The Windows franchise. A retrospective
Some thoughts gathered in preparation for hosting a Windows 7 Launch Party
Click and drag this timeline:
Windows 1.0
Released: 20 November 1985
info wiki
Trivia: Windows 1.01 replaced 1.0 a few weeks after release due to a keyboard input problem. A few months after release, Balmer was in true form selling Windows 1.0. Screenshots.
IBM/MS OS/2
Released: Apr 1987
The development of OS/2 began when IBM and Microsoft signed the Joint Development Agreement in August 1985.[3] It was code-named “CP/DOS” and it took two years for the first product to be delivered.
Windows 2.0
Released: 9 Dec 1987
info wiki
The first Windows versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel run on Windows 2.0.
Windows 3.0
Released: 22 May 1990
info
And episode of The Computer Chronicles describes the major advances in Windows 3.0 which is now serious competition for OS/2;
Windows 3.1
Released: 6 April 1992 info
A Japanese Windows 3.1 commercial;
Windows 3.1 Launch Party
Windows 95
Released: 24 August 1995 info
Windows 95 launched by Jay Leno
Bill Gates and Brad Silverberg launch Windows 95
Windows NT
Released: 24 August 1996 info
Windows 98
Released: 25 June 1998 info
Windows 98 Launch and the famous Blue Screen of Death demo
Windows 2000
Released: 17 Feb 2000 info
Windows Me
Released: September 14, 2000 info
Windows XP
Released: 24 AUG 2001 info
Balmer on XP
Windows Vista
Released: 8 NOV 2006 info
Windows Vista Launch in Tokyo
Windows Vista Launch in Manhattan
Gates Keynote in Brussels on 9 Nov 2006
Windows 7
Released: 22 Oct 2009 info
And Finally, a bit more Kylie
Here’s how we were told to do it
Of course, someone had to crash the party
and the requisite Hitler parady
And lets wrap it up with a SNAP, PEEK and SHAKE demo!
So where’s the Windows Franchise heading?
Let’s look at Moore’s Law…
In a whitepaper dated September of 2009, Intel is coming out bullish on Moore’s Law: “Intel currently has visibility on how to extend Moore’s Law for several more generations.”
Ray Kurzweil’s take on Moore’s Law
And its extension into the future singularity
