Win '95 Hype

Was it Worth the Wait?

On August 24, it seemed if you were anywhere but in the deepest reaches of the Amazon there was no escaping the Windows '95 hype. We in Santa Clara were not immune. It crackled across the sticky popcorn-scattered ground of Paramount's Great America, northern California's largest amusement park, like a live wire gone awry.

More than a thousand of us were packed into the Theater Royale, just underneath the whoosh and groan of the high speed roller coaster. Most were resellers and solutions providers for Microsoft products. Some had paid $20 a head for employees and families to share in the festivities.

The preliminaries got off to an auspicious start. Joe Vetter, west regional director for Microsoft kept the crowd pumped. "You can't believe how happy we are to be here in 1995," Vetter told the crowd. We were to be the video viewing crew (one of several around the country) sharing in the simulcast via big screen from the Redmond, WA facility.Throughout his opening talk Vetter kept an eye on the clock. At 10:58 the launch was to begin. Not a second later, he let us know.

But Vetter's witticisms quickly gave way to an array of standard product endorsements as one Microsoft reseller and solutions provider after another slogged onto the stage to back the software giant. We managed to remain civilized. The second hand grew nearer 10:58 a.m.

Then, all at once the moment arrived. The lights dimmed. The big screen lit up. The camera panned over the Redmond, WA grounds where 6,000-7,000 people--a virtual sea of Windows '95 tee shirts--were gathered at the same moment. For a few seconds there was a thrill of excitement. But that quelled. Within minutes it was painfully obvious that Microsoft's choice of Jay Leno to co-host the event was nothing short of merciful. For make no mistake ladies and gentlemen, this was a Bill Gates product demo plain and simple.

"You don't know this, but underneath that little Microsoft Windows insignia on Bill Gate's polo shirt," Leno told the crowd, "there's a little J.C. Penney's Weasel." Gates gave his customary comeback-- a "richest man in the country" smile--pressed his fingertips together, and pressed on with the show.

When finally the event came to a close and stomachs were growling, a dixieland band struck up. The roller coaster roared. The doors flung open. Bright light, and air. A loosely knit parade of solutions providers, resellers, reporters, and assorted nerds and geeks snaked its way along the neon green "feet" stickers stuck to the amusement park ground on its way to the picnic pavilion. There vendors hawked their wares under white tents, people dressed as boxes of Microsoft Windows gave out popcorn, crowds pressed in long lines for tee shirts. And there was food.

Between bites of croissant sandwiches at the sun scorched picnic tables, there was only one thing that everyone had in common. The one subject of conversation was features. Windows '95 features. Funny how that happened. It was an event that would have done P. T. Barnum proud.

--Mary Margaret Peterson