Windows 8 launched in 2012, with the 8.1 update following in 2013, and both versions shipped with a set of short, understated system sounds for mail, messages and other alerts. The generic notification became familiar because it played constantly on desktops, laptops and tablets running the operating system, long before custom notification tones were common. As those computers aged, the sound moved onto soundboards and into meme edits, where its clean, slightly dated tone now signals a fake alert, an old PC or a piece of early 2010s nostalgia.