Instead of columns of icons and a Start menu, your desktop was a virtual room. RELATED: Windows 95 Turns 25: When Windows Went Mainstream What Was Microsoft Bob?Īt its most basic level, Microsoft Bob was an alternative to the typical desktop interface.

The latter is how I first stumbled upon Bob as a kid, and it’s a relationship I remember to this day. It was released in 1995 as a $99 CD-ROM, and it also shipped on some Windows 95 computers. One thing that isn’t fondly remembered from those days is Microsoft Bob. Iconic features, like the Start menu, Taskbar, Windows Explorer, and the Recycle Bin, all first appeared in Windows 95.

Windows 95 was a groundbreaking operating system that introduced many concepts we still use today.