34 MA XIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2005 NOVEMBER 2005 MA XIMUMPC 35

THIS NOVEMBER

MARKS WINDOWS’

20TH BIRTHDAY,

AND WE’VE STOLEN

MICROSOFT’S

SCRAPBOOK—FROM

BABY PICTURES TO

ALL GROWN UP!

BY J!3ON CO-04ON

n 1985, Microsoft launched a quaint little graphi-

cal shell for its command-line operating system

called “Windows.” Over the next decade, amid

intense competition from the other personal

computing contenders—the Mac, the Amiga, and

Atari ST—Windows eventually clawed its way to the

top of the OS heap. The early versions of Windows

wouldn’t have made any but the most generous

of “Top 5 Operating System” lists, yet today, as

Windows celebrates its 20th birthday, it’s just about

the only game in town, having defeated all comers.

From the humble beginnings of Windows 1.0

to the nadir of Windows ME to the hopefully bright

future of Vista, it’s all here. Is Windows’ success

a testament to a masterwork of design? A victory

for canny market strategy? A Triumph of The Bill?

A horrible historical error? Judge for yourself as

we lead you through the improbable evolution of

Windows, from shaky, uncertain beginnings to king

of the desktop computing heap.

Happy

Birthda

Windows!

y,

Special thanks to Nathan Lineback and Toastytech.com for screen-

shots of classic Windows versions!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

MARK MADEO