At 3:14 PM August 23, 1995, Francisco Moreno wrote:

I don't know about you all, but I'll be at my local CompUSA at 1 minute after midnight for my copy of Win95. I'll be able to have 32-bit applications, long file names, drag and drop, and a trash can to delete files. Boy! What will Microsoft think of next?

Derrick Garbell reports:

The occasion is so momentous, that most of my neighbors have taken off from their jobs for an entire week before and after the Windows 95 release. They calculated that Win95 would save them so much time, they could make up the missed work in a jiffy!
We've closed off our street, and have been having a non-stop party, dance, and BBQ for several days. A group of our kids have taken a four foot by ten foot glossy of Bill Gates, wreathed it in laurel and dandelions, and paraded it up and down our block on their Radio Flyer wagons. We had to stop that though, because the thronging neighbors started doing the wave, and got so excited that they began poking their fingers in somebody else's eye! It's a good thing that Windows 95 makes computing so easy, that even blind people can buy it and use it.
Of course, I was ever the wise and prudent one, and I organized "Designated Chaperone" groups to periodically accompany over-extended celebrants safely back to their residences for vitamins and sleep. This service was offered regardless of whether the MicroSofties were blind or just hyped.

But above the celebration, I obviously I kept my priorities in balance. I participated in the orgiastic festival, but did not become completely caught up in it. Oh, no, you can't block me from that rarest of destinies. I made my discreet exit, and even as I compose this, my PowerBook is patched to the net to share these vintage moments with all of you. I dared not procrastinate until midnight, rather I decided to wait in line in advance of the cosmic hour. Thus I will be the first person in California to purchase Windows 95, and install it on Soft PC on my Mac. Not since I camped overnight at Ticketron for the Lawrence Welk Nostalgia Tour of '66 have I shown such fan like fervor. But I know you'll all agree, it will be like receiving a sacrament. Annointed as it were, by Deacon Bill himself.

Wait until I show my fellow devotees here at CompUSA how I can open THREE applications, and probably not even crash! Women will propose marriage, men will offer to follow me into war, but I won't take advantage of their blind allegiance.

I must say, we should have worn Army boots to protect ourselves from injuries incurred while dancing on the bleeding MicroSoft edge! Take heed, fair travelers!

Yes, we MicroSofties learn this compassionate response from Deacon Bill himself, who has often said:
"As long as you buy a Microsoft product, I will guarantee your satisfaction, or you pay double!"

Am I glad that you guys appreciate the excitement that has been building to this almost unbearable crescendo---over these past ten years!
Thanks for sharing this magical juncture in space and time with me!

 Chairman Gates Gets His Tandy

for Windows 3.1