Why isn't my time zone highlighted on the world map?
In the original release of Windows 95, you could change your time zone by clicking
on the map, and the time zone you selected would highlight. Similarly, you could change
your Region Settings by clicking on the world map. This was one of those little touches
that made Windows 95 that much more fun to use.
But we had to remove those features within months of release, even though we based
both of the maps on the borders officially recognized by the United Nations.
In early 1995, a border war broke out between Peru and Ecuador and the Peruvian government
complained to Microsoft that the border was incorrectly placed. Of course, if we complied
and moved the border northward, we'd get an equally angry letter from the Ecuadorian
government demanding that we move it back. So we removed the feature altogether.
The time zone map met a similar fate. The Indian government threatened to ban all
Microsoft software from the country because we assigned a disputed region to Pakistan
in the time zone map. (Any map that depicts an unfavorable border must bear a government
stamp warning the end-user that the borders are incorrect. You can't stamp software.)
We had to make a special version of Windows 95 for them.
Geopolitics is a very sensitive subject.
