Before it was called Windows, the project was internally codenamed "Interface Manager." Bill Gates and Microsoft recognized a shifting tide in computing. In the early 1980s, the dominant platform was MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System). While powerful, MS-DOS was intimidating; it required users to memorize complex text commands to navigate directories, copy files, or launch applications.
When users booted it up, they were greeted with a stark, black-and-white screen. Unlike modern Windows, version 1.0 did not allow windows to overlap or "stack" on top of one another. Instead, they "tiled" side-by-side. This design choice was partly to avoid copyright infringement lawsuits from Apple, who claimed ownership over the concept of overlapping windows. first microsoft windows
From a tiled, slow, and often-mocked interface to the most dominant desktop operating system on the planet, the journey of Microsoft Windows had to begin somewhere. And it began on that day in November 1985. Before it was called Windows, the project was