Microsoft Bob

Microsoft Bob ( MS Bob for short ) is a software package for Windows systems released by Microsoft in March 1995 . The package contains a replacement for the graphical user interface of the operating system - Windows 3.1 was current at the time - and various individual programs for private users. The target group were users with no PC experience, for whom access to the computer should be made easier. The user interface hides technical details and works with analogies from the home environment.

The individual programs (financial advisor, household manager, e-mail client, GeoSafari quiz, writing program, calendar, address book, etc.) can be found as objects in the rooms of a virtual house. User inputs are handled by animated figures ( assistants ) that also accompany other user actions.

Some of the Microsoft Agent characters , known as assistants in Microsoft's Office and Windows XP, can be traced back to MS Bob; B. Fredo (search assistant in Windows XP), Hüpfer (assistant in Office 97 and 2000) or Peedy (JavaScript Extra in IE - from version 5.1). The Comic Sans MS font was also originally intended to be used on Microsoft Bob.

30,000 copies of MS Bob have been sold. For comparison: The sales of the Windows 3.1 successor Windows 95 , published a few months later, amounted to around 45 million during the first three months.

MS Bob has been criticized among professionals for making computer novice learners difficult; Due to the simple interface, users would never learn to use the normal Windows interface.

The password query during the login process of MS Bob does not offer any protection against unwanted access : If a user has entered his password incorrectly several times, he can assign a new password without security prompts.

The software can also run under Windows Vista and Windows 7 .

The project manager for the development was Melinda Gates , wife of Bill Gates .

Web links

Bob at winhistory.de
Microsoft - user interface Bob: Melindas Mutantenzoo in Spiegel Online from November 24, 2004
Microsoft's biggest failure turns 20 in Stern on March 11, 2015

Individual evidence

^ Dan Rose: Microsoft Bob's Sign In. Signing In To Microsoft Bob With A Password- "Protected" Account. August 2008, archived from the original on November 20, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 1, 2008 : "But instead of requiring you to perform some kind of authentication first - answer a question (" What is your mother's maiden name? "), etc., you can enter any new password and it will replace the original one! Anyone can do this to any password "protected" Microsoft Bob account. There is absolutely no prior authentication required whatsoever. This means User1 could change their own password just by mistyping their password three times and entering a different password the fourth time - and not have to bother with Microsoft Bob's Change password option. It also means that User1 could change the passwords of User2, User3, User4, etc. in exactly the same way. Consequently, any user could change any other user's password simply by mistyping it three times then entering a new password when prompted - and then enter their account. "

[Rose_2008-1] Dan Rose: Microsoft Bob's Sign In. Signing In To Microsoft Bob With A Password- "Protected" Account. August 2008, archived from the original on November 20, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 1, 2008 : "But instead of requiring you to perform some kind of authentication first - answer a question (" What is your mother's maiden name? "), etc., you can enter any new password and it will replace the original one! Anyone can do this to any password "protected" Microsoft Bob account. There is absolutely no prior authentication required whatsoever. This means User1 could change their own password just by mistyping their password three times and entering a different password the fourth time - and not have to bother with Microsoft Bob's Change password option. It also means that User1 could change the passwords of User2, User3, User4, etc. in exactly the same way. Consequently, any user could change any other user's password simply by mistyping it three times then entering a new password when prompted - and then enter their account. "