this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Didn’t “My Computer” exist since like Windows 95 or so?

Also back when it was first introduced I heard some explanation that people were expected to rename it using their actual name. So something like “Joe’s Computer.” Though I don’t think anyone really did that in practice, which just resulted in everyone always having the “My Computer” icon on their windows desktop and it became the norm.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yes, Win95 called it My Computer, but at the time it was maybe the only GUI to do that. I remember the trend really kicked off in the early aughts with MySimon and their advertising campaign. Then all of a sudden every header in the OS got the word "My" tacked on.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What do you mean header in the OS? Like .h files? I haven’t seen this.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

No like textual headers of windows and settings sections. Shit like "My Settings".

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Is that even still possible? Renaming My Computer i mean.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I would think not. But I’m a tech illiterate Linux user who hasn’t used windows in 20+ years.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I’m a tech illiterate Linux user

My brain:

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 hours ago

Someone else posted that somewhere in this thread. I’m on my phone and can’t be bothered to look it up.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Looks like it's coupled with the computers hostname now. Configured with the Run command sysdm.cpl. Classic new Windows.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

I kind of think this might have all been the original vision of some small group of engineers. Like on the network you might see “Joe’s Computer” and “Jane’s Computer” and “Bob’s Printer”. But that vision all got lost in the larger Microsoft macrocosm between how they handle host names and networking and their SMB protocol, and their installers not properly renaming that stupid desktop icon. And ultimately we ended up with the ubiquitous My Computer everywhere.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Windows is more than a decade older than Windows 95.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah, but "My Computer" was not a thing in the earliest versions of Windows. "My Computer" came with Windows 95.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

But I didn’t think previous versions had the My Computer icon. I could be wrong, but that was certainly when I started noticing it.