Microsoft Windows 9x

Microsoft Chicago (early Windows 95 beta builds)

(August 10, 1993-February 8, 1995)

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Codename: "Chicago"

Unofficial Nickname: "Windows 93"

Background: Microsoft Chicago is the development codename for Windows 95. This operating system introduced one of the most iconic desktop interface designs, including the introduction of the Start menu (created by Danny Oran), which allows easier access to desktop applications and settings. This UI is still used in current Windows builds.

Nicknames: "Windows Flag", "Classic Windows Flag", "Dancing Windows Flag", "TADA!", "Cheesy Dancing Windows Flag"

Screen: On a black background, we see the text "CHICAGO", in a bold font, with a shining light next to the "G". Above it is "Microsoft", in purple above "CHICAGO" and below it is the release type (preliminary, beta, Chinese beta, Test Release) and date (August/November 1993, May/September/October 1994, January 1995). We see the Windows logo dancing around the text in random places, colorized in the same pattern as the Windows logo would usually go (blue, yellow, green and red) in each move.

Later Variant: As of September 1994, the "CHICAGO" text is replaced with "Windows 95". The texture of the text is a cloud background.

Variants:

• When your computer is fully shut down, in Chicago builds, the light on the "G" is replaced with a sparkling crescent moon with a blue mist and the release tag is replaced with "You can now safely turn off your computer. If you want to restart your computer, press CTRL+ ALT+DEL."
• Sometimes, the release tag only contains the date of the release.
• During setup, the release tag is replaced with "Please wait while Setup updates your configuration files. This may take a few minutes."
• When your computer is shutting down, the release tag is replaced with: "Please wait while your computer is shutting down."

FX/SFX: The logo dancing around and changing color.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds):

• Startup: The same "tada.wav" sound from Windows 3.1.
• Shutdown: Same as startup.

Availability: Ultra rare. Originally only in the hands of people given the operating system by Microsoft to test out, but copies have leaked to the beta community.

Editor's Note: The sunlight image in the Chicago variant is not transparent, which becomes obvious whenever the Windows logo hits the light.

Windows 95

(February 15, 1995-November 26, 1997 [end of production], December 31, 2001 [discontinued])

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Nicknames: "Windows Flag II", "Classic Windows Flag II", "Cloudy With A Chance Of Windows", "TADA! II"

Screen: On a cloudy sky background, we see the flag logo (which has a hint of clouds inside) from the previous screen with the first panel colored orange. Underneath the flag are the words "Microsoft Windows 95", with "Microsoft" being smaller, thinner, and white, and to the upper-left of "Windows", which is in a large, bold, black, sans-serif font. Next to "Windows", about the same font size, but as thin as "Microsoft", and white, is "95", A gray progress bar with two moving blue ‘lights’ can be seen below the words, along with the then-current Microsoft logo at the top right corner of the screen.

Variants:

• On the first couple of months of the screen's use, the logo had a slightly different design (with the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th block in the first segmented column being in the same color as the window pane next to them).
• In Build 337, the logo has a thick, black border, red clockwise arrows can be seen lighting up all the way.
• Earlier versions had a gray rectangle under the logo with a small Windows logo in the left corner, blue counterclockwise triangles can be seen lighting up all the way to the small flag. The April Test Release would give it a gray gradient.
• In Build 405, the logo had a thin, color-shifting border.
• Starting with the May Test Release, the gray rectangle was removed, the Windows logo was made smaller, and the name below it was made slightly bigger.
• Some variants have the then-current Microsoft logo in the top-right corner of the screen.
• There is a variant where, in addition to the Microsoft logo, the words "Microsoft Internet Explorer" are underneath the Windows 95 logo.
• When Microsoft Plus is installed on Windows 95, the words "Microsoft PLus!" is seen under the name with "PLus!" arranged in the same way as seen on the box and in the software itself.
  • Beta builds had the "Microsoft" duplicate and the Microsoft Plus! logo shifted upwards. The different sky from the shutdown variant is used in place of the regular one for unknown reasons. Earlier builds, however, used the gray rectangle beta variant with no Microsoft Plus! indicator whatsoever.
  • When Microsoft Plus! 95 is installed on Windows 95 OSR 2.5, the Microsoft logo is omitted.
• Whenever shutting down or restarting, the Windows logo is replaced by orange text reading: "Please wait while your computer shuts down".
• On Japanese NEC computers, the Windows logo is more two-dimensional and saturated, and there's no shadow. The blue NEC logo is seen on the top-left corner.

