According to a 1994 Washington Post article, Microsoft executives wanted Windows Solitaire (a rendering of the game's popular Klondike variant) "to soothe people intimidated by the operating system." Solitaire proved particularly useful in teaching neophytes how to use the mouse... When a Minnesota state legislator got caught playing during a 1995 debate on education funding, she claimed she was merely doing "homework to improve her mouse dexterity."