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Microsoft Windows is 35 years old. On November 20, 1985, Windows 1.0 was released, giving IBM compatible (what we now just call PCs) their first graphical user interface (GUI). At XDA, our relationship with Windows is rather complicated and has evolved with Microsoft’s mobile ambitions. One thing is certain, however. Without Windows, none of us would be here. So let’s take a look back at the operating system that shaped the others.
In the beginning…
Before Windows, Microsoft already had a firm grip on the PC market, as the designers of MS-DOS, the command language whose distant descendant is still accessible through the CMD window today. Inspired by the likes of the 1973 Xerox Alto which came with an out-of-the-box GUI, and even older examples like the 1963 CAD-based Sketchpad, in 1981 a young Bill Gates started designing a WIMP graphical interface (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointer) to make the emerging PC market more accessible.
The development cycle was slow and at the time of its release several companies, including Apple, were already using graphical interfaces, but Windows was something new. Apple had already shown that the use of an operating system with a graphical interface was “democratizing” – the famous Mac Ridley Scott 1984 ad saw this, and therefore for many, the advantages of Windows over MS-DOS were already sold.
At the end of 1987, Windows 2.0, supporting i286 processors, arrived, and with it, an Apple copyright lawsuit. In the end, Microsoft won, given that most aspects of both operating systems came from the same influences. Windows 2.0 was the first version that allowed Windows to overlap, rather than being placed side by side in a dashboard formation. Windows 2.1 was available in two versions – one for i186 / i286 processors and one for i386 processors.
The charm of the third time
Windows 3.0, released in 1990, was the revolutionary version and introduced virtual memory and allowed programs to reserve memory for specific tasks. Two years later, Windows 3.1 gave us a new coat of paint and introduced us to “Windows for Workgroups,” the first edition to enable peer-to-peer networking in the office. (There was also a Windows 3.2, but it was only released in China).
The first version most people remember was Windows 95, released in a wave of publicity and approval from the Rolling Stones. Besides looking like “Windows of the future”, it was also the first to let you run native 32-bit applications in the GUI. It also brought plug-and-play, the first time you can add printer, mouse, etc., without installing the drivers yourself. But the biggest change in Windows 95 was the addition of Internet Explorer. Yes, it was Windows for the Internet age.
Windows 98 followed and in 2000 the last MS-DOS version of Windows was released – Windows ME (Millennium Edition). He was universally hated and started Microsoft’s “one good, one bad” cycle that served them for the next 15 years.
Core panic
Along with all this, Microsoft was working on Windows NT, a brand new version of Windows that did not rely on DOS. It was aimed at businesses, with the DOS version continuing to dominate. It was released at the same time as the MS-DOS versions and used the same numbering system, until Windows 2000, which, as the name suggests, was released in 2000, alongside Windows ME. So many people chose Windows 2000 that had to be rethought.
A year later, Windows XP arrived. It was the first unified edition of Windows, offering variations rather than two different versions. It was a game changer. At that time, most offices were online, and many homes were also using the Internet. There were versions for servers, for tablets (long before the iPad and about 4x the size), a Media Center edition, and a built-in version for specialty devices like ATMs.
At the same time, a separate edition, called Windows CE, was designed for mini-PCs and ran on its own kernel. This is the version that also produced Windows Mobile, which our longtime readers might remember. This is the operating system that inspired us to start XDA-Developers. Of course, running different kernels meant the two systems were almost entirely incompatible, which would plague Microsoft until it ditched mobile development altogether.
Edit Vista
By the time Windows Vista arrived in 2006, Windows was dominating the world. Almost every office had a PC, and every PC ran Windows XP. So when Vista entered the scene with its gorgeous new design and increased Windows Access Control security (thrill), it seemed, at first glance, like the operating system we’ve been waiting for. But remember how we said there was a good version and then a bad version? It was the wrong version. It was enormous in size, carrying bloated code from the last 15 years of Windows NT. Its memory footprint was huge, which meant many older machines couldn’t run it. The drivers for Windows XP were almost completely incompatible with Vista, leaving many unnecessary devices until the manufacturers rewrote them. Still, all was not bad. Vista remains the only version of Windows that allows .mpg files as wallpaper. The only problem was that nothing else could work at the same time.
