Windows Technology

I couldn't think of anywhere else to post this, but it's sort of relevant to how technology has developed over the years.

If you want to 'laugh at the oldies', or just want to 'feel really old', then this lovely nostalgic video showing all the versions of Windows software from 1.0 (1985) through to 10 (2015) might be of interest.

First version of Windows used for me was 95. Followed by 98, then XP, 7 and 10, but I used to work in domestic computer IT support so I had to deal with them all from 98 onwards at some point.

I thought Windows 7 was the best version of Windows that was released, in fact I was so taken with it it's the only version of Windows I preordered on Amazon. Windows 10 is okay but realistically I'm not taken with the entire UWP thing, I find it so cumbersome and painful to do anything with. Given the choice I will always take the "classic" way of using a program rather than an "app", and to be honest if its only available as an app I'll just find another program.

We had Windows 3.11, that's how old I am.

Program Manager was still part of Windows as late as XP before finally biting the dust after one of the service pack updates purged it, although it seems to exist in some form but not as we knew it in 10, though it may get a bit upset on shutdown:

Windows 3.1 was the first operating system i used as a kid. I used to watch my dad using command prompt all the time.

Well, I was using Acorns and BBC Micros at school before I'd even heard of Windows!

I still use Windows 7, and I truly think it's the best OS nowadays

Unlike Windows 8, which was terrible.

Windows 3.11 was the first for us too, when we finally upgraded the Amiga 500 we’d had since new to a PC in September 1996. 95 followed a few months later, followed by 98 in around 2000, XP in 2004, 7 in 2011 and last week they finally upgraded the downstairs computer to 10.

Astonishingly enough, the computer in my old room still works and has a hard drive dating back to 2000-01, meaning it’s survived two decades and two changes of Windows! It’s only been during lockdown that I’ve started backing up the important stuff to either USB drives or the Cloud, the optical drive is almost completely worn out but otherwise it’s working ok, still on Windows 7.

When I lived in Australia in 2015-16 I was a bit horrified that some library computers were still using XP, which meant some websites and applications would struggle to load correctly, but my last visit there three years ago saw they’d been updated. Wouldn’t be surprised if XP was still around in some countries though - 98 lasted well into the 2000s, and at least one family member was using it right up until the early 2010s.

I got quite used to windows 8 from Vista. I didn't mind the tiles. I not long ago needed to get a new hard drive which came with a Windows 10 installation on it. I do love the random image lock screen feature.

The earliest Windows OS I remember using would be 3.1 or one of its variants in school. I got my first home desktop PC in December 1995 and that came pre-installed with Windows 95 so that was the first OS I really got to know. It was in those fantastically simplistic days before I had the internet (didn't get that until about 1999/2000 I think) and all you had to worry about was a floppy disk corrupting. There's nothing like the stress of losing an essay to a floppy disk!

Then I think I upgraded to Windows 98, but I skipped 2000 and went next to Windows ME. I seem to recall that was a terrible OS. I swiftly upgraded to XP which I really loved. I made the mistake of replacing it with Vista but was much happier again when I moved onto Windows 7. I think I had Windows 8 (they're all starting to blur into one) and like most I'm on Windows 10 now.

Going back to 1995 my PC came with some CDs containing software and games. I recall one of them was a game called Virtual Pool that my Dad became obsessed with. He used to kick me out of my bedroom and play pool all night. This was it (I warn you the muzak will be stuck in your head all day):



The other CD I remember was Encarta 95 which was an absolute godsend for homework. It meant less time in the library checking out Encyclopedia Britannica. The start up "ident" takes me back to about the age of 10 years old:

Heh, Virtual Pool was great. Had Virtual Pool 2 which was a Windows version and looked a bit prettier. It was so realistic in terms of potting the balls and the angles and everything that you could practice on it and then jump on a real pool table and actually, you know, be really good at it.

For some work experience/placement session somewhere about 15 years ago now where I was had a real pool table. First few sessions I sucked. After quite a few hours on Virtual Pool 2, went back and mostly wiped the floor with the opposition. Can't win them all but won far more after VP2 than I ever did without it.