Answers: So You Think You Know Windows 1.0?

• By Scott Bekker
• October 01, 2010

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?

Question-by-Question Answers

1. Where was Windows 1.0 first announced in November 1983?
New York

2. What software had to be installed for Windows to run?
MS-DOS version 2.0

3. What kind of OS was Windows 1.0?
16-bit OS

4. What was the minimum hardware requirement for Windows 1.0?
Two double-sided disk drives

5. What was the minimum amount of supported memory for Windows 1.0?
256K

6. Who came up with "vaporware," a term to which Microsoft Windows 1.0 was a prime contributor?
Mark Ursino

7. When was the Windows 2.0 release that superceded Windows 1.0?
November 1987

8. When did official support end for Windows 1.0?
December 31, 2001

9. True or False: Microsoft faced legal challenges from Apple about the UI of Windows 1.0?
True

10. Which of the following was not a potential competitor to Windows 1.0 as it was being developed?
Compaq Presentation Manager

11. What date was it announced that Windows 1.0 was shipping to dealers and distributors -- in other words, officially released?
Nov. 20, 1985

12. Who presented Bill Gates with the "Golden Vaporware Award" at the Microsoft sponsored "Windows Roast" to celebrate the launch of Windows 1.0?
Stewart Alsop

13. According to a Steve Ballmer joke at the same Windows Roast, the Windows 1.0 development effort grew from a single diskette and six man-years to what?
5 diskettes and 80 man-years

14. What was the listed retail price for Windows 1.0?
$99

15. What did the Microsoft mantra "slow burn" about Windows 1.0 mean?
Windows sales would grow slowly over time

16. True or False: The first version of Windows featured tiling (side-by-side) windows rather than the overlapping (stacked) windows seen now.
True

17. By how many months did Microsoft miss its initially announced ship date for Windows 1.0?
19

18. Which of the following was not an official, blown, release promise for Windows?
July 1984

19. What percentage of the installed base of DOS computers did Gates and Jon Shirley predict Windows would run by the end of 1984?
80 percent

20. How many stars out of 10 did the InfoWorld review give Windows 1.0?
4.5

21. At an event on Nov. 23, 1983, Microsoft brought out 23 DOS hardware licensees who had pledged to support Windows. Which potential OEM was not there?
IBM Corp.

22. What product name did "Windows" replace?
Interface Manager

23. What Microsoft executive lobbied Bill Gates hard to change the name to Windows?
Rowland Hanson

24. As he was being recruited in mid-1983, Scott McGregor got a "wild" helicopter ride from what Microsoft executive?
Charles Simonyi

25. What product demo at the 1982 Comdex spurred Bill Gates and Microsoft to work on what would eventually become Windows?
Visi On