Nostalgia hits whenever you see something that was a part of your daily life once but has now been replaced by something else. In this, it was quite a surprise for testers in the Windows Insider Program who spotted the startup sound from Windows Vista instead of Windows 11’s new version.
Old users immediately realized that it was indeed the Windows Vista boot sound that arrived with the OS, nearly two decades back, when Microsoft launched its ambitious operating system that didn’t quite make it.
Hearing the Windows Vista startup sound on boot isn’t a bad thing at all. But does it mean that sound will stay? Unfortunately not. Microsoft identified the accidental sound change in the operating system and updated its support document on June 13.
In a statement, Microsoft clarified that the company accidentally made a change that turned on the retired Windows Vista sound.
“This week’s flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. We’re working on a fix,” the company noted.
While we were expecting an update that patches the problem, a newer build, this time in the Beta channel, which is a step closer to production, shipped with the same Windows Vista sound. But a follow-up update finally fixed it for everyone using Windows 11 preview builds.
One of the support documents finally confirms the “Windows Vista startup sound” issue as resolved before it could make its way to the stable channel. However, it would have been a surprise for the stable channel, which would have garnered an explosive response.
Users love the accidental change
It’s unclear how many testers installed the builds with Windows Vista sound, but it was indeed a good surprise, and timing is also pretty interesting because the entire tech world was talking about macOS Liquid Glass and Vista similarities. Windows Vista was a beautiful operating system, and it looked a lot like Apple’s recent Glass-like UI change.
Either way, at the end of the day, Windows Vista is gone, and Microsoft won’t let users stick with the Vista boot sound, but perhaps the company could add an option to switch between the startup sound easily? I would love an option to toggle the Windows Vista audio library. Who doesn’t like options?
Right now, it’s not possible to quickly go back to one of the legacy Windows audio for the startup sound, which is surprising given the ton of other audio tweaks available.
