When Windows made its inauspicious debut two and a half decades ago, few observers realized what they were witnessing. Windows 1.0, unveiled in November of 1985, was in every sense the dawn of a new era in computing.
But that was then, as they say. Now, Microsoft is looking ahead to the next phase of its venerable operating system, which analysts believe will take very different forms in just the next few years, let alone 25.
Datamation looks ahead to what the next generation of Windows may look like, as Microsoft shifts more of its efforts and resources to the cloud and mobile technology.
At its launch, on Nov. 20, 1985, only a handful of tech enthusiasts thought that Microsoft’s new Windows 1.0, and CEO and Chairman Bill Gates’ vision of a graphical user interface would change the world.
After all, Apple had introduced its breakthrough Macintosh a year earlier. With its “1984” Super Bowl ad, Apple positioned the Mac as the platform for creative minds, while the Microsoft-powered (NASDAQ: MSFT) IBM-compatible PC was seen as designed for geeky bean counters in corporate cubicles.
