But, oh, what a sight it was. A picture-perfect day at Microsoft’s sprawling Redmond, Washington campus that still had a lot of open space and rolling hills of green grass. Under a blue sky filled with only a handful of puffy ultra-white butts, it looked like the desktop we wouldn’t see until Windows XP.

There were large tents and swag, both forgettable and iconic: A Kodak CD-ROM player with a remote control(!), a canvas bag with the brand new “Start” button on it (sadly, I think I lost mine) and a commemorative Windows 95 box with a Win 95 CD-ROM in it. I still have the box, but not the CD-ROM.

I have this vague recollection of hot air balloon rides, but that may the product of an addled memory. What I do know is that former Tonight Show host Jay Leno was there. Clad entirely in denim, he stood on the lawn adjacent to the largest launch tent and entertained a small group of lawn-sitting attendees with a brief standup routine.

I remember walking up behind the group to watch and listen when I noticed someone standing to my left. It was Microsoft co-founder and CEO Bill Gates. His arms folded over his chest, he was gently rocking back and forth on his heels and smiling. I was pretty sure Gates had no idea who I was, but I introduced myself and told him that the whole event was pretty impressive, but what was more shocking was the awareness he and Microsoft had managed to build for Windows 95 before the product even launched or the major ad campaign had begun. “My mother and grandmother know what Windows 95 is,” I told him.

He looked at me — maybe for the first time since I started talking at him — and said, “That’s good marketing.”

I wanted to ask more but quite honestly was already buzzing a bit from my brief interaction with, even then, one of the richest people in the world. Gates just sort of wandered off to take in more of this one-of-a-kind event.

And it was definitely one of a kind — unprecedented, in fact.