14 DAY TRIAL // Even though Windows XP no longer receives updates and security patches since April 2014, the operating system launched in 2001 still has millions of fans across the world, and its existing 9 percent market share is nothing but the living proof in this case.
Tim Gremalm of gremalm.se is one of those few people who wanted to hear the Windows XP startup sound every time before they ate, although by this we don’t mean that he boots his XP computer before every meal.
What Gremalm did was to replace the annoying buzzer of his microwave with the Windows XP startup sound for a reason that we all agree is 100 percent true: the beeping of today’s ovens is irritating, so why not having something that’s a lot more enjoyable?
If you think that removing the buzzer and setting a different sound for a microwave oven is a piece of cake, you’re definitely wrong. As Gremalm explains on his blog, it was all possible with an Arduino Nano development board, which takes care of the whole thing by allowing the use of third-party sounds.
You can try this at home
Gremalm admits that he picked the Windows XP startup sound “in lack of a better choice,” so he could replace the sound with anything else any time he wants. A small amplifier and a 0.5W speaker element were also used to make the sound a bit louder, he says.
“I throw it all into the chassis of the microwave oven. There was plenty of space, but i took some precautions to electrically isolate the PCB and speaker,” Gremalm explains.
The blog post includes detailed instructions on how the microwave oven was configured to use the Windows XP startup sound, and by following this guide, others could do the same thing, although it’s very clear that certain skills are required.
You can watch the video below to hear the Windows XP startup sound when the meal is ready and you can head over to Gremalm’s blog for information on how he did the whole thing.
