From The Verge:
Windows Turns 30: A Visual History
The PC revolution started off life 30 years ago this week. Microsoft launched its first version of Windows on November 20th, 1985, to succeed MS-DOS. It was a huge milestone that paved the way for the modern versions of Windows we use today. While Windows 10 doesn’t look anything like Windows 1.0, it still has many of its original fundamentals like scroll bars, drop-down menus, icons, dialog boxes, and apps like Notepad and MS paint.
Windows 1.0 also set the stage for the mouse. If you used MS-DOS then you could only type in commands, but with Windows 1.0 you picked up a mouse and moved windows around by pointing and clicking. Alongside the original Macintosh, the mouse completely changed the way consumers interacted with computers. At the time, many complained that Windows 1.0 focused far too much on mouse interaction instead of keyboard commands. Microsoft's first version of Windows might not have been well received, but it kick-started a battle between Apple, IBM, and Microsoft to provide computing to the masses.
Back in 1985, Windows 1.0 required two floppy disks, 256 kilobytes of memory, and a graphics card. If you wanted to run multiple programs, then you needed a PC with a hard disk and 512 kilobytes of memory. You wouldn't be able to run anything with just 256 kilobytes of memory with modern machines, but those basic specifications were just the beginning. While Apple had been ahead in producing mouse-driven GUIs at the time, it remained focused on the combination of hardware and software. Microsoft had already created its low-cost PC DOS operating system for IBM PCs, and was firmly positioned as a software company.
Ahhh - the memories. Back then, Digital Research offered their GEM (Graphical Environment Manager) enhancement to MS/DOS. GEM was used by a number of graphics programs and was a superior product (supported higher resolutions, was very lean and fast, didn't have all the bloat-ware) but Microsoft pushed Windows and Windows is what we got.
I still have the original disks and also an original empty 'shelf-talker' box. They sold empty shrink-wrapped boxes to dealers so we could stuff our shelves with these and make it look like we had a huge inventory - worked well.
Fun times! I was the only computer store on University Avenue selling IBM PC Clones.
Finally, here is Steve Balmer doing what he does best:
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