Software Easter Eggs!

[JoeJe]

The Official Novatech Software based Easter Egg List


Easter Eggs are hidden features within a piece of software or a website, such as secret games, unlockable features... that sorta thing. I will occasionally add Easter Eggs of my own but feel free to post some of your own below this post, they will eventually be added to the list.


A BIG Thank You to Danno for sticking this thread!


Key
Tested and Working - Untested

Web based Easter Eggs - http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12852

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Operating Systems
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Windows XP



Open Notepad, type in "Bush hid the facts" (without the quotes), save it as any filename (obviously with the .txt file extension!), re-open it and you should see that George Bush really did hide the facts!
In Solitare, press Alt+Shift+2 at the same time to show the win animation - Verified by DTX
In Pinball, type the words "hidden test" (without the quotes) to control the ball with the mouse, if typed correctly, this should work. - Verified by DTX
It is impossible to create a folder called either CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9. - Submitted by Alex_B

Windows Vista



Open the command prompt (Windows key + R, cmd and click OK) and type this in (without the quotes): "ribbons.scr /p65552" - Your desktop should change to the ribbons screensaver. To get rid of it, go on the Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DELETE > Task Manager) and end the Ribbons process. You can also try "bubbles.scr /p65552" and "aurora.scr /p65552" (both without the quotes), and to get rid of them, open the task manager and end either the bubbles or aurora process.
It is impossible to create a folder called either CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9. - Submitted by Alex_B

Windows Seven



It is impossible to create a folder called "con" (without the quotes) - Verified by AshleyTayles
It is impossible to create a folder called either PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9. - Submitted by Alex_B

Programs/Applications
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Adobe Photoshop




On Photoshop CS4, Go to Help on the toolbar, hold down CTRL and select About Photoshop, you should now get the Stonehenge About Window. - Submitted by Cnr - (May work on other versions of photoshop, according to PMM, when done on CS2, you get an Adobe Space Monkey themed About window)
Excel 97



It is possible to play Flight Simulator within Excel 97 by doing the following...
1. Restart Excel 97 if already opened .

2. Open a new blank document .
3. Press F5 .
4. A reference box will open , type in X97:L97 and press ENTER .
5. Press TAB .This will take you to the cell M97 .
6. Click on the chart wizard button while holding down Control and Shift keys .

To get out of Flight Simulator hold down Control+Shift+Escape at the same time. - Submitted by Dano



Firefox

Type in "about:robots" (without the quotes) in the address bar - You should get a robots greetings page.
Type in "about:mozilla" (without the quotes) in the addres bar - You should see "The book of Mozilla" - Submitted by IainK
Type in "chrome://browser/content/browser.xul" (without the quotes) in the address bar - You should now have two address bars - Submitted by Cnr
OpenOffice

Open a new Calc document (Known as Excel in MS Office) and type "=game()" (without the quotes) in any cell, it should say "say what?" then alter the formula to "=GAME("StarWars")" (without the quotes) - This should open a space invaders game - but if you close the game and enter the formula again, it will say "oh no, not again!", In order to play it again, close Calc and re-open a new document - Submitted by Cnr
Open a new Calc document (Known as Excel in MS Office) and type "=GAME(A2:C4;"TicTacToe")" (without the quotes), this will start a game of Tic Tac Toe - Submitted by Cnr
uTorrent

Select About in the help menu - Press 'T' on the Keyboard, this will open a game of uTris (Tetris) in the about window. - Submitted by Cnr
Select About in the help menu - Click on the square uTorrent logo (Not the text!) to hear a wierd sound! (Remember to have your speakers turned on!)

[ReLeNtLeSS]

is there anymore for Vista, im bored :(

[JoeJe]

is there anymore for Vista, im bored :(

Added another one

[DTX]

The solitare and pinball ones work in XP, although the solitare one really just sets off the 'win animation' rather than actually completing the game. The pinball one is rather amusing..

[JoeJe]

The solitare and pinball ones work in XP, although the solitare one really just sets off the 'win animation' rather than actually completing the game. The pinball one is rather amusing..

