One of the most positive experiences you can have with a software package is discovering that it does something fun. In most of the popular DOS and Windows applications, you can find various secret messages, also known as Easter eggs.
Each version of the Borland C++ Integrated Development Environment
(IDE) holds a hidden message that highlights the development staff
that produced that version of the compiler. Here, we'll
show how you can find these hidden messages and pictures.
If you're using the DOS IDE from Borland C++ 3.1, choose
About... from the Help menu. When the About dialog box
appears, press [Alt][i]. Immediately, you'll see the names
of the development staff for the DOS IDE scroll through the dialog
box, as shown in Figure A. If you want to cancel the Easter egg
display before it finishes, press [Esc].
Figure A - The DOS IDE Easter egg displays the names of the Borland C++ development-team members.
If you're using the Windows IDE from Borland C++ 3.1, choose About... from the Help menu. When the About Borland C++ dialog box appears, press [Alt][i]. In a moment, the Borland C++ logo will begin scrolling upward, and you'll see the names of the Borland C++ development team appear at the bottom, as shown in Figure B.
Figure B - The Windows IDE for C++ 3.1 displays the names of the development team in a more colorful dialog box.
Interestingly, you can view the Easter egg only once during each
session. In addition, you can't halt the Easter egg display
once you've started it.
If you're using Borland C++ 4.0, choose About...
from the Help menu and press [Alt][i]. Instead of the C++ development
team's names scrolling into view, you'll see four
names at a time dissolve into view in the recessed region at the
upper-right corner of the dialog box, as shown in Figure C. As
with the Easter egg in the 3.1 DOS IDE, you can cancel this display
at any time by pressing [Esc].
Figure C - The About Borland C++ dialog box in version 4.0 displays the development-team members' names in groups of four.
Unlike any of the other versions of Borland C++, version 4.5 contains a rather somber Easter egg. If you're using version 4.5, choose About... from the Help menu and press [Alt][i] when the About Borland C++ dialog box appears.
After the program displays a brief memorial message, you'll see a digitized picture of Tamara Selfridge Simms, as shown in Figure D. Ms. Simms was a member of the Borland C++ 4.5 development staff who died prior to the release of 4.5.
Figure D - The Borland C++ 4.5 Easter egg displays a picture of Tamara Selfridge Simms, who died prior to the release of 4.5.
Copyright (c) 1996 The Cobb Group, a division of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. The Cobb Group and The Cobb Group logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.