FX/SFX: Depends on the variant.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds):

• Original Version:
  • Startup:
    • Before April Test Release (build 445): Same as Microsoft Chicago.
    • April Test Release (build 445) and onward: An ethereal synth theme with two synth chimes, followed by four beeps, and a synth pad, nicknamed "The Mircosoft Sound". Composed by ambient musician Brian Eno.
  • Shutdown: Same as Microsoft Chicago.
• Microsoft Plus Systems:
  • For All:
    • Default:
      • Startup: Same as original.
      • Shutdown: Same as original.
    • More Windows/Windows 95:
      • Startup: Same as default.
      • Shutdown: A muffled three-note organ/synth tune. The last note is held in longer than the other notes.
    • Dangerous Creatures:
      • Startup: A very fitting jungle-esque tune, complete with nature sounds, a wolf howling, and timpani beats.
      • Shutdown: Same as startup.
    • Inside Your Computer:
      • Startup: A synth-piano tune.
      • Shutdown: Sounds similar to a computer having a technical failure.
    • Jungle:
      • Startup: Nature sounds.
      • Shutdown: A stock sound of a roaring jaguar (the same one heard in the Debmar Studios logo).
    • Leonardo da Vinci:
      • Startup: A 3-note harpsichord tune.
      • Shutdown: Same as startup.
      • Musica:
      • Startup: A 6-note xylophone ditty. Would actually be fitting for a TV vanity card.
      • Shutdown: A descending 4-note guitar tune.
    • Mystery:
      • Startup: Thunder and rain sounds, a crow cawing, and a portion of the default Windows 95 startup sound.
      • Shutdown: Wind sounds.
    • Nature:
      • Startup: What you'd expect from a beach; the sounds of seagulls and the shore.
      • Shutdown: Crickets chirping.
    • Robotz:
      • Startup: A synth pad.
      • Shutdown: A 2-note synth drone.
      • Science:
      • Startup: A zapping sound.
      • Shutdown: An intentionally weird sound.
    • Sports:
      • Startup: A crowd roaring with a trumpet playing in the background.
      • Shutdown: Might be a car passing by.
    • The 60's USA:
      • Startup: A reverse piano tune with a man counting down: "3, 2, 1".
      • Shutdown: An electric guitar note.
    • The Golden Era:
      • Startup: A sound similar to a gong.
      • Shutdown: It's all jumbled up and difficult to describe.
    • Travel:
      • Startup: A man shouting "All aboard!" (oddly cut off making us only hear "board"), then the sound of a train's whistle blowing.
      • Shutdown: A train chugging its way through tracks.
    • Utopia:
      • Startup: A 5-note xylophone tune with a synth in the background.
      • Shutdown: A fast synth-piano tune and the sound of a child laughing, all in reverse.
  • For Kids:
    • Bugs:
      • Startup: Crickets chirping.
      • Shutdown: A lower toned cricket chirp.
    • Horses:
      • Startup: A horse neighing.
      • Shutdown: A horse running away.
    • Messy Room:
      • Startup: A falling sound (a tone descending in pitch), then an explosion.
      • Shutdown: A door creaking then slamming shut.
    • RE-Man:
      • Startup: A synth raising in volume, with helicopter blades in the background. A child says, "Oh, look!". Another one says "RE-Man!". Other children gasp in awe. Then another synth plays, this time with a noise that sounds like reverberated water drops.
      • Shutdown: The second synth from the startup, with the sound of a police siren.
    • Snowboarding:
      • Startup: An electric guitar note being held while descending in pitch.
      • Shutdown: A horn.
    • Tree House:
      • Startup: Eagle sounds accompanied with a cricket chirp.
      • Shutdown: A door opening.
    • Underwater:
      • Startup: Dolphins, and water sounds.
      • Shutdown: More water sounds, but rather deeper.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds) Trivia: Much of the sounds included on Windows 95 have been implemented in other platforms, embedded systems, software packages, and/or video projects. For example, the Los Angeles Metro kiosks use the same "ding" sound included in Windows 95.

Availability: Rare. Only found on computers running Windows 95.

Editor's Note: None for the default sounds, though it can range from none to low for the Plus! sounds. Low to high for the Jungle shutdown variant. The unexpected sound may scare a good number of users. But this is a favorite of many.

