Revisiting Windows 1.0: how Microsoft’s first desktop gracefully failed

Editor’s note: Ahead of Microsoft’s 50th’s anniversary, we’ve fixed the layout on this story — which we originally published in 2012 when Windows 8 launched. Now’s a good time to revisit our look at an operating system that helped shape personal computing over the years.

Two years ago today, 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. Let’s take a look at just how far we’ve come since Windows 1.0… and where Microsoft is retracing its own footsteps with the latest version of Windows.

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 soft …

Read the full story at The Verge.