OS-TAN Wiki / history
Timeline
METADates below are the public ones. Imageboard posts are often only dated by later archives and artist pages. Where a day is known, it is given. Where only a year is honest, the year is all you get.
| Date | Stamp | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | precursor | Win-chan (TECH Win). Toy's iMac Girl wallpapers begin (Aug). |
| 1998–1999 | precursor | iMac Girl series through March 1999. |
| 2000 | context | Windows Me ships. The instability joke exists before the girl. |
| 2003-08-06 | FAN | Me-tan posted on Futaba Nijiura. |
| 2003-08-25 | FAN | OS-tan Vault established (Moeverse chronology). |
| 2003-10-04 | FAN | Earliest cited Vault homepage archive: DOS, 98, NT, Me, 2K, XP, Norton. |
| 2004-04-19 | FAN | Trouble Windows Flash opening published. |
| 2004-04-28 | FAN | First known appearance outside Futaba: Misfile. |
| 2004-10 | FAN | Vault roster includes 3.1, 95, CE, Longhorn, Server, Lindows, Linux, Mac, AV girls. |
| 2005-07 | FAN | Ohzora Trouble Windows OS-tan FanBook. Figures of 95 / Me / XP. |
| 2005 | FAN | YouTube-era spread of the opening. English fansubs. |
| 2007-04 | press | Wired lists OS-tan among 'Lamest Technology Mascots Ever.' |
| 2009-09 | CORP | Nanami Madobe Twitter + DSP Windows 7 Ultimate campaign (Akiba-PC 24 Sep). |
| 2009-08-29 | FAN | Seven-chan yonkoma by Shimuro on Pixiv (Moeverse). |
| 2010 | CORP | Hikaru Aizawa (Silverlight, Taiwan). Happy Windows 7 / Seven Color Generator. |
| 2011 | CORP | Claudia Madobe / Cloud Girl. Microsoft Japan Azure character guidelines. |
| 2012-10 | CORP | Yū and Ai Madobe Windows 8 Pro DSP editions. |
| 2013-10 | CORP | Windows 8.1 Madobe Family DSP packs. |
| 2013-11 | CORP | Inori Aizawa, Microsoft Singapore / Anime Festival Asia. |
| 2015-03–07 | CORP | Windows 10 mascot project (Tenko) → Tōko Madobe named 31 July. |
| 2016 | FAN | Ten-chan (Mega Ogre). Battenichi-chan documented at Futaba School Festival 11. |
| 2017+ | CORP | Navi+ campaigns fade after Windows 10 Creators Update era. |
| 2019–2020-01 | CORP | Nanami graduation / Windows 7 end-of-support content in Japan. |
| 2021-09-01 | FAN | Karv Windows 11 girl on Pixiv (later Ichika Madobe). |
| 2021-10-05 | context | Windows 11 ships. No official OS-tan. |
| 2022-06 | FAN | Shimuro 11-chan visible on Twitter/X. |
| 2024-09-26 | press | Windows Instagram reel uses Ichika's design. Still not official. |
| 2026 | OURS | OS TAN. This wiki. OS TAN. |
See also
History of OS-tanFrom Me-tan on Futaba in August 2003 through Trouble Windows, English spread, DSP Madobe campaigns, and the 2020s Futaba girls.OS-tanOS-tans are moe personifications of operating systems that started on Futaba Channel in 2003. Fan canon is not the later Microsoft mascot campaigns.
FAN vs CORPThe rule of this encyclopedia: Futaba fan designs, later corporate moe campaigns, OSC 'canon' popularity, and OS TAN are four stamps, not one franchise.Sources
- OS-tan — Moeverse Wiki, 2026. Best English source for Vault chronology, artist credits, and the Futaba / Madobe split.
- OS-tan — Wikipedia, 2026. Secondary overview. Mixes Futaba fan characters with regional Microsoft campaigns. Use as a map, not as character canon.
- OS-tan — Know Your Meme, 2010. Community encyclopedia. Dates Me-tan to 2003-08-06. Official-gijinka section is incomplete.
- A visual history of Microsoft's anime fetish — The Verge, 2013.
- Windows 10 Mascot Officially Introduced as 'Tōko' — Anime News Network, 2015.