Icons, windows, and the small mouse pointer gliding across the screen have become so familiar that they often fade into the background of our digital lives. Yet, in the early 1980s, the concept of a “graphical interface” was still a visionary dream. Computers were primarily navigated through a series of text commands, a method that required users to possess a certain level of technical literacy. Microsoft, with its MS-DOS software, was at the forefront of this text-based era, laying the groundwork for the personal computer revolution.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, recognized that for computers to gain traction among the general populace, they needed to be more user-friendly. This insight led to the development of Windows, the first version of which was introduced in 1983 and officially launched on November 20, 1985. This marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of personal computing, yet the journey to success was anything but straightforward.
Why it flopped
To understand the initial struggles of Windows, we must travel back to 1980. At that time, many of the elements that would eventually shape modern graphical interfaces were already in existence but were scattered across various research facilities. Innovations such as the mouse and windowed displays had been conceptualized as early as the 1960s by Douglas Engelbart’s team. These ideas were later realized in 1973 by Xerox with its Alto computer, which, despite its rudimentary appearance by today’s standards, was groundbreaking for its time.
The Alto’s graphical interface, now accessible through reconstructed software online, was a source of inspiration for many developers in California, including both Gates and Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. The impact of these early innovations set the stage for a new era in computing, one that would eventually lead to the widespread adoption of graphical user interfaces. However, the initial reception of Windows was not as triumphant as one might expect, highlighting the challenges that lay ahead for Microsoft in its quest to redefine personal computing.
