Windows 1.0 released 40 years ago today - and started Microsoft's road to success

Windows 1.0 officially released to the public 40 years ago today (November 20), and despite its age, still has some common similarities with what users can expect from the operating system today.

Underpinned by the iconic MS-DOS command line, Windows 1.0 is notable in that it specifically required a computer mouse to navigate the graphical user interface (GUI). When the operating system first launched in the US it cost $99, equivalent to just over $296 in today’s dollars.

Europeans were made to wait a while for the OS, which arrived in May 1986 with the launch of version 1.02.

Windows 1.0 wasn’t exactly a hit, however. Reviews of pre-release versions were mixed, to say the least, with the iconic Byte magazine questioning its capabilities.

It didn’t fare much better upon official release, either, with users and industry stakeholders highlighting an array of complaints.

A key factor here was that it lacked compatibility with a lot of software currently out there on the market, making it less than ideal for those hoping to become a Microsoft shop. Combine that with the aforementioned performance issues flagged by industry commentators, and it wasn’t exactly a well-regarded operating system like Windows 95, for example.

Across its lifespan, Microsoft did a lot of tinkering and made some improvements, and its last release was 1.04 before being succeeded by Windows 2.0 in December 1987.

Notably, the operating system did keep trundling away in the background on a lot of devices globally. The tech giant only ended support for Windows 1,.0 in December 2001.

Some familiar features

Windows 1.0 did set the stage for Microsoft to take the OS market by storm, however, and it introduced some iconic features that you might still be using today.

Among these were Notepad, Paint, and Calculator. We’ve all used each of these tools over the years, and Paint in particular is having somewhat of a renaissance with the advent of generative AI.

Microsoft sneakily introduced a new beta scheme in September that allows users to test AI tools in the iconic program. It’s safe to say Paint has come a long way since 1985.

A Windows 1.0 easter egg?

Long time readers of TechRadarPro might recall a story in 2022 where users found an easter egg hidden away in the operating system decades after it launched.

In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), Lucas Brooks revealed the OS contained a list of developers who worked on it back in the early 1980s. It was rather hard to find, however.

Hidden dialog, which included a ‘congrats’ message upon its discovery, was placed in an encrypted form at the end of the smiley bitmap file, which was included with the operating system upon release.

Among the names touted in the easter egg was Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. Newell worked for Microsoft for over 13 years between 1983 and 1996 before leaving to launch the company.

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