Windows XP was Microsoft's operating system released in 2001, and its short startup chime became one of the most recognisable sounds of personal computing in that decade. As XP remained in homes, schools and offices for many years, the chime became tied to a whole generation's first experience of a computer. Long after newer systems replaced it, clips of the sound spread through nostalgia videos, retro tech edits and meme soundboards, where it now works as instant shorthand for the early internet era.
Об этом звуке
The Windows XP startup chime, a short rising melody heard when the old operating system booted up. Creators use it for nostalgia and retro tech jokes.
The Windows XP startup sound is a brief, gentle orchestral chime that rises and resolves in just a few seconds, with soft strings and a warm piano-like tone that feels calm rather than dramatic. It instantly signals an old computer waking up, and for many listeners it carries a wave of early-2000s nostalgia, recalling school computer labs, family desktops and dial-up afternoons. In a video, that familiarity does much of the work: the moment it plays, viewers recognise the era, relax into the joke and expect something outdated, slow or charmingly clunky to follow.
