29 years of MS Windows

On the eve of what is being known as the release Microsoft's "final" version of its flagship operating system, I thought i'd share an article that spans the decades of its evolution.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/from-windows-1-to-windows-10-29-years-of-windows-evolution

While many folks are Mac users, others Linux gurus, I myself grew up with MS-DOS 5 and Windows 3.1. I ran all my games by starting my computer with a floppy disk to free up memory (Star Trek TNG: A Final Unity, anyone?) :laugh:

I lived through the wobbly-but-successful release of Windows 95, and then on to its "face-lifted" successor Win-98. Like many, I remember several years later wanting to take a shotgun my Pentium III system after loading Windows ME.

Through every iteration, whether good or bad, I'm always grateful for this operating system, for the Windows legacy has always powered many a fond gaming memory, online experience, and sparked my imagination alongside my hobbies since the early 90's.

So here's to #10, and kudos to MS for keeping the tradition alive with the interface enjoyed by many for almost 30 years.

Cheers, and happy upgrading. :)
Steve

haha ah windows 3.1 it was a breath of fresh air when it came out, I also remember using a boot disk to free up enough memory to play Warcraft: Orcs and Humans among some others ;)

What a walk down memory lane. I despised DOS, absolutely hated Windows 3.1 OMG all those floppies to load an OS. Skipped Windows 95 and Windows 98 for Apple based products and returned to support the Roll Out of Windows 2000 and that dreadful Windows ME launch (which by the way worked wonderfully for me). From then on it was Windows through the years. Finally I can't wait for Windows 10 (even though I adore Windows 8.1 - I can always roll back :) )

The first computer I ever owned was a four-year-old used model that ran Windows Me. Running that has made me grateful for each and every iteration after.

ETA: I just remembered what kind of computer it was. It was called an eMachine, and the keyboard had little green buttons along the top labele EMAIL and SHOP and suchlike so that you could tie a website to each button for one-touch access. It all sounds dorky, but it was a gift when I had no money, so I was most grateful.

My first was a Tandy 1000TX. It has MS-DOS 3 with Personal Deskmate 3.1. Then came Windows 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, XP Pro, and 7. I skipped the other dreaded versions. I definitely look forward to 10.

I am using windows 10 now, and it certainly seems to be what we were promised, i'm particularly impressed with Cortana, who, so far, has had no issue with me, unlike Alexa(echo).

Quote by Ellamin

I am using windows 10 now, and it certainly seems to be what we were promised, i'm particularly impressed with Cortana, who, so far, has had no issue with me, unlike Alexa(echo).

Did you install it today as part of the official release or as a pre-release candidate?

I'm particularly interested in people's experience with the official upgrade before I attempt upgrading my dinosaur this afternoon.

chkdsk /f :whistle:

I have just installed it, so far I am happy, only bug I have is that Bing is the default search even though I've attempted to change it to google everywhere i can find!

It is determined to use Bing!! I'm working on it though hahaa

Just did a clean install on my work PC, so far so good. The Edge browser (Internet Explorer's from-scratch replacement) is awesome.

and yeah, Searching with Google is only as available as setting it as your homepage or loading Chrome. Otherwise I imagine that MS will be locking in Bing as the one and only available default elsewhere in the OS. Guess we'll see how that goes. :laugh:

Now on to my tower at home...but so far, I'm very happy with what I'm seeing.

Everything just works...

I was so sorely tempted to keep going through the install W10 option until I remembered my Final Uni assignment is due in 3 weeks. Absolutely no way I am going to install Win10 and break my course software install and not be able to get that in on time. It would be so embarrassing :S

Of course tomorrow the little netbook can have it so I can peek at it and see how well it runs stuff before it hits the main Pc.

Ummm... hate to rain on this "Evolution of Windows" parade, but they forgot to include Windows 3.11: Windows for Workgroups!, which I had! I had no idea that Windows 1 and 2 even existed... I suppose it stands to reason given that the first Windows I knew of was Windows 3... but still.

I used DOS Shell before Windows... who remembers those days.... anyone? lol.

Dude....DOS Shell got me out of more jams than I can remember... amazing!

DEFINITELY a shout out to 3.11 for Workgroups. It was solid follow up OS that shamefully was left out of this parade. :pinch:


[attachment=3130]Screenshot-from-2014-06-14-175634-1024x865_2015-07-29.png[/attachment]

I feel old, in that my first DOS was 4.0, and remember the experience of "upgrading" (don't be deceived, it was a clean install) to 5.0, and then to 6.0.

I also remember being on campus for the Windows ME fiasco. I was an employee of the uni I was at, and was eligible for Windows 2000 Pro for the cost of the media. A whole OS for I think it was $14. Of course I'm upgrading from 98. And since I had just upgraded, I didn't immediately pull the trigger on the ME upgrade a few months later...and then spent the next couple years laughing at the people who did. (Not gonna lie, 2000 was one of the best OSes they cranked out.)

you could colour code the bars and borders...I even had romulan pink scheme...now u can't do anything

LOL I'm still waiting for permission to "download" windows 10. Which is fine with me cause I get to see everyone else work out all the bugs lol

As mentioned in another Win-10 thread in the SW lounge, you can "force" the upgrade if you don't want to wait for it by downloading the media creation tool here (it is very easy to use and will guide you through the process):

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

If you are unsure whether you are running the 32 bit or 64 bit version of windows, you can verify this by:

In Windows 7, click "Start", and right-click Computer and go to Properties. The system screen will indicate which one you have.

In Windows 8.1, Right-click the Start button and go to System. The system screen will indicate which one you have.

Good luck!

As I posted in the first Windows 10 thread...

http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/29/how-to-download-and-install-windows-10-without-using-windows-update/

and you don't need any external media. Just download the .exe file and run it.

LOL I just rebuilt my entire system from scratch with all new parts over the 4th of July Weekend so I'm more then willing to wait for it to "notify" me that I can progress.

Quote by kiddkasper

Quote by Ellamin

I am using windows 10 now, and it certainly seems to be what we were promised, i'm particularly impressed with Cortana, who, so far, has had no issue with me, unlike Alexa(echo).

Did you install it today as part of the official release or as a pre-release candidate?

I'm particularly interested in people's experience with the official upgrade before I attempt upgrading my dinosaur this afternoon.

think it was part of the official release, and, sorry for the late reply, just got free enough to visit the site again.:pinch: