Microsoft Windows - a mouse with modest requirements.

[abarbarian]

Found a fascinating article on the early Microsoft Windows offerings from 1983 thought it might interest some folk.

 

https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-12/1983_12_BYTE_08-12_Easy_Software#page/n49/mode/2up

 

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

A little tidbit I heard somewhere: One of the reasons the Solitaire program was included in Windows was in order to help people get used to using a mouse, which were not commonly used with MS-DOS.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

And now they have to keep Solitaire or deal with user distain.

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

Interestingly enough, Microsoft has used the popularity of its Solitaire application to drive users to technologies it wants to popularize. For example, in Windows 8, Solitaire became a Metro Modern Windows App, and the goal there was to get users used to buying applications from Microsoft's built-in app store.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

And now they have to keep Solitaire or deal with user distain.

[Corrine]

I remember our surprise at work when we discovered that there was Solitaire on our computers. I also remember my frustration trying to master the mouse. It seemed "unnatural" to take my hand off the keyboard to accomplish tasks.

[raymac46]

I was the complete opposite. I used an Amiga for years before I ever had a DOS machine. MS-DOS seemed so brain dead compared to the GUI of an Amiga.