Forty years ago, Microsoft joined the GUI party, which included rivals Apple, Atari, and Commodore, by offering Windows 1.0. It was the 1980s, and the console crash had just happened, but PCs had begun the move to the 16-bit era, ushering in new graphics and processor capabilities. At this point, there’d been multiple generations of command-line-based OSes dating back decades, and users were ready for something new: the graphical user interface.
It could be said that the GUI party began in 1984 with the Apple Macintosh, but it would really take off in 1985 with the launches of the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST series of computers, and a software add-on layered over MS-DOS, called Windows 1.0. The first iteration of Windows only just barely had any resemblance to what many are familiar with today, as it literally was a collection of windows that had more in common with a series of ad pop-ups than what we see today. Meanwhile, other GUIs were already on their way to the more traditional desktop experience now seen, but it wouldn’t be long until Microsoft caught up to them and began developing its own identity.
By the 1990s, things had changed quite a bit, and PCs had entered the 32-bit era, gaming consoles had made their comeback, and GUI-based desktops were common. From spreadsheets, databases, MIDI, and gaming to email, PCs had taken a greater foothold in households across the planet, and Windows had adapted to the many tasks a PC could be used for. It was also in 1993 when Microsoft settled with Apple in a case where the latter accused Microsoft of infringing on its GUI copyrights. Meanwhile, Windows 95 would bring the desktop experience that even the youngest PC users today would recognize and be able to navigate, and despite the latest version being called Windows 11, the list below shows roughly 15 versions since the first.
Windows releases (as per VideoCardz):
- Windows 1.0: November 20, 1985
- Windows 2.0: December 9, 1987
- Windows 3.0: May 22, 1990
- Windows 3.1: April 6, 1992
- Windows 95: August 24, 1995
- Windows 98: June 25, 1998
- Windows ME: September 14, 2000
- Windows 2000: February 17, 2000
- Windows XP: October 25, 2001
- Windows Vista: January 30, 2007
- Windows 7: October 22, 2009
- Windows 8: October 26, 2012
- Windows 8.1: October 17, 2013
- Windows 10: July 29, 2015
- Windows 11: October 5, 2021