It's too bad that it didn't come with an updated startup sound to call its own. Windows 7 upturned that sinking ship, resulting in an operating system that ended up being a fan favorite of many. The idea behind it was fine, but the overall execution of the unified interface fell short, which is a shame. In that context, the Vista startup sound has some merit. In this context, users should notice a correlation between the glassy sounds and the transparent effects of the user interface. The Windows XP sounds can also be rather percussive and jarring in the context of day to day PC use, so it was an explicit goal to re-orchestrate the default Windows Vista sounds to complement the softer, cleaner theme and user interface elements in Windows Vista.'īall explained that Microsoft had aimed to give the impression that the sounds of the Glass Scheme were made with glass instruments. 'The XP sounds were designed to complement the 'photo-realistic' Bliss desktop. This startup sound, while still iconic in its own way, lacks much of the soul behind the Windows 95 sound. Now let's jump back to Windows 3.1, which is essentially the 'first version of Windows' in terms of what most people know about Microsoft.

'I've never used a PC in my life I don't like them.' Quite the revelation for a noise that's ingrained in the minds of any 90s PC user. 'I wrote it on a Mac,' he replied, quickly. The result is simple, short, iconic, emotional, and one of the most memorable sound effects in all of modern history.Īnd here's the funniest bit :

Sure, it's a tad bit over the 3.25-second criterion, but Eno proves that creativity tends to flourish under pressure. The thing from the agency said, 'We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,' this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said 'and it must be 3.25 seconds long.' For those of you who are creative, here's a little bit of insight regarding what Eno had to work with:

Windows xp startup sound wav