Back in August 2023, Windows 95 became 28 years old. Official support for Windows 95 ended in 2001, to be replaced by Windows 98, then Windows XP, then Windows Vista. (Oof.)
We’ve previously reminisced about the sometimes joyful, sometimes bug- and problem-plagued times we had with Windows 95. But now a different kind of memento has surfaced.
It’s an original copy of Windows 95—and not just that, but the first-ever copy of Windows 95 that ever rolled off the production line. And what’s most impressive is that it’s still shrink-wrapped and unopened.
For collectors, this first-ever edition of Windows 95 is likely to be worth a small fortune. But who still owns this ultra-rare relic?
It’s none other than Brad Silverberg, an ex-manager at Microsoft. He worked for Microsoft in the 1990s and was responsible for the development and introduction of Windows 95.
That’s why this Microsoft veteran, who has since moved on, didn’t miss the opportunity to take the first edition of Windows 95 home with him. It was produced on the “Release to Manufacturing” day (July 14, 1995 at 5:15pm) and contained a total of 13 floppy disks for the upgrade to the then-brand-new operating system.
Silverberg published a photo of the rare original edition on X (formerly Twitter) after a fan asked him for it. He described the item as a “priceless memento” that he cherishes to this day.
Windows 95 became a huge success for Microsoft after its release. Its strengths included not only a new design with the combination of Start menu and taskbar that’s still used today, but also the simultaneous running of applications (groundbreaking!) and an impressive gaming interface for the time.
The top games of the time included Age of Empires, Comanche 3, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, the first Fallout, the first Diablo, the first Tomb Raider, the first Grand Theft Auto, the first Command & Conquer, Wing Commander IV, Warcraft II, Unreal, and many more.
Windows 95 truly played its part in ushering in a new era for PC gamers, while also boosting PC hardware sales and driving the growth and adoption of 32-bit programs.
However, there were also many problems with Windows 95, especially the numerous security holes and the regular blue screen occurrences that annoyed users. Nevertheless, Windows 95 quickly established itself and paved the way for many of Microsoft’s later successes.
It may be hard to believe, but there are still fans of Windows 95 today, one of whom you could even see this year on the stage of Europe’s biggest music contest, the Eurovision Song Contest. You can watch Windows95man’s crazy performance on YouTube:
One person commented on the video: “If this song wins, I’m installing Windows 95 again.” Fortunately for the user, it didn’t come to that.
