MetaChat - Start me up

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12 November 2006

Start me up -- 18 months in the making, Robert Fripp (of King Crimson fame)created the start-up sound for Microsoft's Vista OS.

post by: ericb at: 16:26 | 14 comments

Fascinating. I had never thought that much about it, but I see their point about the sound that is going to be heard over and over and over needing to be as perfect as possible.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 12 November | 16:35

This is the sound the Brian Eno did for Windows 95.

posted by BoringPostcards 12 November | 16:48

Fripp is a great choice, but I am imagining what Angelo Badalamenti could do.

posted by mischief 12 November | 16:48

That's great and everything, but why not link to the actual movie that compares the sounds [mov]. (alternative site, flash)

posted by Rhomboid 12 November | 17:48

At least he got paid more than the dude who said "You've Got Mail" for AOL. I hear he's living in a van down by the river.

posted by fenriq 12 November | 18:16

movie that compares the sounds

Fascinating. One can see how embedded are the various sounds/actions of XP have in our collective conscience. Vista pays tribute to them ... and bases its sounds upon XP.

posted by ericb 12 November | 18:36

At least he got paid more than the dude who said "You've Got Mail" for AOL. I hear he's living in a van down by the river.

Actually, the voice behind "You've Got Mail," Elwood Edwards is doing fine -- and is generating cash by doing customized variations of the famous phrase.

posted by ericb 12 November | 18:41

Good God, that was it? That's terrible - looks like Scoble was right.

posted by TheDonF 12 November | 18:43

Fascinating. One can see how embedded are the various sounds/actions of XP have in our collective conscience. Vista pays tribute to them ... and bases its sounds upon XP.

Really?!? I can't be the only person out there that disables all of those sounds entirely as one of the first steps after installing the operating system. It's easy, just go to Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices, Scheme -> No Audio and they're all gone forever. I can't imagine^* using a PC that spits that kind of crap at you constantly. I'm glad the comparison movie included the XP sounds, otherwise I would have never heard any of them before to compare.

^*Actually I can, I had my Windows 95 PC all decked out with all sorts of stupid and silly sounds, but that was circa 1996, and the desire to have any of that junk has long passed.

posted by Rhomboid 12 November | 19:03

I don't like this sound much. It's unfinished-sounding, maybe it will resolve better on the actual OS. (I liked the old Eno one...)

posted by Lipstick Thespian 12 November | 19:08

I'm in Rhomboid's camp. The very first second I get, I kill all sounds, except for a couple of the warnings. Too bad for MS, as I'm sure that they've paid a lot of money for something I'll never listen to.... or at the very least, have to listen to 2 or 3 times.
I suppose if you really wanted a startup sound, this may be a better option. (.wav file)

posted by Zack_Replica 12 November | 19:15

ericb, I was kidding. But thanks for tracking him down.

posted by fenriq 12 November | 20:00

As an IT guy I had to live with the defaults on hundreds of PCs. I got used to 'em.

Same reason I don't type using Dvorak, which I love.

posted by stilicho 13 November | 01:05

Mindless frippery.

posted by Eideteker 13 November | 10:02

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