Thanks, have changed them to green and put your name next to them for credit :) - I thought they worked, just needed to double check :D

[Andrew Moore]

Lol, that "con" in xp and vista is actually rather funny

Andy

[IainK]

also, try typing "about:mozilla" in the adress bar in firefox :)

[Cnr]

In Firefox,
Enter the following in the address bar:
chrome://browser/content/browser.xul

[Pixulated]

Not much of an easter egg as it's not to do with the operating system but put this as bonus or CMD if you want it in the list.

For the star wars fans, this has been out for years but if you don't know about it then follow these steps:


1. Open Start, Go to run and type in Cmd, Press Enter.
2. In the Command Prompt type in "telnet" and hit Enter.
3. Then type in the letter "o", Hit Enter.
4. It'll say <to>. So just type in "towel.blinkenlights.nl" Press Enter.
5.Now just wait for about a minute and enjoy the film.

Enjoy

[JoeJe]

also, try typing "about:mozilla" in the adress bar in firefox :)


In Firefox,
Enter the following in the address bar:
chrome://browser/content/browser.xul

Both added and verified :)


Not much of an easter egg as it's not to do with the operating system but put this as bonus or CMD if you want it in the list.

For the star wars fans, this has been out for years but if you don't know about it then follow these steps:


1. Open Start, Go to run and type in Cmd, Press Enter.
2. In the Command Prompt type in "telnet" and hit Enter.
3. Then type in the letter "o", Hit Enter.
4. It'll say <to>. So just type in "towel.blinkenlights.nl" Press Enter.
5.Now just wait for about a minute and enjoy the film.

Enjoy

As you said, that's not an Easter Egg as it is getting the Star Wars footage from an external server and not within the software itself, good try though :)

[Dano]

This one was quite fun a few years back :)



Flight Simulator in Excel


Do you have Excel 97 ? And you lack money to buy Flight Simulator ? No problem . Consistent with Windows 98 and IE 4.0 , MS has used their philosophy of "Everything inside one" ! Try these , unbelievable , but it works .
Restart Excel 97 .
Open a new blank document .
Press F5 .
A reference box will open , type in X97:L97 and press ENTER .
Press TAB .This will take you to the cell M97 .
Click on the chart wizard button while holding down Control and Shift keys .
Presto ! You are in Flight Simulator . Use mouse to navigate and mouse buttons for speed control . Control+Shift+Escape ends this and takes you back to Excel .

[Cnr]

For uTorrent:
Select About in Help menu.
Press 'T' on the Keyboard.
This will open a game of uTris (Tetris) in the about window.

[JoeJe]

For uTorrent:
Select About in Help menu.
Press 'T' on the Keyboard.
This will open a game of uTris (Tetris) in the about window.

Added and verified :)


This one was quite fun a few years back :)


Easter Egg added, although I am unable to test this as I don't have Excel 97, so until you or someone else provides a screenshot or some other form of proof, it will be labled as untested :(

[Cnr]

In Google Earth versions 4.2 upwards. Press Ctrl+Alt+A and it will open up a flight simulator.

[JoeJe]

In Google Earth versions 4.2 upwards. Press Ctrl+Alt+A and it will open up a flight simulator.

Added and verified - Cnr you're on fire! :D

[AshleyTayles]

The con folder thing is true. I tried it in Windows 7, then on my Vista machine, then back to my W7 machine, switched to XP and tried it there. It works. Proof is attached.

[JoeJe]

The con folder thing is true. I tried it in Windows 7, then on my Vista machine, then back to my W7 machine, switched to XP and tried it there. It works. Proof is attached.

That proves it for Windows 7, added and verified with a credit to you, although I still don't have proof for XP :)

[PeterStoba]

I've just done it in XP, as soon as you hit return it just says new folder. Can't prove with images cos like, yeah...

[Alex_B]

The following names are considered as a device / port in DOS. DOS devices cannot be used as folder names:
CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.
Therefore creating a folder with any of the above names is allegedly not possible in any version of windows from Windows 1.0 right up to Windows 7.

As you can see from the attached screenshot from my computer (currently running Windows 2000 Pro) this is very easily bypassed.

[JoeJe]

The following names are considered as a device / port in DOS. DOS devices cannot be used as folder names:
CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.
Therefore creating a folder with any of the above names is allegedly not possible in any version of windows from Windows 1.0 right up to Windows 7.

