Windows Turns 40

On November 20th, 1985, the Windows 1.0 operating system was released to manufacturing. It was Microsoft's first Graphical User Interface (GUI), and it was primitive, at best keeping pace in the IBM PC-compatible sphere with its GUI and hardware rivals from Apple, Atari, etc.

I have never used Windows 1 or 2. My first home computer experience was on MS-DOS, probably version 5, although I don't remember for sure. I remember learning to use the command prompt to load Windows 3.1, but I usually just launched games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego from a floppy drive instead. Windows was effectively a graphical shell simplifying the clunky DOS architecture underneath.

I also remember the hype when Windows 95 dropped. It was still DOS in the background, but the experience was much more seamless for most purposes. A true game-changer, it set the overall design language template for most GUIs since. You probably know it without realizing where it began: a taskbar at the bottom of the screen, a Start button with cascading menus, minimize/maximize buttons for windows containing folders and programs lining up beside one another on that taskbar when not in use.

I fondly remember Windows XP, the first Windows NT consumer product. I still believe was the pinnacle of Windows releases, refining the features of 95/98/2000 and should have been developed as a true 64-bit OS beyond the temporary kludge they threw together before launching... shudder... Vista. Windows 7 was OK. Windows 8 was a mess. Windows 10, initially advertised as a perpetual rolling update OS, is officially dead now, too. There was a mandatory Windows 11 upgrade required for ongoing security and performance updates.

In some ways, I like Windows. It's less of a walled garden than Mac OS, and much easier for novices than most Linux distros. However, I strongly dislike Microsoft's business practices and bloatware, to say nothing of the security concerns every new edition creates. I am using a Windows laptop to type this, but between improvements to Linux distros, free and open-source software for most of my productivity needs, growing Linux support for games and emulators, and the upcoming "GabeCube" Steam Machine, I doubt I'll be buying another new Windows computer unless I seriously return to drafting and design requiring specific software compatibility. This machine should have plenty of life left in it, and I can always just get a new SSD and install a Debian-based distro to keep it going almost indefinitely.

Will Windows see its 50th birthday, or fade away? You tell me. I suspect it won't go anywhere soon, but I think its time is limited. It has certainly reached middle age. It's due for retirement eventually, right?