Microsoft Memphis (early Windows 98 beta builds)

(December 13, 1996-September 4, 1997)

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Codename: "Memphis"

Screen: On a black background, we see an oval that contains a sky similar to the 3rd Windows 95 splash. Set against the sky is the then-current Windows flag, and below it are the words "Microsoft Memphis" (structured similarly to the 3rd Windows 95 splash, "Memphis" in black and set in the Franklin Gothic font and "Microsoft" in a thinner version of said font (this time in black) and at the upper left of "Memphis"). At the bottom right of the text is a byline.

Bylines: Here are all of the possible bylines for this splash:

• "Developer Release"
• "Beta [number]"

Variants:

• Like the Windows 95 splash, this one went through various changes during its lifespan.
  • Prior to build 1488, the oval was wider.
  • Build 1351 had a white background instead of a black one and the byline was set in a serif font.
  • The loading animation had one major change.
  • Prior to build 1525, the loading animation consisted of the black panels and frame from the Windows flag changing colors from black to light blue.
  • In build 1525, the loading animation was changed to the gray bar from the 3rd Windows 95 splash, albeit anti-aliased. To accommodate the change, the Windows flag was changed to the semi-3D rendition from said splash.
  • Starting with build 1546, "Memphis" was replaced with "Windows" and "98" (slightly spaced out and set in a thin version of Franklin Gothic, similarly to the "Microsoft" text) is added next to it.
• When your computer is shutting down, either one of these screens will appear:
  • For build 1351, the oval is shrunken down a little to make room for the orange words "Please wait while your computer shuts down.".
  • For build 1488, the orange words "Memphis is shutting down." are added below the oval.

FX/SFX: Depends on the variant.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds):

• Startup: Same as Windows 95.
• Shutdown: Same as Windows 95.

Availability: Extinct. Only seen on builds 1351-1581 of Windows 98.

Editor’s Note: None.

Windows 98

(September 22, 1997-February 11, 2004 [end of production], July 11, 2006 [discontinued])

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Nicknames: "Windows Flag III", "Classic Windows Flag III", "Cloudy With A Chance Of Windows II"

Screen: Same concept as Windows 95, but the sky background is different and the Windows logo has more of a 3D depth to it, plus a white glow. The white "95" is changed to a black "98". "Microsoft" is also black now.

Variants:

• When Microsoft Plus is installed on Windows 98, "98" is in two different colors ("9" is colored green, and "8" is orange) and "PLus!" (arranged the same as seen on the box, in the software itself, and the Windows 95 "Plus" variant) is seen above "98".
• When the computer is shutting down or restarting, it shows any of the above variants with the blue words below the name saying "Windows is shutting down".
• During Windows 98 setup, after the first restart there are additional blue words underneath that say "Getting ready to run Windows for the first time". This no longer appears after subsequent startups.
• On some Dell computers of the era, Dell added the words "Distributed By:" and the Dell logo to the upper left hand corner.
• The first appearances of this logo were in the Windows 98 beta era. On Beta 2.1 (of which 1619 is the most known build), there is a noticeable red glow behind the left red part of the Windows flag. In addition to this, a segmented line composed of short orange, yellow, and green segments and one long blue segment is seen to the right of the flag. On top of this line, "Beta 2.1" appears. Underneath the Windows 98 text, "Microsoft Internet Explorer" appears just as in Windows 95. Beta 3 (of which 1681 is the most known build) is the same, except without the red glow, the added segmented line having equal segment lengths, and the text changed to read "Beta 3".

FX/SFX: Same as Windows 95.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds):

