windows vista easter egg discovered

April 1st, 2007 post a comment (21) stumble it! by: technabob

[NOTE : This post originally appeared on April 1, 2007, and was an April Fools Day joke. Vista does not include a copy of BOB, but if you scroll down to the comments, one of my readers has posted a link to a download of the original BOB installer if you really want to run it.]

It turns out that the folks over in Redmond might have a sense of humor after all. I was working on getting my new install of Vista Ultimate up and running on my machine this weekend, and stumbled across this awesome easter egg.

It turns out that there’s an entire functional copy of the 1995 Microsoft BOB operating system hidden inside of Windows Vista. BOB was supposed to be an easy-to-use interface for Windows 3.2, complete with fuzzy animated characters (who eventually led to “Clippy” the paper clip in Microsoft Office.)

Here’s how I managed to activate it:

First, you need to make sure you have full administrative permissions on your machine. Then, go to the Start menu and enter “W.0.w.B.0.b.” (note that those are Zeros not Os) while holding down the Alt key. Then, set your system time zone to “Cairo”. The next time you reboot, type in the same phrase backwards and you’ll be in the Windows Bob environment, complete with all of the original features. Once BOB is activated you can set your clock back to your regular time zone.

Surprisingly, the new version of BOB has been updated to include integration with Outlook 2007, so you can actually see your calendar entries and e-mails in the BOB organizer. Post back and let me know which character is your favorite. Personally, I like Scuzz the Rat.

April 1st, 2007 post a comment (21) stumble it! by: technabob

21 comments post a comment

1. technabob | April 2nd, 2007 at 7:03 am

Now that April 1st is over, I guess I can say it…

April Fools!
2. ManChicken | April 2nd, 2007 at 8:24 am

Nice.
3. vickiho.com » Aside&hellip | April 2nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm

[...] if I’ve never been excited about Vista before, I retract that. Vista comes with a hidden Microsoft BOB easter egg in it. I actually liked BOB a lot. This is reason enough for me to think about Vista, honestly. [...]
4. Matt | April 26th, 2007 at 12:29 pm

This egg doesn’t work, or your instructions are missing some detail. You say you just “stumbled” upon it?
5. technabob | April 26th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

Scroll up to comment #1. This was an April Fools joke.

Sorry if you wasted time doing it.
6. Randy Brooks | June 1st, 2007 at 7:36 am

You Can Download Microsoft BOB From
This Site

http://winhistory.de/downloads/dateien/MSBOB.EXE
7. John Marcus | June 15th, 2007 at 1:07 am

This is the reason I /hate/ using the Internet on April fool’s day. June 15, 2007 is /not/ April fool’s day! You should take this offline after 4/1! Also, why not put a BIG notice up if you insist on keeping old content on your site?
8. technabob | June 15th, 2007 at 9:14 am

John: Sorry about that. I’m gonna add a note to the top of the article too (not just the one at the beginning of the comments).
9. Slax | July 13th, 2007 at 11:00 am

it didn’t work on me.. I’ve tried like 10 times it’s frustrating…
10. technabob | July 13th, 2007 at 12:36 pm

Read the top of the post. This was an April Fool’s Joke.
11. aki | July 13th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

you got me here

dang ive tried thrice
12. Slax | July 13th, 2007 at 3:19 pm

Gosh!!!!! It worked .. thanks for posting that easter egg.. I appreciate it a lot… yiipeeeee!!!!
13. Rendy Rinaldy | August 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am

Slax, you can do it? It is April Joke Fools!
14. Zimbi co. | August 20th, 2007 at 6:12 am

They moved the download!
It’s now at:
http://downloads.winhistory.de/dateien/bob/MSBOB.EXE
Thanx!!!!
Funny Joke by the way!!!!
15. Mike | September 27th, 2007 at 9:01 am

Grow a sense of humor, John Marcus. If you didn’t check the date of the post it isn’t the author’s fault.
16. mike | November 6th, 2007 at 12:37 am

rofl. you got me too…had me going there. Last time i ever try anything before reading the comments!
17. n8 | November 17th, 2007 at 11:50 am

dude i tried downloading it and now my comp wont stop crashing!!!!!!!!!!!! plz respond with how to stop it!!!!!!!!!
18. Hana | January 13th, 2008 at 2:54 pm

Is there anyway of removing it or deleting it at all?
19. mike | February 26th, 2008 at 9:31 am

I’ve tried it 150 times it doesn’t work,,,, HELP
20. tearsword | March 25th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

LOL.. i think the big “April 1″ on the calender is enough..
21. wellslogan | May 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

I assume that if BOB was really running, there would be some kind of running indicator. In the taskbar, perhaps? Nice joke though.