The Vista startup sound, as well as 45 other sounds coded into the operating system, were taken from recording session Fripp conducted at the company’s Redmond headquarters. Fripp’s band, King Crimson, was famous for penning 20-minute progressive rock epics in the late-‘60s and ‘70s. Windows Vista / Robert Fripp: I find it ironic that Microsoft tapped virtuoso guitarist Robert Fripp to compose a four-second startup theme. Later that year, his collaboration with Luciano Pavarotti, “Miss Sarajevo,” charted in the UK Top 10. From Eno’s own account, he likened the task to “making a tiny little jewel” and that it helped him break out of the artistic rut he was in at the time.

“I’ve never used a PC in my life I don’t like them,” Eno said in an interview with John Lloyd and Sean Lock on the BBC’s ‘The Museum of Curiosity’ in 2009.Įno was handed a long list of Microsoft-like adjectives for basing the composition-words like “inspiring, universal, optimistic, futuristic”-and it was to be no longer than four seconds. Eno obliged the job despite his stated preference for using Macintosh computers.

The company approached legendary ambient artist and rock producer Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads, Coldplay) to compose the start-up ditty for Windows 95. Windows 95 / Brian Eno: In 1994, Microsoft needed something less obnoxious than the much-maligned Windows 3.1 TA-DA! for introducing its new operating system. Let’s have a look at the notable stories behind several Windows startup themes. Less known are the musical minds that composed these sound snippets-and they are some famous ones at that. Windows startup sounds have been ubiquitous fixtures for PC users for over 20 years.

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