--- description: Twenty years ago, Microsoft launched Windows 95, and promptly changed the way we would interact with our computers. title: This Product Launched 20 Years Ago and Changed the World image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ed4a0d0a439e03a/69886091a988ca00206b4061/gettyimages-51991964.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Microsoft Launched This Product 20 Years Ago and Changed the World ## Video: Tech Time: What You Need to Know About Windows 10 [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: What You Need to Know About Windows 10](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Lq1cvCgW.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2015-07-22. TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick gives you the scoop on Windows 10 in this episode of Tech Time_ by [Jonathan Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jonathan Chew / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2015 1:23 PM CUT  Microsoft president Bill Gates demonstrates Microsoft's Windows 95 program from his car prior to a press conference in Paris in September 1995. Microsoft president Bill Gates demonstrates Microsoft's Windows 95 program from his car prior to a press conference in Paris in September 1995.MICHEL GANGNE—AFP/Getty Images by [Jonathan Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jonathan Chew / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2015 1:23 PM CUT There were round-the-block lines and Jennifer Aniston made an hour-long instructional [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGYcNcFhctc "undefined") for it. Twenty years ago, Microsoft launched Windows 95, and promptly changed the way we interact with our computers. On Aug. 24, 1995, Microsoft—[at that time](http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-windows-95-launched-20-years-ago-today/ "undefined") a tech company with around $6 billion in sales and 17,800 employees—introduced their newest operating system, a product the [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/24/business/midnight-sales-frenzy-ushers-in-windows-95.html "undefined") at that time called “the splashiest, most frenzied, most expensive introduction of a computer product in the industry’s history.” Windows 95 had a few notable add-ons, not least being the now-famous Start menu, a feature so significant that the company dedicated its [launch ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocmJE2O4uIU "undefined") to it. Windows 95 also debuted the multi-tasking toolbar, the minimize-and-maximize window buttons and Internet Explorer, a browser that signaled the company’s intentions to dominate the nascent Internet sphere, as detailed in a [famous](http://www.wired.com/2010/05/0526bill-gates-internet-memo/ "undefined") Bill Gates-memo that same year. The OS was a hit from the start, selling 7 million copies—at that time packaged in CDs and disks that cost $210 per box—in the first seven weeks [alone](http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/how-windows-95-started-a-craze-1.1903736 "undefined"). It would [sell](http://techland.time.com/2013/05/07/a-brief-history-of-windows-sales-figures-1985-present/ "undefined") 40 million units in its first year. Now, the Windows operating system has dropped in the Microsoft totem pole—their latest Windows 10 OS was given out for free, and CEO Satya Nadella has called for staff members to cut the cords of the past: “Our industry does not respect tradition—it only respects innovation,” he said in a company-wide [email](https://news.microsoft.com/2014/02/04/satya-nadella-email-to-employees-on-first-day-as-ceo/ "undefined") upon his appointment last February. _Read next:_ [_You Can Now Run Windows 10 On Your Mac_](http://time.com/3996507/windows-10-mac/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ### These Vintage Computer Ads Show We've Come a Long, Long Way  1974  1976  1976  1977 Picasa 3.0  1977  1978  1978  1980  1980  1981  1983  1983  1983  1984 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/"},"headline":"Microsoft Launched This Product 20 Years Ago and Changed the World","datePublished":"2015-08-24T13:23:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:29.943Z","description":"We went crazy for Windows 95","url":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/","keywords":["Tech","Bill Gates","Microsoft","Satya Nadella","windows 10","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ed4a0d0a439e03a/69886091a988ca00206b4061/gettyimages-51991964.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jonathan Chew / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ed4a0d0a439e03a/69886091a988ca00206b4061/gettyimages-51991964.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Microsoft president Bill Gates demonstrates Micros","caption":"Microsoft president Bill Gates demonstrates Micros","creditText":"MICHEL GANGNE—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/","name":"Microsoft Launched This Product 20 Years Ago and Changed the World"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tech Time: What You Need to Know About Windows 10","description":"TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick gives you the scoop on Windows 10 in this episode of Tech Time","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Lq1cvCgW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-22T21:42:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Lq1cvCgW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4007890/20-years-microsoft-windows-95/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```