Microsoft Bob

Microsoft Bob was a software product designed to ease computer use for new users by providing a more user-friendly interface for the Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, and Windows NT operating systems. Integrated into the operating system, it was intended to provide a simpler interface than the Program Manager (on Windows NT) or Windows Explorer (on Windows 95) interfaces, by using the paradigm of a "house" with various "rooms".

Reception
The software was criticized in the media and did not gain wide acceptance with users, resulting in its discontinuation in early 1996. Its legacy would be observed in later Microsoft products - most notably in the software's characters such as Rover as a Windows XP search companion and Clippy the anthropomorphized paperclip as a digital assistant for Microsoft Office.

Compatibility
Bob was known to run on Windows XP, but did not natively run on versions of Windows released since November 2008 as 16-bit backwards compatibility was discontinued. Windows 10 and later would require such legacy software to be run within an emulator such as DOSbox or a virtual machine such as NTVDM.