
Why I Still Use Windows 95 - edw519
http://www.andrew-turnbull.net/tech/windows95.html
======
ctkrohn
There's a definite pleasure in using old, well-designed pieces of technology
that were state-of-the-art in their time and have managed to remain
competitive with newer equipment. I love my record player, I still use a high-
quality CRT, I ride a steel bike, and I print documents with a mid-90s HP
LaserJet. Many of you would cite LISP, a 50-year old language, as a perfect
example of this phenomenon.

Windows 95, however, really doesn't strike me as one of those things.

~~~
serhei
Well, there _is_ a reason why it sold six kazillion copies back in the day.

Unless you think the reason was that it was hyped to high heaven in a
gigantastic advertising avalanche.

------
dcurtis
I assume he also drives a model T, writes with a fountain pen, and uses a cell
phone from 1995 as well?

Seriously, though, the advances from Windows 95 to Vista are less about
improving the "tool" and more about improving the experience of using the
computer. I don't think you can really call a computer a "tool" anymore,
anyway. It is the communication, entertainment, and productivity center of
many people's lives. It serves far more value than a hammer or a pen. It has
the ability to morph into practically anything. Back in 1995, when the real
value of a computer was still somewhat ambiguous, people called them tools
because that was the closest metaphor to a a familiar paradigm. Today, the
computer is the paradigm.

The argument this guy uses is kind of stupid and reminds me of the short-
sighted, extremely stubborn attitude of the most geeky people I know. He
doesn't like Internet Explorer 4, so he refuses to use an operating system
based on IE. While IE 4 was a terrible internet browser, it served Windows
pretty well; using the idea of back and forward buttons for browsing
files/folders is still used today in Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Sure,
Windows 98 sucked at it, but that's exactly what Windows XP improved on.
(Arguably, Windows Vista improved on this as well.) That's why people
upgraded.

In the end, by using Windows 95, he is just torturing himself. He might gain
pleasure from the novelty of writing stories like this one and getting strange
reactions from people, but in the end, his experience of using his computer is
just... terrible.

~~~
tomjen
There are still people who swear to a fountain pen. Not all old tech is
useless.

~~~
dcurtis
I love fountain pens. The idea is that a ball point pen is far more practical
for every day use.

~~~
DougBTX
I think the advantages of a ball point pen were more to do with having the ink
reservoir inside the pen, rather than the ball point itself. There are plenty
of pens with internal reservoirs on the market, whether ball, fountain or
fibre, I've been using one of these[1] almost continuously for the past 6-7
years.

[1] [http://www.amazon.co.uk/stainless-fountain-cartridges-
conver...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/stainless-fountain-cartridges-convertible-
bottled/dp/B000JTPEAS/)

------
edb
This article reminds me of my father. He still uses what we call "lefebvre
books" to do his business's payroll by pen. When I was younger, I thought he
was an idiot. Eventually he rationalized it to me for long enough that I
thought it was charming and really interesting that his business is like a
snapshot of how things were run in the past.

Right now, his company grew to more than 20 employees and he's selling it
because his tools and methods don't work in his changing environment and he
refuses to adapt to new tools.

Don't get me wrong, he's by no means unhappy, but his business is no longer
running at it's full potential. I think a comparison can be drawn here. I
believe that your output is a function of your methods AND tools.. I don't
care who you are, you can't build facebook in DOS.

If your environment is changing and you still want to excel in that
environment, I believe that you have to adapt.

------
lpgauth
I wonder why he doesn't use Linux, seems he could build whatever he needs and
forget the bloatware of windows. Specially with a distribution like Gentoo he
could build a custom system and not have to have the technology drawbacks of
Windows 95.

~~~
rufo
That was my first thought as well: "Hasn't he ever heard of Linux?"

But then again, if he's got all the apps he needs, running as well as he needs
them, and isn't bothered by being unable to run newer applications (which he
pretty clearly states at the end of the essay): well, more power to him, I
guess...

