuff like calculations or go directly to registry keys too.

    • I pressed Win-F on my Windows machine and it opened Locate32...

  • I tried watching that video (Score:3)

    by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Sunday October 29, 2023 @09:21PM (#63964420) Homepage

    I tried watching that video, could not go for long, it's so bad... And I don't mean that in a good way, like the Power Glove.

    • It looks like an early adaptor of the handheld "documentary" style of filming that was popular in music videos also. I hate it, it is very annoying.

    • The mid 90's was immersed in cringe all around but no one had a way to measure it. To be fair, the Power Glove was just an awkward, half-assed keyboard freeloading off sci-fi VR movie themes but lacking in the department of ergonomics. It had a slight advantage of tens of millions of video production ad $pend to patronize boys between the ages of 5 and 16. Not to be outdone, the Wii tried its hand at VR and derezed itself into abysmal sales until Nintendo threw in the towel, until the Switch. If they only s

  • Yeah. I miss Mathew Perry too. May he RIP. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gavron ( 1300111 ) on Sunday October 29, 2023 @10:08PM (#63964466)

    Fortunately Windows 95 (really only mass released in 1996) doesn't speak to Chandler's legacy.
    Dr Ozyranski left many marks on our world, and cheap Windows For Workgroups with GUi (tm?)
    was not one of them.

    I miss Matthew Perry and admit it. I never knew him. He was that star on that show and he did
    that movie (and a bunch of others) and that blonde girl liked him but he and that dark-haired girl
    had it better.

    Meanwhile Microsoft was busy ENSURING that the same bug for bug compatible crap that plagued
    MS-DOS would continue to be fully functional in WFW, Win95, Win98, WinNT (new kernel, thank
    you Digital Equipment Corporation's Dave Cutler) 2K, XP, Vista, etc.

    Microsoft created the perfect petri dish for malware. Matthew Perry was just a spokesman for version 1.

    Miss you, Matthew Perry. I've learned in the last two days about your struggles with substances and fame.
    I hope you are at peace.

    • Re:Yeah. I miss Mathew Perry too. May he RIP. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by NCsunset ( 10099846 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @09:58AM (#63965466)
      I'm a sober alcoholic. Been clean now almost six years. In the AA community we are told to be anonymous, hence the name. And as such as part of AA, I understand that need, it makes some sense in that context. But as individuals, I think we are missing a fantastic opportunity to help others by not being more open to our challenges and recovery. When I first got clean, it was helped in no small part by knowing friends that had also gotten sober.

      I've always appreciated celebrities that spoke to their challenges, not in an overly egocentric way, but just being transparent. Matthew Perry is a good example of this. I thought similarly of Carrie Fisher that she was publicly open to her mental health struggles. I can't say I pay a lot of attention to celebrities, but I always cheer when I hear of someone getting clean. Speaking from experience, it is challenging, and we earn sobriety 24 hours at a time.

      Matthew, good luck in whatever comes next.

  • https://nationalpost.com/enter... [nationalpost.com]

    Breadcrumb Trail Links
    WorldTelevisionNewsCultureCelebrityCanada
    Matthew Perry's Canadian connections: Friends star said he beat up young Trudeau
    'Iâ(TM)ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play,' Justin Trudeau wrote on X after learning of Matthew Perry's death

    Author of the article:
    The Associated Press
    Published Oct 29, 2023 â Last updated 4 hours ago â 3 minute read
    112 Comments

    Matthew Perry's iconic performance on "Friends" may forever link him wi

  • crashy (Score:3)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @12:06AM (#63964650)

    Sure the only thing that crashes more than Matthew Perry, Windows 95.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Creepy ( 93888 )

      That's pretty cruel, Windows 95 was way more stable than Windows 98. It was also the first Windows I preferred over GEM, as well. I was a HUGE mac fan and hated Windows, so that is high praise (I used DR-DOS and GEM on PCs). I worked Windows support around then and got thousands more calls about shitty Windows 3.11 vs 95.

      • Windows 95 was way more stable than Windows 98.

        It's amazing how everyone had a different experience back then. Win95 for me was a bluescreen nightmare. I'd say 90% of people's opinion on windows crashing came down to the hardware they had and the drivers they installed. For years windows fan boys loved the hardware compatibility compared to mac/linux but let's face it, you were required to put someone else's code in Ring0 and you were just begging for hard crashes. 98 came with so many microsoft created drivers that replaced the 3rd party ones that it w

  • Good old times (Score:3)

    by peppepz ( 1311345 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @01:10AM (#63964746)
    Remember when new versions of operating systems introduced new features that people actually wanted?
    • I use Windows 10 right now, and there is nothing compelling me to want to upgrade further. After disabling all of the autoupdating (OMFG Security!!!!), I am left with a system that just works, and has been the most stable Windows I have ever used (YMMV). Windows 11 offers me absolutely nothing to make me want to switch to it. I guess I will eventually find myself on a Windows 11 (Windows 12, Windows 13...) box, but it's not going to be a change that I want.

