Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released in November 1985 by Microsoft, the company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It was not a complete operating system but a graphical shell that ran on top of MS-DOS, offering windows, icons and mouse control in competition with the Apple Macintosh, which had appeared in 1984. The first version sold modestly and was criticised for its limited performance. Windows 3.0, released in 1990, was the first to be a wide commercial success, and Windows 95 introduced the Start menu and the taskbar and brought the system to a mass audience. Later versions such as Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 11 followed. Windows became the most widely used operating system for personal computers.
Before and after
- 30 September 1985Release of Microsoft Excel
- 3 October 1985First flight of Atlantis
- 24 October 1985Birth of Wayne Rooney
- 16 November 1985Birth of Sanna Marin
- 20 November 1985Creation of Microsoft Windows
- 20 November 1985Creation of Windows 1.0
- 8 December 1985Founding of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- 28 December 1985First flight of Fokker 50
- 30 December 1985Discovery of Puck
More in Science & technology
- 1945Discovery of promethium
- 1950Discovery of californium
- 18 February 1970Discovery of dubnium
- 1976Discovery of bohrium
- 29 August 1982Discovery of meitnerium
- June 2002Discovery of oganesson
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.