Microsoft's Windows Gamble

Windows 1.0 came out on 20th November, 1985, introducing graphical user interface to the masses for the first time. Well, that was the concept, anyway; in truth, users required mighty hardware by the standards of the time (TWO floppy drives!), and hardly anybody bought it. But it laid the template for what would, within a decade, become world-conquering software. 

Built on MS-DOS, Microsoft’s operating system empowered users to point-and-click rather than type commands, and run multiple programs at once (theoretically: your PC would actually politely freeze most of them…), including Paint, Notepad, Calculator, and a game called Reversi.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how Bill Gates and Paul Allen built their ambition to have a ‘computer in every home’; review Apple’s flawed lawsuit against Microsoft for copying their technology; and reveal who was responsible for putting the word Microsoft in front of all their product names… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Microsoft Windows 1.0, where it all began (pictures)’ (CNET, 2013): https://www.cnet.com/pictures/microsoft-windows-1-0-where-it-all-began-pictures/

• ‘From Windows 1 to Windows 10: 29 years of Windows evolution’ (The Guardian, 2014): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/from-windows-1-to-windows-10-29-years-of-windows-evolution• ‘Microsoft Windows 3.1 promo’ (Microsoft, 1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyg-DYm7b0A

Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it.

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: 

Ollie Peart

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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