Today marks a mammoth
quarter century for Microsoft’s graphical operating system, introduced on November 10 1983 by Bill Gates.
It was originally sold for $100 per copy, and Gates invited the press to its unveiling by sending out squeezes and chamois leathers to reporters, inviting them to join the company at the Plaza Hotel in New York City for a “clear view of what’s new in microcomputer software.”
Flashback 1983 :
1983: Microsoft chief Bill Gates unveils the Windows operating system for PCs. Don't hold your breath waiting until you can buy a copy ... unless you can hold your breath for two years.
Gates, Microsoft's president and board chairman, held an elaborate event at New York City's posh Helmsley Palace Hotel. The debutante at this ball was an operating system with a graphical user interface.
If you were struggling with the arcane and unfriendly MS-DOS, you were ready to get something that was easier to drive. Typing commands at the C prompt may have been a piece of C:\ake for programmers and geeks, but it was a pain in the wrist for the run-of-the-mill office chair jockey.
Microsoft started working on a product first called Interface Manager in September 1981. Early prototypes used MS Word-style menus at the bottom of the screen. That changed to pulldown menus and dialogs (a la Xerox Star) in 1982.
By 1983, Microsoft was facing competition from the just-released VisiOn and the forthcoming TopView. Apple had already released Lisa, but Digital's GEM, Quarterdeck's DESQ, the Amiga Workbench, IBM OS/2 and Tandy DeskMate were all still in the future.
Few third-party applications were available, but the Windows 1.0 package included MS-DOS Executive, Calendar, Cardfile, Notepad, Terminal, Calculator, Clock, Reversi, Control Panel, PIF (Program Information File) Editor, Print Spooler, Clipboard, RAMDrive, Windows Write and Windows Paint.
Well, Windows has come a long way in the last 25 years, and there’s no denying the impact it’s had on the world.
Microsoft Windows turns 25 today!
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