Explore an emulated demo of Windows 95 Microsoft Plus!

Explore a visual history of the Windows operating system

Named after the windows that separate different applications, the operating system’s first version came preinstalled with Calculator, Paint, and Reversi. There was no Windows 9 to avoid compatibility issues with legacy code searching for Windows 95 and 98 files via a “windows9” query.

View an illustrated history of Microsoft Solitaire

Included in Windows 3.0 in 1990, to help first-time computer users become familiar with using a mouse, the game featured a dozen unique card back designs. The Windows XP library of preinstalled games added Spider Solitaire, which became the most-played game on Windows PCs by 2005.

Listen to the iconic Windows 95 startup sound

The jingle was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2025, and was commissioned by Brian Eno, the ambient musician, producer and visual artist.

Watch Bill Gates trigger the Blue Screen of Death during a Windows 98 demo

During a live Windows 98 demo at a computer trade show, Bill Gates watched as the system crashed with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death”—a critical Windows error screen signaling a system failure—midway through the presentation.

Microsoft Office debuted on the Macintosh in 1989

Over 15 months before its debut on Windows, the suite included Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Mail—the precursor to Outlook. Bill Gates saw the Mac as a testing ground to work out bugs and gather feedback before the Windows release.

Safely explore historic viruses and other malicious software in the Malware Museum

Curated by the Internet Archive, this collection of more than 80 MS-DOS-era pieces of software can be experienced within an emulated environment to see what it would look like to trigger a virus on computers in the 1980s and 90s. Every piece of malware has a version available for download whose malicious capabilities have been removed.

Microsoft's initial successes came from promising products that did not yet exist

In discussions with teams responsible for MITS's Altair 8800 and IBM's PC, Bill Gates and Paul Allen claimed to have created ready-to-use software. Code for the former was not completed until Paul Allen's flight to MITS' headquarters, where the software was successfully tested for the first time.

Microsoft's Flight Simulator is one of history's longest-running software products

The program originated from a master’s thesis project on generating three-dimensional graphics, which was later combined with flight equations. The first version ran on the Apple II in early 1980, but its creator licensed the program to Microsoft two years later,

The Chernobyl virus earned its name for activating on the meltdown's anniversary

Affecting Windows 95 and 98 computers, it filled gaps in the code of any program opened after infecting a computer, earning it the nickname "Spacefiller." On April 26, 1999, the virus overwrote part of the software responsible for booting up a computer, rendering it unusable.

Watch a first-person demo of Microsoft's HoloLens

The headset enables users to interact with projected objects in augmented reality by combining Windows Mixed Reality with eye- and head-tracking sensors, a hand-operated controller, and a microphone that can pick up voice commands.

The Rolling Stones were paid $3M to have 'Start Me Up' in the Windows 95 promo

The fee was part of Microsoft's $300M advertising and promotional campaign for the operating system, which featured the Start button for the first time. The company also filmed sitcom-style infomercials featuring "Friends" TV stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry.

Upgrade cost and compatibility issues have kept Microsoft's legacy systems alive

As of 2025, Windows XP and Windows NT continue to power ATMs and transit systems, while Deutsche Bahn's trains use Windows 3.11 for display systems. Microsoft's continued support for these operating systems helps it maintain its dominance in the business sector.

A virtual art gallery in the mode of 'Doom'

One of the earliest video games to use 3D interfaces, 1993's "Doom" was a first-person shooter set on the moons of Mars which ended in hell. It became one of the most critically and commercially successful games of all time. Now, you can wander virtually in an art gallery in the mode of the game, sipping wine and perusing pixelated versions of classic works of art.

At CES 1996, Panasonic unveiled the first DVD player to the public

This demo disc from Panasonic’s 1996 CES reveal showed audiences how DVDs offered sharper video, interactive menus, and greater storage—introducing a new era in home entertainment.

The first smartwatch was made by Microsoft in 1994

Coproduced by Timex, the Timex DataLink 150 featured a small LCD screen and could transfer data to and from a Windows PC. Like the Windows XP Tablet that launched in 2002, the smartwatch did not sell well, and both products are considered to have been released before their time.

See the original websites for companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple

Explore archived images of homepages on websites dating all the way back to 1991.

Tetris was launched in the US at Summer CES 1988

Tetris first appeared in the US at the 1988 Summer CES, where Henk Rogers—who would later publish and market the game—first encountered it. This interview revisits that moment, with creator Alexey Pajitnov and Rogers reflecting on how the game gained global recognition.

One of Apple's first computers sold for $375K at an auction

An operational Apple I, the first model of personal computer made by Apple, sold for $375K at an auction. The machine was first sold in 1976 and has a handwritten serial number by Steve Jobs himself. The auction, provided rare insight into the beginnings of the influential tech company.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Use this day trading simulator to practice buying and selling stocks while leveraging real-time data and trading charts

Want to try day trading but don't want to risk losing cash? This simulator gives users access to "unlimited" fake money, as well as the option to convert their simulation accounts to the real deal later on.

Watch a microscopic tour of an Intel i486 microprocessor

Released in 1989 for $950, the chip contained over a million transistors on a piece of silicon the size of a postage stamp, much less packed than today’s chips. The layering of components makes the chip resemble a network of structures—not unlike a city—when zoomed in.

Explore an optical table to create quantum physics experiments

This interactive teaches users to create quantum experiments through lessons resembling video game levels. Users can also use the virtual lab to visualize landmark quantum experiments like entanglement, teleportation, cryptography, and quantum computing, or create their own experiments with drag-and-drop elements.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

'Monopoly' was a progressive economic thought experiment before it was a board game

Before "Monopoly" became a best-selling board game, a woman named Lizzie Magie patented "The Landlord's Game" as a thought experiment to advance American economist Henry George's ideas about land ownership.

X Games emerged during “extreme” marketing boom in the 1990s

Launched as the “Extreme Games” in 1995, the event tapped into a trend from the '90s of brands labeling products and events “extreme” to appeal to youth culture—mirroring marketing in soft drinks, snacks, and video games.

'Super Mario Bros.' was released in 1985

The game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and published by Nintendo in Japan and North America in 1985. It’s seen as a landmark in the history of video games and minted the Mario character as a pop culture icon.

See an image of the earliest surviving coupons used in America

This clip from the "Acquired" podcast shows an image of one of the original Coca-Cola coupons. The hosts argue that the coupons helped popularize Coca-Cola in its early days, making them a key component in the story of one of the world's most iconic brands.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.