As you can see from the attached screenshot from my computer (currently running Windows 2000 Pro) this is very easily bypassed.

Right, the good news is that I can tell you that infact this does work on Vista, but I can only put this as unverified under XP and Windows 7 because I haven't set up a machine with XP or Win7 at the moment. Obviously from your proof picture this does not work on Win2000.
So if you or anyone else can verify this on XP, Win7 and any other Windows OS that would be great :D

[Danno]

Note to Admin/Moderator: Please can this thread be moved to the Software forum, and as it has attracted over 200 views and has had many people contributing, please can this thread be stickied once moved. Thanks :)


thats been done for you.

[JoeJe]

thats been done for you.

Thank you!

[Alex_B]

The picture is something of an illusion.
When naming the folder you add an ASCII character. eg: CON + Alt255 which is CON with a space on the end, windows automatically cuts off spaces from the beginning and end of folder names so it appears the folder is named CON.

[JoeJe]

The picture is something of an illusion.
When naming the folder you add an ASCII character. eg: CON + Alt255 which is CON with a space on the end, windows automatically cuts off spaces from the beginning and end of folder names so it appears the folder is named CON.

The whole idea of this thread is to find Easter Eggs, not to break them!

[Cnr]

Another one:
Create a new sheet in openoffice.org Calc (spreadsheet)
Enter this formula in a cell :
=game()
and press Enter. The cell will display "say what?"

Enter this formula:
=GAME("StarWars")

A new window will open with a Space Invaders game.

But if you type this formula again, the cell will return the display "oh no, not again!"

To be able to play again, you need to close the file, close Openoffice.org and the QuickStarter, and then start from the beginning.

[JoeJe]

Another one:
Create a new sheet in openoffice.org Calc (spreadsheet)
Enter this formula in a cell :
=game()
and press Enter. The cell will display "say what?"

Enter this formula:
=GAME("StarWars")

A new window will open with a Space Invaders game.

But if you type this formula again, the cell will return the display "oh no, not again!"

To be able to play again, you need to close the file, close Openoffice.org and the QuickStarter, and then start from the beginning.

Added and Verified - You really are on an Easter Egg hunt!

[Cnr]

Another one for OpenOffice.
Run OpenOffice and start the Spreadsheet application.
In the first cell of the open spreadsheet (A1), input the following
=GAME(A2:C4;"TicTacToe")
Press Enter this will start a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

[JoeJe]

Another one for OpenOffice.
Run OpenOffice and start the Spreadsheet application.
In the first cell of the open spreadsheet (A1), input the following
=GAME(A2:C4;"TicTacToe")
Press Enter this will start a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

Yet again Cnr scores another one with a Tic Tac Toe Easter Egg! - Added and Verified! :D

[jonbanjo]

Is the Google Earth Flight Simulator an "Easter Egg"? On my version, 4.37 Linux, using the menu bar for Tools/Enter Flight Simulator... starts it. Ctrl+Alt+A is merely a shortcut to a visible menu item.

[JoeJe]

Is the Google Earth Flight Simulator an "Easter Egg"? On my version, 4.37 Linux, using the menu bar for Tools/Enter Flight Simulator... starts it. Ctrl+Alt+A is merely a shortcut to a visible menu item.

Point taken, Easter Egg will be removed, Sorry Cnr!

[jonbanjo]

Also, and I'm sorry to be a killjoy, but I don't believe the DOS device names count. This is part of file naming conventions for a file system. illegal characters and reserved words. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename

[JoeJe]

Also, and I'm sorry to be a killjoy, but I don't believe the DOS device names count. This is part of file naming conventions for a file system. illegal characters and reserved words. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename

There is alot of debate on this one, it is strange that folders can't be named as a DOS device name, but I can see where you're coming from, technically it is, but technically it isn't. It's the same concept as the half empty half full cup, you can look at it either way, so for that sake, it's staying on the list.

