https://www.youtube.com/embed/kGYcNcFhctc
Windows 95 was released 20 years ago today, a decade after Bill Gates first declared that Microsoft's goal was to put a PC on every desk and in every home. But before Windows 95's launch, that goal was far from accomplished. PCs had made major inroads to consumer markets, but still weren't seen as necessities. The Internet was still considered strange and dangerous. If Gates wanted to make his vision a reality, it was no longer enough to market Windows solely to deranged office workers. Windows 95 was the answer, and in order to convince people to use it, Microsoft hired Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry. Their job? To star in a "cybersitcom" teaching the masses how to use Windows.
The instructional video, which you can watch above, was sold in electronics stores in the 1990s, but we haven't been able to dig up any information on sales or budget. The plot is simple: Anniston and Perry visit the office of Bill Gates, who never turns up, to audition for a role in the Microsoft Windows 95 Video Guide. Yes, the very video you're watching—'the 90s was all about self-reference. While there, the actors are introduced to its features by a cast of characters like Boris the maintenance guy, who explains "plug and play," martial arts guru Jeff Lee, who explains right clicking, and video game addict Joystick Johnny, who challenges Aniston to a game of 3D Pinball. It's all comically outdated, but some things never change: even in 1995, looking at cat photos was already the internet's favorite past-time.
