November 20th, 1985: Windows 1.0 is Released

REDMOND, WASHINGTON - 1986: Microsoft owner and founder Bill Gates poses outdoors with Microsoft's first laptop in 1986 at the new 40-acre corpororate campus in Redmond, Washington. In March, Microsoft held an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares. By the end of the year, Gates became a billionaire at the age of 31. Microsoft was the first company to dominate the personal computer market with it's MS-DOS system and subsequently the Windows platform. (Photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images)

REDMOND, WASHINGTON - 1986: Microsoft owner and founder Bill Gates poses outdoors with Microsoft's first laptop in 1986 at the new 40-acre corpororate campus in Redmond, Washington. In March, Microsoft held an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares. By the end of the year, Gates became a billionaire at the age of 31. Microsoft was the first company to dominate the personal computer market with it's MS-DOS system and subsequently the Windows platform. (Photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images)

On November 20, 1985, a groundbreaking moment in the history of personal computing took place: Microsoft released Windows 1.0. At the time, personal computers were largely operated using command-line interfaces like MS-DOS, which required users to type commands manually. The release of Windows 1.0 marked a significant shift toward a more visual, user-friendly way of interacting with computers.

Windows 1.0 had been announced by Microsoft in 1983, signaling the company's ambitious move to create a graphical user interface (GUI) that would make computing more accessible to the average person. Bill Gates and his team envisioned a system that would allow users to navigate using a mouse—a new concept that was unfamiliar to many at the time. Development faced delays and challenges, but after two years, Windows 1.0 was finally ready for release.

The first version of Windows introduced several key features that set it apart. It allowed users to open multiple applications at once, using tiled windows that shared the screen. Built-in programs such as MS-DOS Executive for file management, Notepad for simple text editing, and a basic calculator were part of the package. The operating system also came with a game, Reversi, designed to help users practice using the mouse—a tool that was considered novel and futuristic.

Despite its innovations, Windows 1.0 received a mixed reception. Many praised Microsoft’s forward-thinking approach, but the system was criticized for being slow and demanding significant computer memory and hardware resources. It wasn’t an immediate commercial hit, but it laid crucial groundwork. The early feedback helped Microsoft refine the product, leading to later successful releases like Windows 3.0 and 3.1, which firmly established the company as a leader in the tech world.

The release of Windows 1.0 may not have been perfect, but it marked the beginning of an era. This pivotal moment on November 20, 1985, set in motion a series of developments that would change the way people used computers, shaping the path for future operating systems and the dominance of Microsoft in personal and business computing for decades to come.