One score and umm… fifteen years ago, Microsoft released Windows 1.0.
The first version of Windows wasn’t really a full-fledged operating system, but more of a graphical user interface that made MS-DOS a little more user-friendly. But it introduced some core features that remain to this day, including the idea of using a mouse to navigate and viewing multiple apps at once in, well, windows on the screen.
Over the past 35 years Microsoft Windows has had hits and misses. Windows XP was so popular Microsoft had a hard time to upgrade… especially since its successor Windows Vista was widely panned. Windows 7 was a pretty solid, stable release. Windows 8… showed that the company wasn’t afraid to try new things. And Windows 10 is apparently what we’re going to be using for a long time.
But it all started with Windows 1.0.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- Windows Turns 35: A Visual History [The Verge]
Windows turns 35 today. It’s come a long way since Nov 20, 1985, when it ran on top of MS-DOS, brought a GUI and mouse support to early PCs, and eventually paved the way for future releases that brought us Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Clippy. - Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV) Acquires RadioShack Brands [press release]
RadioShack is coming back. Sort of. The company that bought and relaunched Pier 1 Imports and Dressbarn has acquired rights to the brand and plans to launch a new RadioShack.com website next year. It’s unclear if physical stores are in the cards. - Does it run on Apple Silicon yet? [IsAppleSiliconReady.com]
Apple’s new Macs with M1 chips can run most Mac apps already. Performance is best for native apps, but even many x86 apps run faster on the new Macs. But not *all* apps support Apple Silicon yet. Here’s a handy guide.
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Heads up, the first paragraph age should be 35, not 15.
Cheers
One score = 20.
Ah, non-native english speaker here… oops
Now I know what that means. Thanks 🙂
No problem. It’s not widely used in the US anymore, and was just my attempt at a dumb joke. The most famous usage is from a speech by Abraham Lincoln. http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
Let’s not forget the original Apple Macintosh and that the windowed Atari ST launched before Windows 1.0.
well now – someone has made a horse’s arse of the dates for Windows 1.0 – I well remember it being trialled in the late 1980s by a couple rather arrogant young accountants who introduced it onto my corporate network behind my back at that time.
I’m pretty sure the Xerox Alto, or at least the Xerox Star introduced windows on the screen with mouse navigation first.
They just didn’t realize how valuable that idea was at the time.
Curiously, Having watched how technology evolved over this time has given me a tangible sense of what a million-fold improvement actually feels like, compared to say cars which have improved perhaps 5-fold in that time.
By the time of ‘the singularity’ tomorrow’s AI will look as different as today’s Android 11 does to Windows 3.0!