Microsoft tried to turn the tide in 2007 with what it called “The Mojave Project”, giving a newsgroup that had decided not to upgrade to Vista to see “Windows Mojave” due out in 2008. Of course, it was just Windows Vista, and it was like crushing vegetables in a child’s dinner. Vista’s reputation stuck in the mud and adoption was limited.
Army of Seven Countries
In an attempt to turn the tide, Microsoft released Windows 7 in 2009, which brought more of the Windows XP experience back but into the Vista shell, and with large chunks of redundant code removed to make it more agile. Applications and drivers designed for Vista were more or less 100% compatible with Windows 7, and this combination meant that Windows 7 received rave reviews and continued to be the most popular version of Windows in terms of market share. long after its replacement. It also brought multi-touch support and HomeGroup – a home user version of Workgroups – reflecting the fact that the days of a single device in every home were long gone.
By this time, the market had changed beyond recognition. Form factors began to appear that had never been considered before – smartphones and tablets were becoming the norm, while the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi brought us netbooks and UMPCs. This, in turn, led to the arrival of alternative operating systems. The iPhone and iPad, in turn, brought more people to Apple’s Macs, while Google decided that a small Linux kernel-based mobile operating system called Android would be a good move. foot.
The problem was that Microsoft still refused this trend. He knew people had choices beyond Windows, but figured he couldn’t do anything wrong. Windows Mobile was replaced by Windows Phone which was based on the Windows NT kernel. Microsoft felt that by bringing desktop and mobile operating systems closer together, it could overcome the threat of Android and iOS. The problem with this claim was that in doing so it negated the entire previous Windows CE Mobile platform and the hundreds of thousands of apps that had been written for it. He started again in mobile in late flowering. After all – with his office dominance, what could possibly go wrong?
Start stop
Then came one of the biggest missteps of all. Windows 8 made a change that no one asked for and that no one liked. It removed the iconic “Start” button, a feature of Windows since 1995. Windows 8 also introduced the “Metro” interface – a skin-on-the-skin that was supposed to bring common ground across all form factors. . The problem is, it never worked. Windows Metro (now the Universal Windows Platform or UWP) was another example of Microsoft’s strategy of cutting and burning much of what it had done before, and although the original desktop and Win32 compliance stayed, everything was tedious and felt very ‘bolted’ on ‘.
Microsoft released a premature update called Windows 8.1, offered as a free upgrade, which returned much of the lost functionality, but the damage was already done. The last netbook users were still moving to Linux-based systems. Windows Phone 8 never captured the imagination and never achieved the interoperability with Windows 8 that had been promised. Android was now the dominant mobile operating system, Mac usage increased, and people could see for the first time that “computer” did not necessarily mean “Windows”.
Someone for ten?
As we get closer to today, a complete overhaul was called for. Satya Nadella was now the head of Microsoft at a time when, for the first time in its history, she was no longer the dominant force she had always been.
Windows 10 was the biggest strategic change in Windows history. Windows 9 had been ignored, presumably with Windows 8.1 intended to serve in its place. For the first time, Windows would become “software as a service” with upgrades available for free download. When it launched in 2015, it was offered as a free upgrade to anyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 (Windows 8 users had to upgrade to version 8.1 first). But this has its own risks. It was a Microsoft of aggressive updates, with annoying screens, pop-ups, and crippled features for those unaware of new versions.
The biggest upheaval came when it was discovered that Windows 10 was downloading in the background on machines that hadn’t requested it, which led to counted logins users generating huge, unexpected bills. Microsoft first doubled down on its approach, then calmed down with pop-ups and added a toggle to mark a connection as measured. It took a few more years before allowing users to delay updates until they were ready for them.
Windows Phone had been quietly ditched at this point, along with its staff, including thousands of people who had been brought down from Nokia when Microsoft bought it to make its branded handsets, redeployed or downsized. Microsoft now uses Android as a mobile partner and launched its first Android phone, the Surface Duo, just a few months ago.
And so, as Microsoft Windows drifts into middle age, it’s not the only game in town anymore. He had to embrace changes in the way we work, play and live, while changing them for us. Sometimes, sometimes he gets it wrong because he always tries to guide the consumer rather than follow his direction of travel. But still – Happy Birthday Windows. Because there is no doubt that without Windows there would be no Android. And without Android, there would be no XDA.
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