Microsoft Windows
- Date
- 1985 · confidence high
- Place
- Microsoft, Redmond, Washington, United States
- Credited to
- Microsoft (Bill Gates); Windows 3.0 in 1990 and Windows 95 consolidated it
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
Graphical environment on top of MS-DOS for compatible PCs that brought windows, the mouse and multitasking to most of the world's computers. It became the dominant operating system for three decades.
What it led to
- Microsoft's monopoly and the antitrust lawsuits of the 1990s
- Universal office software (Office) and the computerisation of business
- Mass vulnerability to viruses and worms through homogeneity
Built on
- Computer mouse1964
- Graphical user interface (Xerox Alto)1973
- Desktop metaphor and windows (Xerox Star)1981
- IBM Personal Computer1981
- Apple Macintosh1984
- Xerox Alto graphical interface
- IBM PC and MS-DOS
Made possible
- Microsoft Office
- PC games
- Internet Explorer