Microsoft Bob

Microsoft Bob (codenamed Utopia) was a graphical shell for Windows 3.1x and Windows 95, first released by Microsoft in early 1995, with an updated release made in the summer of that year. Bob employed a environment that looked like a house, with customizable rooms containing real-life objects representing each program. The Bob suite featured standard utilities like an address book, e-mail client, calendar and clock, but also included programs to aid with real life scenarios, such as the Household Manager, Financial Guide, or Checkbook. Also included was a PC adaptation of the GeoSafari educational toy. Users could also add standard Windows applications to their room, which would be represented by a box with the application icon on it.

Microsoft intended Bob to be able to be extended by other separately bought software, however, only Microsoft Great Greetings ended up being released in its short shelf time.

The interactive character technology in Microsoft Bob would later form the basis for Microsoft Agent.

System requirements

 * Processor: PC with 80486 or higher processor
 * Memory: 8 MB of RAM or higher
 * Hard Disk: 32MB of free space
 * Operating System:
 * Windows 3.1x with MS-DOS 3.2 or later
 * Windows 95
 * Display: SVGA, 256 colors (8-Bit)
 * Mouse
 * Modem (at least 2400 Baud) for the E-Mail application
 * Sound card (using a Windows driver) and speaker or headphones [optional]