~~~
brandonkm
Exactly. This is definitely one of those cases of use whatever works for you.
I really can't fathom using windows 95, but reading over his reasons for doing
so it seems like those are valid reasons for him. Still makes for an
interesting read on a os no one ever really talks about anymore.

------
petercooper
I admire and salute this guy. He's one of those that keep our whole geek
society interesting. He's a bit like a writer who still uses a manual
typewriter rather than a word processor. It's very charming.

(On further browsing of his site, he seems an interesting chap. These mid-late
90s style sites chock full of various types of content are far more
interesting than most of the vapid personal sites nowadays that have nothing
besides blog entries.)

------
drm237
Every time a new (microsoft) OS is realeased, you find tons of people who say
that it isn't any better and there's no need to upgrade. Then a few years
later everyone says, "you're still using previous_version?". (Vista actually
seems like it may be the exception...)

It seems to me that this is an extreme case of the above situation. This guy
has something that works for him. I would say works well, but until you've
used something for a while and understand how it enhances your productivity,
you really don't see the error of your old ways.

Some are asking why he doesn't install Linux. My thought is that if one of
your decisions when choosing an OS is maintaining compatibility with your DOS
games, you're probably not an ideal candidate for linux. Note that it doesn't
matter if you Can play DOS games on linux; it's just a completely different
mindset.

------
deathbyzen
At first, I was looking for the publishing date hoping I would find April 1st
somewhere, but I guess not...

------
kaos
Win95 c'mon, lets help this guy with other cooler ways to getting attention
and being "different".

------
toki
andrew turnbull is completely right. i used windows 95 too, as long as
possible (2006).

windows 95 has many good things that the modern version of windows have lost
or never had:

\- lightweight (Doesnt even use memory <128 MB)

\- very fast

\- total cost of ownership = 0

\- functional (office, opera, etc: everything works somehow)

\- easily replaceable (ebay)

\- robust (works even with damaged hardware - somehow)

\- security (through obscurity)

\- i have an idea how it works (in modern version of windows i have somehow
lost the overview)

\- no need to update (just accept how the system is)

\- free of distractions (no widgets, sidebars, audoupdates)

:)

~~~
gscott
The changes that MS makes now seem to be just for selling new versions. I use
Windows 2000, it is handy, no Internet registration scheme where they track
your usage, and so on. When I was younger I wanted to run the newst thing out
there and would change often. Now I stick with whatever works best until it
breaks.

------
felix_t
Assuming he is using it, how exactly is he running Firefox 3 (he has an entry
about it's release on his blog) on Win95? I haven't tried it but the OS isn't
showing a message and then denies the possibility to install FF3? And what
kind of productivity do you get with, let's say, 6 or 7 year's old software? I
wonder, really, what kind of development/usage is he attributing to that
machine.

~~~
ctkrohn
Pre-Firefox Mozilla (what became Seamonkey) could be made to work on Windows
95... I was unfortunately forced to do so one time. You had to download a
couple extra drivers and install some updates from Microsoft, but it worked.

------
rcoder
I still have NT 4.0 install media around, and have even tossed it on an older
box a few times to remember what it was like back in the days when Windows
could be a decent developer OS.

Unfortunately, anything older than Win2k leaves you pretty much out of luck
for mobile computing (power management, WiFi, and display switching) as well
as most modern peripherals (USB support being notably lacking).

For even more retro fun, though, I recommend firing up a copy of Mac OS System
7 inside Basilisk II or SheepShaver -- even under emulation, it absolutely
_screams_ through day-to-day tasks.

------
mleonhard
I think the best reason for him to switch from Win95 to WinXP is Office 2007.

------
Tichy
Security Updates?

~~~
petercooper
Windows 95 is so old that I'd doubt (though I might be wrong!) that its
vulnerabilities are being actively exploited anymore. WinNuke (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinNuke> ) was the most annoying, and in the
late 90s you were guaranteed to be nuked within a few minutes of getting
online without a firewall.

