EGA Archives

AppWizard

December 15, 2025

id Software released its first game 35 years ago today — Commander Keen title showcased John Carmack’s breakthrough side-scroller engine

Today marks 35 years since the release of Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons - Episode 1: Marooned on Mars, a DOS game that contributed to the formation of id Software. John Carmack's development of smooth scrolling on PCs was a significant achievement during the Enhanced Graphics Adapter era, initially intended for a port of Super Mario Bros. 3. The success of Commander Keen led Carmack and his colleagues to leave Softdisk and establish Ideas from the Deep, which became id Software. The Commander Keen trilogy laid the groundwork for id Software's transition into 3D rendering, culminating in the release of Wolfenstein 3D in 1992 and Doom in 1993. This period marked a shift in PC hardware from 486 to Pentium processors and the rise of dedicated 3D graphics cards. Nvidia introduced the GeForce 256 at the end of the 1990s, with Quake III Arena being one of the first titles to utilize this technology.

Winsage

November 22, 2025

Windows 1.01 was launched 40 years ago, but it didn’t start well — Microsoft’s graphical OS adventures were uncompetitive at launch

Microsoft released Windows 1.01 40 years ago, marking its first entry into graphical user interfaces with a WIMP-driven shell. Launched in 1985, it operated on DOS and required an Intel 8088 processor, 256KB of RAM, twin-floppy drives, and CGA graphics. A mouse was recommended but not necessary for navigation. At its release, Apple's Macintosh and home computers like the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga had already established graphical operating systems. Windows 1.01 included applications like Notepad, Paint, Clock, Calculator, and a game called Reversi. The interface featured tiled windows rather than overlapping ones. U.S. customers could purchase Windows 1.01 at launch for approximately 0, and version 1.02 was released in Europe in May 1986.

Winsage

August 30, 2025

Windows 8.1 graphics get bit-crushed into working in 40-year-old EGA graphics mode — less than half-megapixel display mode is limited to 16 colors

Bob Pony successfully installed Windows 8.1 on a system using the EGA graphics standard, which was introduced by IBM in October 1984 and supported resolutions up to 800 x 600 pixels in 16 colors. The installation resulted in a desktop display identified by the operating system as having 256MB of memory, despite EGA typically operating with less. The system allowed for a 640 x 480 pixel display in True Color (32-bit) at 64 Hz. However, EGA does not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 9, which requires a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels and DirectX 9 support.