Editor’s Note: Ahead of Microsoft’s 50th anniversary, we’ve revisited our look at an operating system that helped shape personal computing over the years.
Windows 1.0: A Look Back at the Original
Two years ago, when Windows 1.0 celebrated its 25th birthday, we didn’t yet know what the future of Windows would hold. Now that Windows 8 is on the market, the original is more relevant than ever before. Today, Windows 1.0 turns 27, and despite the many ways computing has changed since its debut, the two operating systems have some surprising similarities.
A Brief History of Windows 1.0
On November 10th, 1983, Microsoft announced Windows. For $99, it came with a notepad, calendar, clock, cardfile, terminal application, file manager, a game of Reversi, Windows Write, and Windows Paint. The original press materials, prepared using Windows Write, had this quote from Bill Gates:
"Windows provides unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years. It is unique software designed for the serious PC user, who places high value on the productivity that a personal computer can bring."
The Launch and Reception of Windows 1.0
As chronicled in the December 1983 issue of BYTE Magazine, Windows was an attempt to make the desktop operating system relatively affordable. When most computers were still primarily text-based, the hardware requirements for a desktop operating system were expensive.
The Tiled Interface: A Blast from the Past
And amusingly enough, part of that new UI is a tiled interface that directly hearkens back to its ancestor. You’re probably familiar with how you can drag windowed programs on top of one another so that they overlap, yes? That functionality was removed from Windows 1.0 by the time it shipped. Instead, applications would appear tiled, each one automatically resizing itself to fit the available space. Stories differ as to whether that was a conscious decision by Microsoft or whether a secret agreement with Apple caused them to remove overlapping windows, but the overlap returned in Windows 2.0 and sparked an Apple lawsuit along the way. And yet, Windows 8 brings back the tiled interface with Windows Snap, and not all apps are functional when resized to smaller proportions. No wonder the Windows logo is back to square one.
The Legacy of Windows 1.0
Windows 1.0 launched to optimistic but middling reviews, and didn’t end up fulfilling its promise to be an affordable, powerful OS. Popular Science liked the idea, but called it relatively slow, noting that "it takes up to 15 seconds to switch from one program to another." Multitasking was a memory hog, too: "my 640-kilobyte computer couldn’t hold more than two medium-sized programs in memory at once," complained the publication. Creative Computing worried about the dearth of compatible graphics cards, and was uncertain whether Windows was a valuable upgrade over DOS. InfoWorld led with the headline "Windows Requires Too Much Power" and gave it a 4.5 (out of 10) score. "It makes such intense demands on the computer’s processing power that it’s just not appropriate for an ordinary 8088-based IBM PC or compatible," wrote the publication. And The New York Times said that "running Windows on a PC with 512K of memory is akin to pouring molasses in the Arctic." It turned out that you really did need that extra memory and that expensive hard disk drive to run Windows at a reasonable pace, and some even suggested a RAM disk like Intel’s Above Board.
The Road to Success
It took two more versions of Windows for the operating system to catch on.
Conclusion
We shouldn’t kid ourselves, though: in the 80s, the PC industry was a wild west, and those days are long gone. The issues that stymied Windows 1.0 when Microsoft was young won’t necessarily block today’s operating system from success, not when every major computer company is churning out compatible Windows 8 machines and the appeal of touchscreens has already been proven.
FAQs
Q: What was the original price of Windows 1.0?
A: $99
Q: What was the original launch date of Windows 1.0?
A: November 10th, 1983
Q: What was the original hardware requirement for Windows 1.0?
A: A 640-kilobyte computer with a hard disk drive
Q: What was the original reception of Windows 1.0?
A: Mixed, with some praising its idea but criticizing its performance and compatibility issues.
