Windows 95/Usability Testing Builds

Two unknown Windows 95 builds are shown in a video demonstrating the usability testing process of Windows 95 from early 1993 (most likely in January), which makes them the earliest confirmed builds of Windows 95. Despite very low quality of the video and similarity to the much newer build 58s, some visual differences can be observed. It is generally believed that both of these builds are earlier than build 34.

First build

First half of the video showcases the first of the unknown builds, running some kind of interactive tutorial about using the new shell as well as the graphical environment in general. The most obvious difference spotted here are the Start button icons, which look completely different than in build 58s. Instead of the Windows logo there is a computer icon, while help icon is a simple question mark at this point. The search icon is particularly distorted, so it may be or may not be the same as in later builds.

Another difference is the Recycle bin name - apparently, it was called "Wastebasket" in this build. The same name is also used in some concepts or mockups of Chicago usability testing. The status bar in the Explorer (called File cabinet in pre-beta) window also says "2 Files in Folder", whereas in build 58s it says "2 Objects in Folder" for example. The menu bar at the top of the window is also slightly wider than in build 58s and the second unknown build. There appears to be no icon in the Explorer window titlebar unlike in later builds, though full directory path is displayed. Volume label for the C: partition is not displayed and instead of the drive icon introduced later, it has the same folder icon as normal folders. The system partition (C: drive) is also the root of the folder tree in both builds - this was later changed so that File cabinet was the root.

There is a strange, bright-grey line at the very bottom of the screen that appears to be part of the taskbar, but neither the second build or 58s have it. Both words in the name "File Cabinet" appear to be capitalized, which is also not the case with other builds. Desktop icon text is not highlighted unlike in the other build. Last visible difference is lack of ">>" after "File Cabinet" name on the desktop. This was apparently added in the later build for all objects on the desktop and kept only for File cabinet and Network objects in build 58s.

File cabinet icon color (either old yellow/gold or new grey) cannot be determined as it is highlighted throughout the entire first half of the video. Though footage of the person conducting these tests is covering the lower right corner of the screen, it seems possible there is no system time displayed there in neither of the two builds.

It's interesting the tutorial instructs you to close applications via the "File" menu and not the close button sitting just above it.

Second build

The second build appears closer in appearance to build 58s, with only some minor exceptions. The titlebar now only contains the folder name, like build 58s, and not the full path as in the first build. The close button on the left is also apparently different from the standard Windows 3.1x one used in all builds up to 81. It almost seems as if there is in fact a folder icon in place of the standard horizontal line on the close button. The status bar still says "Files" instead of "Objects", but the menu bar at the top is now the same width as in build 58s.

Aside from the above and the Start menu icons, this build appears rather similar to build 58s. There is an extra folder seen on the desktop called "Personal>>". According to SHELLNOTE.DOC (dated 20th May 1993) from build 58s, this folder is created by the shell by default. It also seems that ">>" is now added to folder names on the desktop as well, but this changes again in build 58s where it's only added for File cabinet and network. Desktop icon text now has a default background color not seen in other builds.

Conclusion

A summary of the above reveals that the second build appears closer in appearance to build 58s than the first one does. However, there are some minor inconsistencies here. For example, the close button was seemingly changed to something else in the second build and then changed back to its original state later. The presence of ">>" on all desktop object names (except Recycle.bin) in the second build but not in the first or 58s is also odd. Another possibility is that the first build is actually just a fullscreen test application and not an actual build, which would explain these issues.

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  The first build

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  After opening an application from the minimized state

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  The second build

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  The File cabinet icon is grey

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  The Programs folder