Microsoft Windows 1.01 Turns 27 Years Old
Windows 1.01 is old enough to be married, own a home and have at least one child capable of playing pre-school games on a Windows 8 tablet.
SlashGear points out that Windows celebrated a birthday on Tuesday, as Microsoft's first retail attempt at a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based OS on a PC platform, Windows 1.01, was launched on November 20, 1985 -- 27 years ago.
To put this date into perspective, here's what happened in the same month: Paul McCartney released the song "Spies Like Us", President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time, and the 22nd Space Shuttle Mission concluded with the landing of the Challenger at Edwards AFB.
Development of the popular platform reportedly began sometime around September 1981 when Microsoft started a project called "Interface Manager". The 16-bit platform wasn't revealed to the public until just over two years later, on November 10, 1983, then renamed as "Microsoft Windows".
The initial feedback stemming from the beta's introduction wasn't overly positive, as critics insisted the new platform was too similar to Apple's own Macintosh platform. The company thus went back to the drawing board and made several changes to the user UI over the next two years before the OS went retail as Windows 1.01 on November 20, 1985.
Unfortunately the Windows 1.x market share growth was slow, as Apple's Macintosh remained the platform of choice at the time due to its established presence in the advertising and design sector (and a little help from Adobe). Microsoft didn't release Windows 2.0 until December 9, 1987 – just after Paramount aired the 10th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Haven) – which was the first platform to play host to Windows versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
To generate business, Microsoft reportedly bundled a runtime version of Windows with Microsoft Excel and other applications so that consumers could test drive Windows without having to shell out additional funds. Apple's legal hounds eventually came knocking on Microsoft's doors, saying that Windows 2.0 violated copyright law by using the same icons found on Apple's Macintosh OS.
In 2001, around the time Microsoft launched the fifth version aka Windows XP (5.x), Microsoft finally dropped support for both Windows 1.x and Windows 2.x. Now with Windows 8 starting to saturate the market, Microsoft is seemingly facing the same stiff reception it endured with the introduction of Windows 1.0. Will history repeat itself with Microsoft making changes to the platform to address some of the negative feedback it's already received?
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We'll find out soon enough.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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mrmaia ReplyApple's legal hounds eventually came knocking on Microsoft's doors, saying that Windows 2.0 violated copyright law by using the same icons found on Apple's Macintosh OS.
So Apple is a b****y lawsuit troll for over two decades? LOL -
A Bad Day Here's a Youtube video of someone upgrading from all the way from Windows 1 to Windows 2000 then to Windows 7 on a VM machine, and running compatibility test using Monkey Island and Doom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPnehDhGa14Reply -
cscott_it Even as a boy, I remember all of the feedback against GUI's. My father, said that it was "over-complicating a simple process to make it accessible..... anyone who should use a computer would take the time to LEARN how to use it...". Of course, that old man is a chemical engineer, so I'm not sure how much weight I would give to his argument.Reply
Still, I've said it time and time again - Whether you like it or not, change is going to happen. GUI's should evolve. What we consider normal should be challenged. Then again, I'm a proponent of "progress for the sake of progress". There are always going to be people who resist change, whether it's minor like the start menu, a kernel revision, or a completely new operating system.
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wemakeourfuture mrmaiaSo Apple is a b****y lawsuit troll for over two decades? LOLReply
Ummm... Maybe they're not "trolling" but winning cases because they have actual patents for over 30 years and your knowledge of actual business, law and computing needs to be revised. -
freggo Win = 3^3 :-)Reply
I know, it's silly, but what is 27 PC years in human years seeing that the generation cycle of Hardware seems to be in the 6 month range, even shorter with browsers, and a bit longer for OSes.
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A Bad Day cscott_itEven as a boy, I remember all of the feedback against GUI's. My father, said that it was "over-complicating a simple process to make it accessible..... anyone who should use a computer would take the time to LEARN how to use it...". Of course, that old man is a chemical engineer, so I'm not sure how much weight I would give to his argument.Still, I've said it time and time again - Whether you like it or not, change is going to happen. GUI's should evolve. What we consider normal should be challenged. Then again, I'm a proponent of "progress for the sake of progress". There are always going to be people who resist change, whether it's minor like the start menu, a kernel revision, or a completely new operating system.Reply
I recall in the history books...:
A British company turned down the telegram, figuring that messenger boys were sufficient.
Western Union, formerly a telegram company, turned down the telephone invention.
The first cars often generated panic. Illinois still has an unrepealed law from like the late 19th century or very early 20th century that required all motorists to call the police station before arriving at their town. Though I don't think it has been enforced for decades.
Early movies were considered sinful, regardless of what theme they had or etc. -
A Bad Day EDIT: And let's not forget about the concept of "Earth is not the center of the universe" that resulted in at least one house arrest and tons of book burning.Reply -
tburns1 mrmaiaSo Apple is a b****y lawsuit troll for over two decades? LOLI seem to remember a certain sign-on sound being called "sosueme".Reply