On April 20, 1998, just three years after Microsoft launched the popular Windows 95 operating system, the company was non-stop preparing to release its successor, Windows 98. However, this conference has become a notorious event in the history of Microsoft, and it has been 26 years since then. So, what should you know about it?
At that time, at the COMDEX show in Chicago, Microsoft showed a beta version of Windows 98, and plug-and-play (Plug-and-Play) was one of its important selling points. Chris Capossela connected the scanner during the demonstration, showing that Windows 98 will automatically set up the necessary drivers.
However, an accident happened - when setting up the scanner, a Blue Screen of Death occurred in Windows 98. The audience was surprised at first and then burst into applause and laughter. Bill Gates, standing next to Chris Capossela, said humorously: "This is probably why Windows 98 has not been released yet."
Despite such an embarrassing situation, Chris Capossela was not greatly affected. He continued to work at Microsoft and served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer before leaving in 2023. Besides the hiccups in the demonstration, Windows 98 has made great progress compared to Windows 95 in terms of overall user experience and stability.
Many reviewers have pointed out that Windows 98 has a large number of bug fixes and is more stable than the 95 version. Of course, the "Blue Screen of Death" has also become one of the lingering symbols of Windows systems of that era and even later. In addition, Windows 98 also added many new features, such as the Windows driver model introduced, support for USB hubs, scanners, mice and keyboards, and WinSock 2 for networks, etc., and the overall performance has also been improved.
Looking back on the past, the technology industry has paid more attention to stability in product presentations. Major failures at press conferences have become rare and press conferences have become somewhat boring. Maybe in a few years, we won’t be talking about a Windows 10 or Windows 11 launch event because those launches were lacklustre. However, when companies take risks and get more playful with their product launches, it can be fun, if not the occasional joke.
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