Windows 10 was released by Microsoft in 2015, and its startup sound quickly became one of the most recognised computer sounds of the decade as the operating system spread to homes, schools and offices around the world. Unlike earlier Windows chimes, it was quieter and more restrained, matching the cleaner design of the new system. As users upgraded their machines, the sound became a shared reference point for a generation of PC users, and it continues to appear in nostalgia videos, tech retrospectives and memes that play on the experience of waiting for a computer to boot.