In-Depth

So You Think You Know Windows 1.0?

For the 25th anniversary of Windows 1.0 -- the Microsoft product at the root of the modern Microsoft channel -- take our quiz about the market forces, Microsoft personalities and technical specs of the earliest version of the OS. How much do you remember about the debut of Windows? Take our quiz!

Next month marks the 25th anniversary of Windows. The colossal empire that is now Windows, and the massive channel that makes a living from Windows and its derivatives, had very humble beginnings. How humble? Put it this way, Microsoft's own important dates listing on its Fast Facts About Microsoft Webpage doesn't even include the Windows 1.0 release. (Windows 2.0 doesn't rate a mention either, for that matter. Only Windows 3.0 is considered worthy of the corporate history.)

Windows 1.0 hearkens back to a young industry filled with characters like Philippe Kahn, wild helicopter rides, Steve Ballmer picking up Microsoft interview candidates at the airport with laundry in his backseat and Bill Gates driving very fast Porsches and talking his way onto an airplane that had already left the gate.

Were you in the computer industry in the early '80s or have you read enough about it to think you know the history? Take our quiz and find out how much attention you were paying (to both the substance and to the trivia).

Oh, and for the record, 1985 rules apply -- no firing up Google or Bing.

Scoring Scale
24-25: Windows 1.0 Trivia Certified Master Congrats!
You can append WTCM to your title along with MCSE!

20-23: Windows 1.0 Trivia, Gold Competency
Bet you didn't know this was part of the new Microsoft Partner Network.

11-19: Windows 1.0 Trivia, Silver Competency
Sorry, no logo available.

6-10: We're guessing you're younger than 45.

0-5: There was a lot of partying going on in the early '80s.
Maybe you were involved?

Bill Gates, holding up a copy of Windows 1.0, circa 1985.


Bill Gates talking with Steve Ballmer in Gates' Bellevue office, 1985.


Windows through the ages, from Windows 2.0 through Windows 95 to Windows Vista.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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