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Dinosaur Sightings: Windows splash screens from 1.01 to 7

by Greg Shultz  |  June 18, 2010 6:51am PDT  |  Image 1 of 28

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Windows splash screens

Ever since the dawn of the Windows operating system, Microsoft has used Splash Screens as a means of distracting us while the operating system is loading. In addition to their entertainment value, the Windows splash screens typically provide us with some sort of feedback on the progress of the sometimes lengthy startup process.

In this gallery, you’ll be able to browse through all the splash screens from Windows 1.01 to Windows 7.
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RE: Dinosaur Sightings: Windows splash screens from 1.01 to 7
risola@... 31st Mar 2011
Sow...cool this pictures...but i think missing 1 picture....Windows 2000 Advanced Server...
Edgar Risola
Thanks for the walk down memory land, it's amazing how many I recogized. Oh, home server is also missing
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You just have to laugh at...
Hatestone Johnson 18th Jun 2010
...Windows Me.
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@Hatestone Johnson

Windows ME; Windows 98, deliberately broken so that everyone would welcome Windows XP with open arms.

(Also, a deliberate, and underhanded ploy to suck more money out of people's pockets.)
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since Windows 2000 came next, not XP.

Now, enough of the conspirecy theories. Shouldn't you be off investigating aircraft "contrails"...
What about bob?
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Bob was just a shell -- doesn't really fit in as a version of Windows -- but it's possible it could have tweaked the splash screen bitmaps, because there used to be a way to do that (I think you had to save the bitmap as an RLE file and then rename to a DLL or something).
nice work zdnet good job all zdnet workers keep the good work
I thought there was a Windows 286, too.
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Windows 95 splash screen
loquique 18th Jun 2010
The shown screen for Windows 95 belongs to the "95b" version which had IE 3.0 included, the "a" version didn't came with the "Microsoft Internet Explorer" banner cause it came with iexplorer 2.0
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Wasn't there a Windows98SE ?
John Zern 19th Jun 2010
Second edition?
I think i'm the only person that used Windows M E and LIKED it lol didn't have any problems with it
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@1711rob

Only real problem I had with ME was that if you tried to push it to its limits right when you're still loading your desktop, it was very likely to crash your system. Well, at least for me.

Other than that, it ran my 9x programs quite well.

The lack of Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2 make this list seem rather incomplete.
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Win Me
ccutright 18th Jun 2010
I thought I was the only person in the world who did not have Win Me problems. I loved it, It was the only version of Win that when you said 'shut down' it did! and that right quick.
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Was Win ME a real OS?
Old Greg Updated - 18th Jun 2010
@ccutright

I played with ME for a few months when I bought a new notebook with that (alleged) OS included. Right out of the box, it was horribly unstable. Considering that I generally only use the notebook for email and an MS Works database, I don't think I was pushing it at all. But it would crash AT LEAST once per day! In comparison, my first notebook ran Windows 3.1 / DOS 6.2, and it could run 24/7 for weeks at a time without crashing, while doing the same work.
Many thanks for an interesting way of bringing by memories (fond and otherwise) of how far we all have come in so (relatively) short a time span!
While doing the garage sale thing still see Windows 3.1 system and disk.
I remember setting up a Windows 3.11 for Workgroups network as the very first network that I ever got paid for commercially. Incidentally that was the very first time I'd setup a Windows network. Prior to that it was only Novell Netware for DOS so we could play video games and share files at home.
All of the Windows NT 3.x screens look more like shots of the boxes, not the start-up screen. I don't remember the boot screens looking like that.
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WinServer 2008 / R2 missing
Daniel Breslauer 21st Jun 2010
Server 2008 and R2 are missing.
Sow...cool this pictures...but i think missing 1 picture....Windows 2000 Advanced Server...
Edgar Risola

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