The iconic Windows fish screensaver was inspired by a dentist's office, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it

The iconic Windows fish screensaver, known as After Dark Fish, was inspired by a dentist's office. According to Ed Fries, co-founder of After Dark and former vice president of Game Publishing at Microsoft, this connection explains the association between dentists and aquariums. Fries recalls an artist who approached him during a scene set in a dentist's office, requesting an aquarium in the design.

Fries suggested creating a looping animation of fish moving on the screen, and he obliged, turning his entire monitor into an aquarium. The screensaver's origins as stills of moving fish with parentheses representing water and 'o's for bubbles led to its popularity among Microsoft employees. Eventually, this screensaver became synonymous with Windows screensavers in the 1990s.

Fries later developed a Mac version of the screensaver and created a fish editor that allowed users to customize their aquatic creatures. This group of Microsoft employees, known as bogus software, created various useless games and projects during their time at the company.