  • Minimize and Maximize in the upper right side weren't new in Windows 95 though; they were there in Windows 3.0/3.1/3.11, too. They just got new icons. Close was the new one; previously, the canonical gesture for closing a window was a double click on the system menu on the left.

  • What Was Apple Doing in 1995? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NoMoreACs ( 6161580 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @01:55AM (#63964788)

    Not to start a Platform War; but 1995 was a heady time for Personal Computing in general. . .

    While Microsoft was producing cringeworthy corporate videos (and teasing a new Windows version), what was Apple doing in 1995? These are a few highlights:

    January: The Newton MessagePad 120 became available:
    https://everymac.com/systems/a [everymac.com]... [everymac.com]

    May 1995: Apple ships MacOS System 7.5.2, with PCI Support for PowerMacs

    https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/... [fandom.com]

    June 1995: Apple Computer introduces its first PowerMac system using Intel’s PCI bus, the Power Macintosh 9500. Several other PPC PowerMacs and Performa Models follow over the next two months.

    https://everymac.com/systems/a... [everymac.com]

    June 1995: Apple Computer introduces its Color Laser Printer 12/600PS which is the first color laser printer.

    https://lowendmac.com/1995/col... [lowendmac.com]

    June 1995: Apple demonstrates the user interface of its Copland operating system.

    (See below)

    August 1995: Apple Computer releases the PowerBook 5300 series.

    https://www.cultofmac.com/4432... [cultofmac.com]

    November 1995: Apple ships a beta test version of its “Copland” operating system to 50 key application developers.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]

    November 1995: At Fall Comdex, Apple Computer unveils the Newton 2.0 operating system, with ability to synchronize data with Windows and Mac OS applications, screen rotation, and revised handwriting recognition.

    https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech... [cnet.com]

    https://www.newtonhonk.de/newt... [newtonhonk.de]

    November 1995: IBM, Apple Computer, and Motorola release the PowerPC Platform specifications, called the Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP). It encompasses support for Macintosh System 7, Windows NT, AIX, Solaris, NetWare, and OS/2, but Windows 3.x and Windows 95 are excluded.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]

    December 1995: The IEEE Standards Board accepts Apple Computer’s FireWire design as IEEE 1394-1995 Standard for a High Performance Serial Bus, dubbed IEEE 1394.

    And in all fairness, while they were busy doing all of the above, I discovered that Apple also produced a couple of 30 minute promo video in 1995, too:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The 90s were bad times for computing in general.

      Microsoft struggled to move from 16 bit to 32 bit, and then again to move from single user with no filesystem protections to multi user and ready for the Internet.

      Apple floundered as you noted. Commodore failed to investing in upgrading the Amiga properly, and went bankrupt. Acorn did okay in education, but eventually got out of the desktop business. Atari's desktop line died. Over in Japan, PC98 slowly became just PC.

      We also saw a move from high quality 2D to

  • The summary makes it sound kinda quaint to be impressed by filenames being more than eight characters, but it was a goddamned game changer for actually giving saved documents a name you could understand a week later.

  • May he rest in peace & condolences to his loved ones.

  • Microsoft trying to introduce the internet to its users as a walled garden service is, in retrospect, the first and maybe only prescient thing Microsoft ever did.

    "Information wants to be free!" rofl, no it doesn't, and don't anthropomorphize information; it hates when you do that! At any rate, it wound up being scraped, distorted, weaponized, and monetized, just like everything else. Turns out the internet can't route around mortar shells and poverty, or even censorship really.

    Ah well.

  • Reboot at least once a day for maximum satisfaction.

  • Which is the executive age market I assume they are aiming this corn at there were still people who actually had been formally taught how to type so I was amused to see what looked like the Microsoft "split hand" keyboard. It might, might not, have been a good idea -- if it hadn't broken training and forced people to relearn their muscle memory by putting three numbers on one index finger and one number on the other instead of 2 and 2. Had a guy try to pawn one off on me. "Only $5! Good deal!"

  • I wonder if chipster at microsoft dot com is still active...

  • I never used neither Windows 95 nor Matthew Perry. What is Matthew Perry? Is that a competing OS of that era?

  • The Windows 95 UI was just about perfect because of how barebones it was. It just worked, without tons of notifications, telemetry, and other crap to get in the way. The only real issues with 95 was lack of stability and security, and I think this is why a lot of users didn't like it. If they had the NT style security and stability, while retaining full consumer Dos and Windows application compatability, there would've been far fewer complaints. Windows XP SP2 I think came the closest to this, and the onl
  • Revolutionary for its time, but oh so painful to watch
  • Now I wouldn't be able to work for him. I don’t understand how it was possible to work behind him. I myself recently found powerpoint presentations writing service, used https://edubirdie.com/powerpoint-presentations-writing-service [edubirdie.com] for this. Although now I can easily do it myself (just lazy). The question remains open.

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