Let’s Talk About Tech Enthusiasm (Premium)

Surface Hub 2 has reignited a feeling of tech enthusiasm that I rarely feel these days. But any lack of enthusiasm I normally feel isn't age: Most personal technology products and services just aren't that exciting.

Unless you write for one of those tech enthusiast blogs, I guess. You know the ones. Where every release, no matter how minor, fanciful, or pointless, is treated like a royal wedding or the arrival of a new pope.

I don't do that, of course. I have what I feel to be a far more mature relationship with the companies whose products I cover and with the readers whom I respect rather than pander to. This attitude is often misunderstood to be "negativity" or "complaining." I just think of it as honest.

But in the wake of my recent Surface Hub 2 briefing, I felt something I've only felt rarely over the years: A true sense of excitement, that the world was about to change for the better. Actually, this happened during my Surface Hub 2 briefing. I found myself unable to concentrate as questions burbled to the (ahem) surface. I could feel the past slipping away. The change coming.

Naturally, I've received questions about this excitement. When was the last time I felt this? What were the other Microsoft products that ignited such feelings?

These are good questions, in part because the answers can be instructive. When I look back on over 20 years of covering Windows and other Microsoft products and services, a number of highs and lows do stick out. And if I really think about it, I can place the highs in various categories: The truly life-changing A-list moments. And then some lesser but still exciting B-level moments.

The A-list is short, and each of the following products was surrounded by, and followed-up by, some lesser related products and services. Or, in some cases, by disaster.

Windows 95. Previous to Windows 95, I was not a fan of Microsoft in any way, shape, or form, and was, in fact, quite dismissive of the company and its products. I did test Windows for Workgroups 3.1x previously, and I was aware of its improved networking, and 32-bit memory and disk capabilities. But it was Windows 95 and its excellent, Mac-beating user interface that triggered my interest in Microsoft. It was clear to me that Windows 95 was going to change the world. And it did.
Related but not A-list: Windows 95 OSR updates and subsequent releases like Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and even Windows Millennium Edition (Me), which was unfairly criticized. Plus! 95 and Plus! 98. Office 95 and Office 97. Windows CE "Pegasus." MSN. Many others.
Windows NT 5.0 Beta 2. This one excited me so much, I started the SuperSite for Windows, for which I wrote about "the future of Windows, today" for over 15 years. The reason for this excitement was that it was supposed to combine the compatibility of Windows 9x with the security and stability of Windows NT. But that didn't happen, and Windows NT 5.0 became Windows 2000. Eh.
Related but not A-list: Win...