Comparing the two holograms on the Windows 95 box

The Old New Thing (Raymond Chen) News

Summary

The article from The Old New Thing blog describes how the hologram on the Windows 95 box was altered from a naked baby to a clothed one due to a government complaint, and includes a link to the original animation.

<p>I noted some time ago that <a title="Windows brings out the Rorschach test in everyone" href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030825-00/?p=42803"> the Windows 95 anti-piracy hologram had to be redone at the last moment</a> due to a complaint from a government (who remains nameless). They objected to the depiction of naked children on the box, referring to the anti-piracy hologram in which the baby is not wearing a shirt. Since the baby is depicted only from the waist up, they extrapolated that the baby wasn&#8217;t wearing pants.</p> <p>There was a scramble to produce a new hologram, and just to be safe, in the new hologram the baby is wearing a shirt <i>and</i> overalls.</p> <p>You can find pictures of the &#8220;clothed baby&#8221; Windows 95 hologram fairly easily, such as one appearing about halfway through <a title="038. Designed for Windows 95" href="https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/038-designed-for-windows-95"> Steve Sinofsky&#8217;s story about getting Office 95 to pass the &#8220;Designed for Windows 95&#8221; requirements</a>.¹</p> <p>Harder to find is the original &#8220;topless baby&#8221; Windows 95 hologram, but recently, I stumbled across <a title="Lenticular hologram on a MS Windows 95 COA" href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uaQyaBRaM9w"> a link to a short clip of the original hologram</a>, that shows off the animation.</p> <p>So now you can see what that unnamed government was upset about.</p> <p>Windows 95 was released to the public 31 years ago today.</p> <p><b>Bonus chatter</b>: Windows NT 4.0 was released to the public 30 years ago today. And Windows XP was released to manufacturing 25 years ago today. I don&#8217;t know why things happen on August 24ths.</p> <p>¹ I find it interesting that the Office team was frustrated at the &#8220;Designed for Windows 95&#8221; certification process, feeling that the certification team was singling them out more harshly. So much for the conspiracy theories that Office was given favorable treatment. It seems that they were given <i>more stringent</i> treatment.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260824-00/?p=112643">Comparing the two holograms on the Windows 95 box</a> appeared first on <a href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing">The Old New Thing</a>.</p>
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# Comparing the two holograms on the Windows 95 box - The Old New Thing Source: [https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260824-00?p=112643](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260824-00?p=112643) August 24th, 2026 0 reactions ![](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2019/02/RaymondChen_5in-150x150.jpg) I noted some time ago that[the Windows 95 anti\-piracy hologram had to be redone at the last moment](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030825-00/?p=42803)due to a complaint from a government \(who remains nameless\)\. They objected to the depiction of naked children on the box, referring to the anti\-piracy hologram in which the baby is not wearing a shirt\. Since the baby is depicted only from the waist up, they extrapolated that the baby wasn’t wearing pants\. There was a scramble to produce a new hologram, and just to be safe, in the new hologram the baby is wearing a shirt*and*overalls\. You can find pictures of the “clothed baby” Windows 95 hologram fairly easily, such as one appearing about halfway through[Steve Sinofsky’s story about getting Office 95 to pass the “Designed for Windows 95” requirements](https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/038-designed-for-windows-95)\.¹ Harder to find is the original “topless baby” Windows 95 hologram, but recently, I stumbled across[a link to a short clip of the original hologram](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uaQyaBRaM9w), that shows off the animation\. So now you can see what that unnamed government was upset about\. Windows 95 was released to the public 31 years ago today\. **Bonus chatter**: Windows NT 4\.0 was released to the public 30 years ago today\. And Windows XP was released to manufacturing 25 years ago today\. I don’t know why things happen on August 24ths\. ¹ I find it interesting that the Office team was frustrated at the “Designed for Windows 95” certification process, feeling that the certification team was singling them out more harshly\. So much for the conspiracy theories that Office was given favorable treatment\. It seems that they were given*more stringent*treatment\. ### Category ### Topics ## Author ![Raymond Chen](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2019/02/RaymondChen_5in-150x150.jpg) Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years\. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie\-jeebies\. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing \(Addison Wesley 2007\)\. He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information\. ## Read next ## Stay informed Get notified when new posts are published\. Follow this blog - [https://twitter.com/ChenCravat](https://twitter.com/ChenCravat) - [![youtube](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/wp-content/themes/devblogs-evo/images/social-icons/youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlrxD0HtieHge3_8Dm48C0Ns61I6bHThc) - [https://github.com/oldnewthing](https://github.com/oldnewthing) - [https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/feed/](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/feed/)

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