An ultra-rare piece of Microsoft history could be hiding on your shelf

An ultra-rare piece of Microsoft history may be concealed in the boxes of a certain product. A veteran engineer at Microsoft, Raymond Chen, has shed light on the intriguing reason behind a sticker appearing on the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows packaging instead of a printed Tetris promotion. This decision was made because Microsoft had not secured the licensing rights for Tetris before the initial print run of the packaging.

The Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows was first released in the same year as Windows 3.0, marking the era of Microsoft's desktop dominance. Following its debut, three more versions of the entertainment pack were released, culminating in the release of a Best Of version in 1994. The floppies inside the box contained various card games, Minesweeper, and a Windows version of Tetris.

However, the story takes an interesting turn. Chen explained in a post on his Old New Thing blog that when the first run of boxes were being printed, negotiations to license Tetris were still pending. There was a possibility that these negotiations could fall through, leading to the Entertainment Pack being released without Tetris.

To avoid wasting a production run, Microsoft opted for the Tetris-less branding and later added a sticker once the deal was finalized. Later print runs incorporated the sticker as part of the box art, making the original version quite rare. Microsoft has a history of creating collectibles inadvertently. Chen recalled an incident with Windows 95, where an anti-piracy hologram on the case depicted a shirtless baby pointing at a computer monitor and the Windows 95 logo.

The offense caused by the baby's nudity led to a revised hologram with the baby wearing a shirt and overalls. However, some original versions of the Windows 95 hologram still exist, and if the baby in your hologram isn't wearing a shirt, you possess a genuine collector's item.