D2CA.ORG - Dan's 20th Century Abandonware - Microsoft® Bob™ Exhibit

In order to begin using Microsoft Bob, you must first "sign in" at the "Bob Home's front door." This is done by clicking the gold "door knocker."

The Personal Guide "Rover" then asks you "Who's There?" The first time Microsoft Bob is run, a "Guest" user is provided to allow access to the "Bob Home."

Featured below are 15 screen shots taken from the Microsoft Bob sign-in process.

After clicking the gold "door knocker," the user list is displayed. If you are using Microsoft Bob for the first time, a "Guest" user is the only name in the list. The Guest account is provided to allow access to the "Bob Home" without having to create a user account.

However, if you do click on the Guest account to enter the "Bob Home," a message appears that tries to talk you out of using Guest and to create your own account. You can still sign in as Guest or create a new user account.

If you decide to be added to the "Bob Home" user list, "Rover" asks you if you are new to the "home" or if you have been removed from the (user) list.

When you add a new user account to the "Bob Home," there are a series of information questions "Rover" asks. A message prompt informs you of this.

In the first user setup "prompt," you are asked to enter your first name, "call sign," last name, hometown, birth date (which is also Y2K compliant), and gender preference. All the fields require an entry before you can proceed to the next step of the sign in process.

The next "prompt" in the user setup process explains how passwords work in Microsoft Bob.

You are prompted to enter your user password in this "prompt." For people who have had little or no experience with computer passwords, a note explains why asterisks are displayed instead of the actual password.

Part of the "note" says, "...this way someone looking over your shoulder can't tell what it is!" But what if that "someone" looks down at the keys you are typing for your password? Type fast!

Just to make sure you entered the password you wanted, the next "prompt" has you enter your password a second time.

If the password you typed the second time doesn't match your first entry, you are prompted to re-enter the second entry to match the first one.

Moving on to more personal information, this "prompt" asks you to enter your address, city, state/province, zip/postal code, country, and time zone. Again, all entries are required in order to continue the user setup process.

Want it or not, the user setup process makes you choose at least one private "room" for yourself in the "Bob Home." After the setup process is complete, if you don't want an extra "room" you can delete it.

This is the last step in the user setup process.

Once finished with the user setup process, if you chose to have Microsoft Bob replace your Windows "shell," it can import any other DOS and Windows programs installed on your system so they can be run from the "Bob Home."

If you chose not to have Microsoft Bob replace your Windows "shell," you can still import your programs into the "Bob Home" though it might not be necessary since you can swap between Microsoft Bob and other programs, or end your Bob session and return to your regular computer environment.

Signing In To Microsoft Bob With A Password-"Protected" Account
How secure is a password if anyone can change it? Take a look at the "security" of Microsoft Bob's account password protection.

After selecting your password-protected account from the "Who's There?" list (see the first screen shot at the top of the page), Rover asks for your password. As you type your password, each character is hidden with an asterisk.

If the password you typed does not match your account's password, you are prompted to re-enter your password. If entered incorrectly a second time, this same prompt appears again.

If you enter your password incorrectly a third time, you are asked if you have forgotten your password.

But instead of requiring you to perform some kind of authentication first -- answer a question ("What is your mother's maiden name?"), etc., you can enter any new password and it will replace the original one! Anyone can do this to any password "protected" Microsoft Bob account. There is absolutely no prior authentication required whatsoever.

This means User1 could change their own password just by mistyping their password three times and entering a different password the fourth time -- and not have to bother with Microsoft Bob's Change password option.

It also means that User1 could change the passwords of User2, User3, User4, etc. in exactly the same way. Consequently, any user could change any other user's password simply by mistyping it three times then entering a new password when prompted -- and then enter their account.

If you return to sign in to your Microsoft Bob account and find your password doesn't work, fear not! Just let it reject your entry three times and then you can set your password again. Be sure to check to see that your account hasn't been changed or your "rooms" rearranged, deleted, or new ones added. Oh, and is your Bob Checkbook information safe?

Why did Microsoft even bother to offer a password option in Microsoft Bob with this type of set up?

Other Sign In Options
In addition to creating new users, the sign in "Front Door" also has options to change a user's "preferred name" and password, remove accounts from the user list, and "reinstate" accounts removed from the user list within the last six months. Note: no extra security is needed to remove a user from or reinstate a user to the list! In order to change a user's "preferred name" and/or password, their password must be entered first.

Microsoft Bob has options to allow a user to periodically change their password and "preferred name."

The sign in also has an option to allow anyone to remove any user name from the sign in list. Any person can do this, without any security authorization, since at this point nobody has signed in to Microsoft Bob!

Again, anyone, before ever signing in to Microsoft Bob, can reinstate any removed user name that was deleted within the last six months.

But consider -- if any person changes the computer's system date to more than six months ahead of the current date and then starts Microsoft Bob, this permanently removes all removed accounts from the user list!

And if this isn't enough to cause you concern, here is more information about "Bob's security."

Would you keep your important personal and financial information in a graphical user interface using this method of "security?"

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