George Jones writes for Messaging Pipeline a series of articles about the last 20 years of Windows. See, November 20 was the 20th anniversary of the release of Windows 1.0 - darn, I forgot to send Bill a birthday card.

Well love it or hate it, you do have to admit that Windows has been a very important part of our IT infrastructure for a long time now. Indeed, while I was an avid OS/2 user for many years (I was actually Vice President of the OS/2 User Group of South Australia for a time), I have since used Windows as my work environment for many years. I must admit that Windows XP has generally been good to me - coupled with good hardware (IBM ThinkPads mostly), and good security software (a must !!), I have found it to be a stable and productive platform. I’m not saying it’s necessarily the best - but it has generally worked well for me.

I don’t count myself as a fan of Windows - but I do acknowledge what Windows has done for me. Call it: respect, despite the weaknesses.

Anyway, here’s what George had to say in his articles:

20 Years Of Windows

November 20, 2005, marks the twentieth anniversary of Microsoft’s release of Windows 1.0, one of the most important events in PC history. Even the staunchest Mac or OS/2 devotees must acknowledge that Windows has had a profound impact on the world of computing (although their blood pressure may rise dangerously at the thought).

In 1985 the PC market was just barely out of its infancy. Apple, IBM, and Radio Shack dominated the market. It took a visionary technophile to predict how bold, bright, and world-changing the personal computer would become. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were up to the job — visionaries, technogeeks, and fierce competitors. How else to explain the antagonistic fervor with which their companies pursued the development of mouse-driven operating systems that would transcend the command line and make PC users out of hundreds of millions of un-geeky, ordinary people?

The Making Of Windows 1.0

The date — November 10, 1983 — is etched in PC lore. The setting was the Plaza Hotel in New York City, a site Microsoft chose to announce the development and release of what would become the most-purchased software tool in the world.

The Windows operating system, the company claimed, would revolutionize computing. A graphical user interface (GUI) would allow PC users to use a mouse instead of DOS commands to compute. The result would be increased efficiency — and the end of DOS.

The story of the events leading up to the release of Windows is rife with accusations of back-stabbing, betrayal, and bad business decisions. Two things we know for sure: First, the OS that would launch millions of PCs and go on to dominate the world got off to quite a precarious start. And second, it would be years before Microsoft actually removed DOS from the equation.

20 Years Of Windows Releases

Over the course of Windows’ venerable 20-year history, Microsoft has released more than 15 major versions of the operating system. Each version was more complex than the last, added more features, and provoked more controversy.

Here’s a rundown of those releases, from the inauspicious debut of Windows 1.0 to the contentious introduction of XP — and some totally biased ratings of how useful (or useless) that version of Windows was.

Windows Timeline

Which came first, Windows or OS/2? Which version of Windows had just been released when the iMac came out? What major world event occurred one month before the release of Windows XP?

The answers to these and other questions can be found in our handy-dandy Windows timeline.

The Future Of Windows

With a brand-new iteration of Windows scheduled for next year, and two other intriguing product launches also promised, the future of Windows promises to be interesting. Here are some quick forecasts on what you can expect over the next few years.

Of course, for more details on what’s new in Windows right now, you can always check out b5media’s Microsoft Weblog and the Windows Vista Weblog.