[AshleyTayles]

Not sure if this counts as one, but go onto a flickr picture and add "?snow=1" to the end of the URL (without quotes) and see what happens ;)

[JoeJe]

Not sure if this counts as one, but go onto a flickr picture and add "?snow=1" to the end of the URL (without quotes) and see what happens ;)

We're after software easter eggs and not website easter eggs - although I did try it, very cool :D

[Danno]

why not add some website ones as well? Cnr seems to have gone quiet so we need something to pass the time. how about this one on Facebook, load up a page on the site, hit UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A ENTER on the keyboard, scroll around and enjoy.

[JoeJe]

why not add some website ones as well? Cnr seems to have gone quiet so we need something to pass the time. how about this one on Facebook, load up a page on the site, hit UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A ENTER on the keyboard, scroll around and enjoy.

Hmm, well the thing is that if we have websites on this thread aswell, the character limit on the first post will be reached too quickly, maybe I should make another thread dedicated to website Easter Eggs? - or if possible, can you create another post and make it the second post and allow me to edit it, so the first post for software and the second one for websites.

Edit: I can't seem to get your Easter Egg to work, are you sure that it works on all pages?

[Danno]

i dont think ill be able to make another post and set it so you can edit it. if you start another thread called website easter eggs and then rename this one software easter eggs ill sticky the new one as well.

[JoeJe]

Ok sure, but I can't rename the thread, you will have to do that for me (**** permission levels!)

Edit: New thread here: http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12852

[Danno]

new one stickied and renamed this one

[JoeJe]

new one stickied and renamed this one


Fantastic, new thread no longer under construction. Post all web related Easter Eggs there.

AshleyTayles, your Easter Egg is on the new thread - Danno, I can't seem to get yours to work :(

[Danno]

i think you need to click on the white background first, am sure when i did it a while ago after pressing the arrow keys i had to press A B and then enter but everywhere on google says B A and then enter. facebook is blocked here so i cant check, ill have a look tonight if you have no luck.

[Cnr]

One for Photoshop CS4.
Go to Help on the toolbar.
Hold down CTRL and select About Photoshop.
You should now get the Stonehenge About Window.

[JoeJe]

One for Photoshop CS4.
Go to Help on the toolbar.
Hold down CTRL and select About Photoshop.
You should now get the Stonehenge About Window.

Will add and verify this on Monday or tommorow evening, I'm away in Kent at the moment.

[PMM]

One for Photoshop CS4.
Go to Help on the toolbar.
Hold down CTRL and select About Photoshop.
You should now get the Stonehenge About Window.


That works for other versions too, in CS2 you get Adobe Space Monkey.

[DTX]

It is impossible to create a folder called either CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9. - Submitted by Alex_B




For XP, ths seems to be true as far as I can tell, apart from the "CLOCK$" one.

[JoeJe]

For XP, ths seems to be true as far as I can tell, apart from the "CLOCK$" one.

Can you provide proof? (Screenshots, other websites that can verify it etc...)

[JoeJe]

One for Photoshop CS4.
Go to Help on the toolbar.
Hold down CTRL and select About Photoshop.
You should now get the Stonehenge About Window.

Added and Verified :D

[JoeJe]

That works for other versions too, in CS2 you get Adobe Space Monkey.

Added but unverified, provide proof and I'll turn it green :)

[jonbanjo]

In answer to your poll question, I've given a yes as I don't see it that clearly on the white (default) background. It may be different with the (new) black background. Personally, I don't see using font colours makes any sense in a situation where you have no control over the background a user may have chosen.

[Cnr]

In Picasa, press Ctrl+Shift+Y. This will cause teddy bears to appear.

[JoeJe]

In Picasa, press Ctrl+Shift+Y. This will cause teddy bears to appear.

Will check this once I get home tonight :)

[Peeej]

In Picasa, press Ctrl+Shift+Y. This will cause teddy bears to appear.

Doesn't work for me.....

[IainK]

i've just tried dannos, and it works, try just on the facebook homepage

[Winston]

Nice! like the utorrent eggs :)

[Winston]

Type "where is chuck norris" without the quotes into google and click 'I'm feeling lucky' :D

[lsk3993]

Is it cheating to just link to this: http://www.eeggs.com/?
Do I have to find them myself...

[lsk3993]

Doesn't work for me.....
I think it only works on Picasa 2