IBM PC Meets Windows 1.0

[Wayde]

Nov. 21, 1985
IBM is still promising big things from its upcoming OS/2 platform, but it could still be over a year away from completion. For now your IBM Personal Computer has a new operating system in town, welcome to Microsoft’s Windows 1.0!
I must admit that I’ve had a chance to play around it a bit and I am not so impressed. First off it’s really not even an operating system, just an extension of DOS. I don’t see it ever replacing DOS. There's nothing like the sheer speed and control over your file system of a text based OS. Personally I don’t see this Windows stuff going anywhere. In a few years when we’re all using IBM’s OS/2 we’ll be all like … “Windows, huh what's that?”

Don’t get me wrong, this new operating system does have a few nice features. The ability to run more than one DOS program has amazing potential. Windows is centered on its MS-DOS Executive utility which lets you look around the file system by clicking with the mouse. One cool feature is that it will let you open a directory or even launch a program by double clicking. Windows 1.0 also includes a program called Notepad. It’s a lightweight text editor with a limited buffer of around 16k, so it’s only good for small files. Notepad actually provides the user with a running tally of how much free space is available in its buffer. Windows 1.0 even includes a Terminal, Cardfile and a Calculator program. Take that Macintosh User Interface!


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