In 1995, Microsoft released software for Windows, but a year later, the project was discontinued. For years, the failed software remained hidden in Windows XP.
In 1995, Microsoft launched a software package for Windows 3.1. The software named ‘Bob’ was intended to serve as a replacement for the graphical interface and to make it easier for inexperienced PC users to access Windows and computers.
The software primarily relied on objects from the home environment: One entered a house through an apartment door and was greeted by animated figures that guided the user through the functions. In each room, specific functions were embedded, such as the calendar or an email program.
Bob was too child-friendly and too hardware-hungry for 1995
Why did Bob fail? Today, several factors are blamed for the failure:
- The design, a cartoonish graphic, was off-putting for many, and many found the software overly childish.
- ‘Bob’ required computers with at least 8 MB of RAM, which was a considerable amount in 1995.
The result: Microsoft discontinued its software ‘Bob’ just a year later, and the software disappeared from the market. Soon after, Windows 95 was released, featuring an intuitive interface and completely without a mascot.
What happened next? When Microsoft was preparing the installation CD for Windows XP, the team found that approximately 30 MB of free space was still available. What should they do with it? To avoid wasting it and also to make illegal downloads more difficult, they decided to fill it with fictional data.
Instead of generating random files, a developer searched the company’s historical archives, found Bob’s original disk images, combined them, encrypted them with a randomly entered key, and eventually used them as digital filler. The result was as ironic as it was unexpected: Microsoft Bob was hidden in millions of legal copies of Windows XP, without anyone knowing (via xda-developers.com).
By the way, Microsoft Bob has not completely disappeared: The digital dog Rover from Bob later returned as a search assistant in Windows XP.
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