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When you were a kid, scrambling around the undergrowth looking for eggs or candy in plastic spheroids was half the
fun of Easter. The other half was eating the eggs and candy. |
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Now that you're all grown up,
you have to look elsewhere for your jollies. But you don't
have to look far. Programmers have been hiding little
treats, called Easter eggs, in software and hardware and on
Websites for years. These computer goodies range from a
dull, scrolling cast list of the developers to cool, 3D
video games. We've been hunting Easter eggs all year in a
quest for the best, most current software surprises. Here's
a small selection of what we've uncovered, complete with
directions so that you can find these eggs for
yourself.
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Windows Eggs
&
Windows Application Eggs
Ah, Windows. The crueler among us might say you get hidden extras with it already, including bugs, security holes, and an ever increasing
demand on system resources. But using Windows isn't all futility and frustration. Good-humored Microsoft programmers have hidden a few fun
treats deep inside Microsoft's popular OS. And we've dug up five of them for you.
No doubt about it: accountants have more
fun. At least, that's what Microsoft
applications' Easter eggs seem to
indicate. For the past five years,
Microsoft Excel has hidden the best
Easter egg entertainment of any PC app,
with a different 3D game in each major
revision of the product. But even if you
don't run Excel on your PC, chances are
you have access to one of the other eggs
here.
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EGG & OPERATING SYSTEM: |
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HOW TO CRACK IT: |
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A slide show of the Microsoft campus
Microsoft Windows 98
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Open Windows Explorer and find the Windows folder (usually
C:\Windows). You may need to click a link in the Explorer window to view files and folders inside the Windows
folder. Select the
Application Data and
Microsoft
subfolders, and
click the Welcome
subfolder.Right-click the file weldata (may be labeled
weldata.exe) and
select Create
Shortcut. Right-click the weldata shortcut and select Properties. Under
the Shortcut tab, locate the Target edit box and type one space and You_are_a_real_rascal
(include the underscores) at the end of the text already in the box. The result
should read: "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\WELCOME\WELDATA.EXE" You_are_a_real_rascal In the Run box, select Minimized and click OK. To start the show, double-click the weldata shortcut.
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A 20-minute show of Windows 95 developers' pictures and names, with a musical score.
Microsoft Windows 95
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Right-click anywhere on your desktop.
Select New Folder.
Type this exact name for the folder:
and now, the moment you've all been waiting for
(with no other
punctuation or capitalization).
Right-click the folder, select Rename, and
type we proudly present for your viewing pleasure
(with no
punctuation or capitalization).
Right-click the folder, select Rename
again, and type The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team!
(complete
with capital letters and exclamation point).
Double-click to open the folder.
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A Mad Hatter screensaver
Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000 |
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Open the Display Control Panel (select Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click the Display icon).
Click the Screen Saver tab.
Select the 3D Pipes screensaver.
Click the Settings button.
Change the Pipes settings to Multiple and Pipe Style to Traditional. Under Joint Type, pick Mixed.
Set the resolution to maximum and click OK. Whenever you run the screensaver, you'll periodically see a teapot as the
joint in the pipes.
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A hot new screensaver
Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000 |
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Open
the Display Control Panel (select Start, Settings, Control
Panel, and click the Display icon).
Click
the Screen Saver tab.
Select
the 3D Text screensaver.
Click
the Settings button.
In
the text box, replace OpenGL (or whatever is there) with the
word volcano. Whenever you run the screensaver, you
will see the names of volcanoes whizzing about.
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A race car game
called Dev Hunter
Microsoft
Excel 2000 |
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Open a new
file in Excel 2000.
Select
File and Save As,
and in the Save As
Type menu, select
Web Page.
Click the
Selection: Sheet
radio button, and
checkmark Add
Interactivity.
Click
Publish. In the
Publish As dialog
box, click Publish
again.
Switch
over to Internet
Explorer (IE). Open
the HTML page you've
just saved in Excel.
You'll see an Excel
worksheet in the
middle of the IE
page.
Press the
Page Down key until
you get to row 2000,
then tab over to
column WC.
Hold down
Shift-Ctrl-Alt while
you click the Office
logo at the upper
left.
Now,
you're dropped into
a full-screen game
similar to Spy
Hunter, called Dev
Hunter. Use the
arrow keys to drive.
You'll see
developers' names
painted on the road
as you go.
If you're
an aggressive
driver, hit the
spacebar to fire and
the letter O to drop
oil slicks. When it
gets dark, use H to
turn on
your
headlights. (Note:
Your system must be
equipped with
DirectX in order for
this egg to work.)
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A
Doom-like
exploration
game
called
the
Hall
of
Tortured
Souls
Microsoft
Excel 95 |
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Open
a
blank
worksheet.
Select
row
95.
Press
Tab
once
to
move
to
column
B.
Select
Help/About
Microsoft
Excel
from
the
main
menu.
Hold
down
Ctrl-Alt-Shift
while
you
click
the
Tech
Support
button.
A
window
called
Hall
of
Tortured
Souls
appears.
Use
the
cursor
keys
to
move
around.
To
go
on
a
quest
for
pictures
of
the
Excel
developers,
turn
your
virtual
self
around
180
degrees
and
go
down
the
stairs.
Type
excelkfa,
and
the
wall
disappears,
revealing
a
narrow
walkway
that
leads
to
a
quest.
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(Note:
Your
system
must
be
equipped
with
DirectX
in
order
for
this
egg
to
work.)
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Another Windows team cast list
Microsoft Windows 3.1
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Open
Program Manager.
Hold
down Ctrl-Alt-Shift through all of the
following steps.
Select
Help/About Program Manager.
Double-click
one pane of the Microsoft Windows logo
in the upper right corner.
Click
OK.
Repeat
steps 2 through 5 and click the logo
again. You'll see an animated window and
some different text,
but this isn't the
real egg.
Repeat
steps 2 through 5 and click the logo
again. You'll see one of four cartoons
of the scrolling cast list. The bigwigs
in
the pictures are Bill Gates, Brad
Silverberg, Steve Ballmer, and a teddy
bear.
To
check out another character, repeat
steps 2 through 7, but click a different
square in the logo.
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A
flight
simulation
game
Microsoft Excel 97 |
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Press Tab.
Hold
down
Ctrl-Shift
while
you
click
the
toolbar's
Chart
Wizard
button
(the
one
with
the
three
3D
shapes).
Open
a
new
worksheet
and
press
F5.
Type
X97:L97
and
press
Enter.
A
3D
flight
simulator
will
appear.
The
mouse
controls
flight;
the
right
button
moves
you
forward;
the
left
button
puts
you
in
reverse.
(Note:
Your
system
must
be
equipped
with
DirectX
in
order
for
this
egg
to
work.)
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HomeSmart PC Inc.
617.879.3460
customerserv@fhomesmartpc.com
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