TekMetrics (Brainbench) | Transcript ID 91390 | September 7, 1999 | Windows 95
By the time I earned this certification, I had already traveled a long road with computers. I first encountered computers like the Atari 400, which didn’t have a desktop operating system like today’s machines. Instead, it had a ROM-based OS and mostly lived inside cartridges, BASIC/PILOT environments where you could load and save programs to a cassette drive, or whatever you plugged in.
I progressed to operating systems such as DOS & System 7, then to Windows 3.x, before fully entering the era that changed everything: Windows 95.
Windows 95 wasn’t just another upgrade — it was the operating system that redefined personal computing. It introduced people to the Start button, real multitasking, plug-and-play, long filenames, user-friendly networking, and the idea that an operating system didn’t have to feel like industrial machinery. It was everywhere. If you walked into a computer store in those years, you saw one of two things:
Windows… or a Mac.
At the time I earned this certification, I was already using Windows 98, and Windows Me was right around the corner. But Windows 95 was the foundation of everything happening in workplaces — especially in government, where I worked. Microsoft dominated the professional ecosystem.
Meanwhile, at home, my brother and I were often running SuSE and Slackware Linux, and SuSE had a package system for selecting which drivers and software you wanted installed during installation. So I wasn’t limited to one world — I was living in multiple operating system universes simultaneously. But professionally? Microsoft ruled the landscape.
Mac, meanwhile, was undergoing a renaissance. Apple reintroduced itself to the world with brightly colored, candy-shell iMacs that didn’t just look friendly — they marketed confidence to people unsure about technology.
Their ads said everything:
Step 1: Plug it in.
Step 2: Get connected.
Step 3: There is no step 3.
It promised that computers didn’t have to be intimidating. Just plug it in and go.
And yet… I didn’t take Macs seriously. Then, I thought they were “computers for people who wanted pretty things and didn’t want to get their hands dirty.” Great for browsing the internet, checking email, and maybe some graphic design. But for real system work? For administration? For development? Windows were where the tools lived. (and yet here I am, using a Mac daily in 2025)
Around the same time, with digitalNATION, I had a NeXT system on my desk, next to a Windows desktop. They were sleek, powerful, and respected — but I never truly bonded with them either. They felt foreign. All my essential utilities were Windows executables. I even set up my NeXT email to forward into Outlook on Windows because that’s where my workflow really lived.
So, when I saw TekMetrics offering a Windows 95 Power User certification, I took it. Not because I needed validation — but because I wanted to formalize what had already become second nature. I wanted the credential that said:
I didn’t just use Windows 95. I understood it.
It recognized proficiency with configuration, networking, troubleshooting, usability, and the real-world use that defined professional environments at the time.
Windows 95 wasn’t just an operating system in my life; it was a turning point. It marked the transition from hobbyist tinkering to real, professional technical work — and this certification felt like acknowledging that step forward in a world that was rapidly modernizing.
