It's back to the start of Microsoft's (in)famous GUI this week
Since we're now celebrating the launch of Windows 10, we thought it apt to take a very long look back to the start of this oft-unloved operating system. Windows has taken a fair bit of grief over recent years, not least in these pages; Vista became quickly became the focus of considerable ire, though that died down a little when more savvy people realised that it wasn't such a bad OS once they applied a few fixes.
The most recent target was, of course, Windows 8, which had a lot of users storming the Microsoft gates (no pun intended) armed with flaming torches and pitchforks. Again, though, with a bit of patience, Windows 8/8.1 turned out okay.
It's the OS everyone loves to hate, though, a scapegoat for whatever's going wrong with a computer. It's not that often that a modern Windows version breaks, though; it happens, but on the whole though, for the average home user, it's a pretty stable basis for a system, and one that can do pretty much everything the user asks of it without the need to learn how to program, drop into a command line, grow a beard or wait until a broken driver is fixed.
Our recent upgrade to Windows 10 had a couple of moments: a USB sound bar stopped working (which just needs to be unplugged/plugged back in) and our Google Drive sync stopped - though we think that this is due to our decision to upgrade as opposed to undertaking a clean install.
History
Windows 1.0 was released nearly thirty years ago, on November 20th 1985, apparently over two years later than originally announced. Unbelievably, the OS went on sale for a mere $99, as a young and (unsurprisingly) enthusiastic Steve Ballmer was pleased to tell us in a televised sales pitch from the time (goo.gl/69oAbV).
Of course this was the relatively early days of a billionaire making company, but Windows was an astute procuct. A decent looking GUI that sat on top of DOS, required only 256KB of memory, and came on a pair of floppies was what most users wanted. However, it pays to remember just how niche the market was at the time, when there were only around six million computers sold worldwide.
Windows 1.0 wasn’t much liked by the critics of the time, though. In some eyes there was far too much emphasis on using a mouse (a peripheral that wasn't as widespread as it is now), and it didn't perform too well on lesser hardware. There were also issues with drivers for keyboards, screens and printers, however, none of this seemed to do any harm to the GUI or the company.
Within a year, Windows 1.02 was released internationally and featured many improvements including performance enhancements and better drivers. Version 1.03 followed a mere three months later and increased the user base even further with numerous language additions. Version 1.04 though, released in 1987, was much a better product with many enhancements. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Good
A GUI that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. A clock! And Reversi!
The Bad
Initially, poor performance and lack of drivers for many devices.
Conclusion
It's funny looking back, but Windows 1.0 was actually quite good.
Did You Know?
• The original Windows codename was Interface Manager
• You could run DOS executables from within Windows 1.0, but no more than two at a time
• Windows 1.0 used something called Tiles to display windowed contents. Tiles! They'll never catch on...
• Official Microsoft technical support for Windows 1.0 was charged at $200 per site visit, per hour. Not a bad rate for a mere re-install