• Original Version:
  • Startup: A single, continuous synth crescendo that was composed by Microsoft sound engineer Ken Kato.
  • Shutdown:
    • Beta 3: Three synth chime notes, followed by a synth pad that gets slightly louder at the end.
    • First and Second Editions: None by default, but when enabled it's the same as the 3rd beta, but raised in pitch and shortened.
  • Microsoft Plus! Systems:
    • Default:
      • Startup: Same as original.
      • Shutdown: Same as original.
    • More Windows/Windows 98:
      • Startup: Same as default.
      • Shutdown: Same as Windows 95 Plus!.
    • Windows 98 (high color):
      • Startup: Same as default.
      • Shutdown: The Beta 3 shutdown.
    • Windows Default:
      • Startup: Same as default.
      • Shutdown: A synthesized rendition of the Windows 3.1 "tada.wav" startup.
    • Architecture:
      • Startup: Echoing clicking sounds, followed by a piano tune and a synth. The atmosphere is like that of a factory.
      • Shutdown: A re-rendition of the startup, but shorter and without the piano tune.
    • Baseball:
      • Startup: An organ theme that is very fitting with the theme.
      • Shutdown: A crowd cheering.
    • Corbis Photography:
      • Startup: The sound of an old flash camera starting up, followed by camera shutter sounds. A synth follows.
      • Shutdown: A camera shutting down.
    • Cityscape:
      • Startup: Walking, with digital synths and beeping, as well as a 3-note synth.
      • Shutdown: The same digital beeping and synth, as well as muffled failure sounds.
    • Cathy:
      • Startup: A 2-note synth.
      • Shutdown: A slowed down version of the startup.
    • Doonesbury:
      • Startup: An orchestral hit leading into a single chord, ending with the audience clapping.
      • Shutdown: A cartoonist fail sound (a descending noise).
    • Fashion:
      • Startup: A jazz tune.
      • Shutdown: A different jazz tune.
    • Falling Leaves:
      • Startup: A synth, followed by birds chirping.
      • Shutdown: Another synth, this time with crickets chirping.
    • Fox Trot:
      • Startup: The sound of a car starting up and driving away.
      • Shutdown: A car stopping and powering down.
    • Garfield:
      • Startup: TBA
      • Shutdown: TBA
    • Geometry:
      • Startup: Very odd space sounds.
      • Shutdown: Fast synth sounds similar to a trance song.
    • Jazz:
      • Startup: You guessed it, a jazz tune!
      • Shutdown: Another jazz tune this time with a piano ditty.
    • Jungle:
      • Startup: TBA
      • Shutdown: A cub growling.
    • Photodisc:
      • Startup: TBA. Would be interesting to hear this in a movie logo.
      • Shutdown: A soft organ synth tune.
    • Peanuts:
      • Startup: A portion of "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi.
      • Shutdown: Another portion of "Linus and Lucy".
    • Rock n' Roll:
      • Startup: A guitar riff, which grows into your average Rock n' Roll tune.
      • Shutdown: Another rock tune.
    • Science Fiction:
      • Startup: A fanfare.
      • Shutdown: A descending synth, resembling the THX Deep Note more and more as it progresses until it suddenly becomes an explosion, a squeal from an alien creature and 2 synth whooshes with rumbling in the background.
    • Space:
      • Startup: Digital beeps.
      • Shutdown: An even more synthesized whoosh.
    • Underwater:
      • Startup: TBA
      • Shutdown: TBA
    • World Traveller:
      • Startup: A sitar tune.
      • Shutdown: A slower sitar tune, followed by a synth.

Availability: Rare. Only found on computers running Windows 98. The Dell variant is nearly extinct as it appeared only on Dell factory installs of Windows 98.

Editor's Note:

• On the Dell variant, Dell simply pasted their text and logo onto the raw source of the logo, which is a file called logo.sys. However, logo.sys is stored with a horizontal squish and Dell pasted the normal text onto the squished raw version, so the text and Dell logo looks stretched out when it is displayed normally.
• This is a peaceful startup screen, though the synth crescendo can remind some people of THX's Deep Note. It is also a favorite of many.

Windows Millennium Edition (ME)

(February 9, 2000-February 11, 2004 [end of production], July 11, 2006 [discontinued])

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Nicknames: "Windows Flag IV", "Classic Windows Flag IV", "The Squares"

Screen: Similar to Windows 2000, except there is no progress bar, and the "Windows 2000" is changed to "Windows Me" with the full name of "Me" ("Millennium Edition") stacked word by word under "Me".

Variant: Similar to the Windows 98 setup, during the Windows ME startup, after the first restart there are additional blue words underneath that say "Getting ready to run Windows for the first time". This no longer appears after subsequent startups.

FX/SFX: None.

Startup Sound (Music/Sounds):

• Developer Release until Beta 2 (build 2481): Same as the first and second editions of Windows 98.
• Beta 3 (build 2513) and onward: Same as Windows 2000.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Windows ME (Millennium Edition), which is a bit hard to find due to its failure, as well as Windows XP being much more common.

Editor's Note: While not a bad screen, this has garnered a negative reputation due to Windows ME being considered a major flop.