In the early '80s, computing development was basically advancing in fast forward. Companies that seemed destined to dominate everything were replaced by new names with revolutionary products... until the cycle repeated itself. However, one project managed to establish itself definitively, to such an extent that it is still part of our computers. Of course, I'm referring to Microsoft Windows, and in today's Retrosoftware column, we're going to take a look at its version 1.0.
On December 16, 1983, VisiCorp launched Visi On, a special graphical interface for IBM PCs and MS-DOS compatibles. The press opinion was very positive, but end users condemned Visi On, rejecting its high cost ($495 plus $250 for a mouse) and its extreme hardware requirements. It was estimated that someone interested in Visi On had to invest $7,500 between software and hardware to access the platform... more than $20,000 adjusted for inflation. For comparison, Apple launched its Macintosh in January 1984 at a price of $2,495.
However, Visi On occupies a place in this story because it was the project that (supposedly) convinced Bill Gates during its demo at COMDEX 1982 to develop a similar interface at Microsoft. Graphical environments were the future, and the first public presentation of Windows took place in November 1983. The planned release date was April 1984, but several design changes delayed the debut of Windows 1.0 until November 1985, making it one of the first examples of vaporware.
Windows 1.0: No One Gets It Right the First Time
The specialized press didn't take long to discover that Windows 1.0 (technically 1.01) was half-baked. It wasn't until version 1.02 (May 1986) that it included extended support for European keyboards, more video options, and additional printer drivers. Three months later, Windows 1.03 debuted, much more consistent overall, but it raised the minimum RAM required to 320 kilobytes, a non-trivial detail considering its cost.
Still, it wasn't enough. A famous New York Times publication described the performance of Windows 1.0 on an IBM PC with 512 KB of RAM as "pouring molasses in the Arctic" not to mention the limited amount of dedicated software, certain compatibility problems with MS-DOS programs, and the lack of advanced tutorials. In its first two years, Windows 1.0 sold barely half a million copies.
If you're thinking of running Windows 1.0 on your retro computer or virtual environment, you need to keep some details in mind. First, its 'Setup' only recognizes drive A as the source, so you'll have to manipulate images manually, create installation floppies, or use something like the SUBST command to 'trick' it, so to speak.
The second restriction is that you need to load SETVER for the WIN100.BIN file with a maximum value of 3.34, force MS-DOS identification to 3.3 (this is easy in DOSBox), or take the easy way out and use that version. Finally, Windows 1.0 does not support PS/2 mice, unless you track down a special OEM edition created by IBM in May 1987, or transfer the mouse.drv file from Windows 2.03 to its installation folder.
The rest is a matter of exploring its applications. The 'MS-DOS Executive' works as a starting point, and all the built-in options are just a couple of clicks away: Calendar, Cardfile, Write, Paint (not Paintbrush, that comes later), Notepad, Calculator, Clipboard Viewer, Clock, Terminal, a copy of Reversi, and Control Panel. Windows 1.0 does not have window overlapping, and the only way to see several at once is in tiled mode. When a program is minimized, its icon goes to the bottom of the screen, a kind of ancestral taskbar.
"What if I want it on Windows?"
Good joke, right?
Windows 1.0 was undoubtedly a 'failure', but the decision to continue its development turned out to be a great success for Microsoft (after all, it had bet its future on the Windows concept). In less than five years, Windows 3.0 hit the shelves, and those pale 500,000 copies of version 1.0 became ten million. From then on, Windows was synonymous with success, something confirmed by the three million copies that Windows 3.1 sold in less than ninety days... but that is another story.
