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This Happened

This Happened—November 10: Birth Of Microsoft Windows

Updated Nov. 10, 2023 at 12:25p.m.

On this day, Microsoft founder Bill Gates (then just 28 years old!) unveiled the original Windows operating system, a piece of software whose name and window-pane logo have become synonymous with modern computing.

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How did Windows come to be?

In the early 1980s, the competition was ripe in the blossoming computer market, and Bill Gates and his Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen wanted to take the throne by creating an operating system that would be applicable for all PC users.

Gates announced in 1983 that Windows would feature drop-down menus, have mouse support, the ability to run several applications at once, and a host of other attractive features. It would be updated countless times over the years, eventually claiming some 1 billion users worldwide.

Was Windows always successful?

Regardless of the company’s early struggles, Windows became a major success. At the time of the Windows release, Bill Gates predicted that 90% of all IBM computers would be running the software. This was not the case at first, but today 75% of computers run on Windows as the software continues to evolve to meet modern demands.

How different is Windows today?

Similarly to today’s desktop and mobile operating systems, Windows 1.0 offered dropdown menus, tiled windows, mouse support, device-independent graphics, and the ability to run multiple applications at the same time. As of 2021, Microsoft is on version 11 of its now-famous system, with much more bells and whistles to offer its users.


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Ideas

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A photo of hands holding onto a smartphone

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ZUMA
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet.

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification. The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

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Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix, for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

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