Windows 1.0: the Power of DOS, Plus Tiled Windows

jbrodkin writes "I'd always wanted my own working copy of the elusive Windows 1.0, and after a few failed attempts I got one working in a virtual machine (I had to downgrade from the latest version of Windows Virtual PC to an earlier version to get it started, but that's another story). With 416K free memory, we were able to cruise through Reversi, take a look at the first version of Notepad, as well as the now-defunct Microsoft Write, and create a 'masterpiece' in Microsoft Paint. Eventually, applications started crashing, but a simple reboot got it working again. All in all, a nice tour through computing history. Anyone have a copy of the first Macintosh OS they want to send me?"

Comments

Isn't It Past Time Slashdot Change the MS Icon??

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the deal with Slashdot still using that Bill Gates Borg icon to represent Microsoft? That icon is so dated on both levels these days. Bill Gates hasn't worked at Microsoft in years, and the Borg reference just is no longer current or relevant. Anyone under 25 would hardly get the references.

You guys just had a redesign, and you still can't deign to use the real Microsoft icon? For gods sake you have the real ones for Facebook and Twitter, it's not like its that hard. If anything, it makes slashdot just look so horribly unfunny and irrelevant.

This is an on-topic meta comment.

working as designed

[OglinTatas]

...after a few failed attempts I got one working.... Eventually, applications started crashing, but a simple reboot got it working again.

Sounds like you have it working as designed. Bravo.

Yep.

[wcrowe]

Eventually, applications started crashing, but a simple reboot got it working again

Yep, that's Windows all right.

Heh, if you liked that

[sumdumass]

If you liked that experience, you should check out the windows really good version

http://www.deanliou.com/WinRG/

Re:Isn't It Past Time Slashdot Change the MS Icon?

[Anonymous Coward]

The point is that it's now passed beyond satire into meta-satire; the satire is mostly on the fact that so many Slashdot commenters bemoan their portrayal as you do. The very reason it's still being used is probably because of that. Honestly, I see more comments complaining about how Slashdotters are always biased against MS than I see comments which are genuinely biased against them.

Re:Isn't It Past Time Slashdot Change the MS Icon?

[softWare3ngineer]

I could go for a Ballmer Zombie instead.

Re:Isn't It Past Time Slashdot Change the MS Icon?

[scharkalvin]

Now THAT is a good idea. Actually does anybody beside me think that Ballmer looks like the monster from Young Frankenstein?

Errors

[Kamiza Ikioi]

It's amazing. The error dialogs and calculator have lasted on, virtually unchanged.

Re:Why the hell is this here?

[Anonymous Psychopath]

It's nostalgia for those of us that actually used it.

I don't think you'll find a copy...

[kevinmenzel]

I'm not sure that I've ever seen a copy of Windows 1.0, and I was REALLY in to old versions of windows at a point. 1.01, yes. 1.02, yes. 1.03, yes. 1.04, definitely (had that running native on a P4 though I forget how easy or difficult that was...) - but not the original 1.0. Apparently there was some sort of major bug with 1.0, or memory leak, or something. If anybody actually finds a copy somewhere though... that would be amazing. I've seen things claiming to be 1.0 that are just resource hacks of 1.01 or 1.04, (usually 1.04) so I know you can "find it on the google" but I have yet to see a confirmed 1.0 disk image anywhere on the net....

Re:I don't think you'll find a copy...

[linebackn]

>Apparently there was some sort of major bug with 1.0, or memory leak, or something.

There was an article linked to on Slashdot a while back that explained this. Here is the link:
http://technologizer.com/2010/03/08/the-secret-origin-of-windows/

Windows 1.00 was not quite ready to release to the public but they had some obligation to release, so they branded 1.00 as Windows "Premier Edition" and gave that to certain people. Windows 1.01 was apparently the first version to actually hit the store shelves.

Write still present, at least as a proxy

[morningstar8]

The original Write might have gone away...but there is still a proxy in its place.

If you look in Windows 7's \system32 directory, you will find good ol' write.exe. I believe the icon is the same one it had in the Win 95 days. If you look at the property dialog for the file, and click over to the Details tab, you'll see that the "File description" is "Windows Write". Even in Windows 7, one can invoke "write hello.txt" from the command line.

However, the executable is tiny, and it appears to simply invoke WordPad. The executable that shows up in Task Manager is "wordpad.exe".

Re:QDOS? (DOS 1.0)

[CharlyFoxtrot]

Here you go ! It's 86DOS but as wikipedia explains :

"86-DOS was an operating system developed and marketed by Seattle Computer Products for its Intel 8086-based computer kit. Initially known as QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) the name was changed to 86-DOS once SCP started licensing the operating system."

Re:Isn't It Past Time Slashdot Change the MS Icon?

[Ginger Unicorn]

I'd love to see Gates demonstrating Ballmer's ability to perform "Puttin' on the Ritz" to a skeptical theatre audience.