Microsoft Windows 95 Companion

Microsoft Windows 95 Companion is a compact disc that was issued with the Windows 95 operating system.

Note: You cannot actually install Windows 95 from this CD.

It contains several important system updates (not really unexpected of a version of Windows). It has device drivers for printers, networking, video cards, sound cards, mice, modems, external storage, PCI slots and PCMCIA slots. System utilities such as Chat, Scandisk, a version of MS-DOS, Clipboard, and Wordview. As for goodies, the disc offers some desktop wallpaper in .bmp format. The pictures are of the start-up screen clouds and Microsoft logo. There's a rather bland system font, and a little hypertext catalog of approved Windows products.

Despite all these useful and fairly interesting items, there's only one reason why I've kept this six year old CD for an OS that I don't even run anymore. Yep, that's right. The "Funstuff" folder. Inside this little piece of heaven is a game called Hover. It's not fantastic, but you get to drive around in a little hovercraft, grab powerups and capture flags. Neat little thing, but I've seen better freeware.

The heart of Funstuff is the "Videos" folder. Each .avi requires a description, and a description they shall get.

• "Goodtime": Music video. Edie Brickell sings about how she needs both the good and bad times, as they are part of life. The music is best described as a Marvin Gaye-ish R&B tune. It's got soul, as well as some great shots of people just being people as the singer (Paul Simon's wife) sits and the band plays around a bench.

• "Weezer": This, this is the big one. I can honestly say that this music video changed my musical taste forever. Rivers Cuomo and the boys of Weezer play their loud song "Buddy Holly". The video was set-up to look like it was part of an episode of "Happy Days", and it worked splendidly. The band wears 50s clothes and strikes 50s poses while The Fonz does his Russian dance. Genius.

• "Welcome1": "Windows" by Bill Plympton. Animation that features butterflys turning into windows on a man's head. The camera goes through each window, and the viewer sees the man doing various creative things, until he sprouts wings. He flies around, and the wings turn into windows, and then into the Windows 95 logo. Ends with Microsoft: Where do you want to go today?, then another screen that says "Welcome to Windows 95". A mouse clicks "Start".

• "Welcome2": "Windows" by Joan Gratz. Animation where a window with blowing drapes with a [cat sitting on the sill morphs into a sunset which morphs into a prarie landscape which morphs into a sea which morphs into mountains which then morphs into a cityscape. Closes with the logo and clicking mouse like Welcome1.

• "Welcome3": Windows 3.1 desktop is swept away into the familiar Windows 95 clouds amidst African tribal music it says "Welcome to Microsoft Windows 95" and then shows a rather large "start" button before the fadeout.