Windows 95 testing almost stalled due to cash register overflow

Windows 95 will soon turn 30. Microsoft veteran Raymond Chen recalled that when testing Microsoft's reimagining of Windows, an overflow was discovered that had nothing to do with the operating system itself.

According to Chen, the problem happened when an enterprising Microsoft manager acquired as many different applications as possible to try out on the operating system.

Microsoft was keen that the rollout of the new product went off without a hitch, so a huge emphasis was placed on compatibility. To that end, the development manager took his truck to a local store and bought one copy of every PC program in stock. The resultant stack of boxes was dumped on the tables in Microsoft's cafeteria, and the Windows 95 team was encouraged to help themselves.

The catch? Taking one or two programs meant that the engineers concerned had to take responsibility for testing them against Windows 95 ...