Vista : The Review

1 - Prehistory

Talking about Vista also means talking about the long road Microsoft trudged down to finally get to this system. As we will see in this review, even if we cannot speak of a revolution, one might sense Microsoft’s will to hit hard with an iron fist in a silk glove.

The history of Microsoft and its different operating systems starts in 1975 with the finalization of what is today considered the first computer intended for the general public: the Altair 8800 created by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). With every Altair, MITS wishes to provide the BASIC interpreter invented by two students, Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They needed a structure to benefit from their product’s sales and Microsoft was born. The brand name itself is registered a year later in 1976 (the company was formerly called Traf-O-Data).

At that time, the company was officially based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Quickly the two founding fathers prove themselves to be great businessmen and ask $3,000 for the fruits of their labor. However, another tiny clause in the contract binding Microsoft and MITS guarantees them a regular income: The soon-to-be software giant will earn $35 for each BASIC license sold. This is the beginning of what some people call today the « Microsoft tax ».

2 – The "Birth" of MS-DOS

Though nothing was really predisposing Microsoft to get involved with the restricted universe of operating systems, everything changes suddenly when IBM starts looking for a system to be running on its first PC. Big Blue first considers CP/M developed by Digital Research. Details on this deal are not quite clear, but it seems the price asked would have been too high for IBM.


The firm then turns to Microsoft which does not have the time and means to develop an operating system. Microsoft therefore buys a $25,000 clone of CP/M kindly named QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System). Microsoft then hires Tim Paterson in May 1981 to port QDOS to the PC platform characterized by the presence of the 8088, based on the 8086, the first successful Intel chip (29,000 transistors, 16bits, etched features of 3 micrometers and capable of addressing 1Mo of read-write memory). Some thought that PCs as we know them could have been featuring PowerPC because IBM originally wanted its first computers equipped with Motorola 68000.

Paterson’s work leads to the 86-DOS. Microsoft bought it for $50,000. This amount of money is probably the best investment that the young company ever made. A few months later, Microsoft sells its first IBM PC-DOS 1.00 licenses, also distributed to other manufacturers under the name MS-DOS 1.00.

The first Microsoft operating system’s career has begun. Compared to recent systems, MS-DOS 1.00 does not do much. Of course it features a text mode, is developed in 16bits, and manages real mode which is not used anymore. It only manages a single mega octet of read-write memory so it has no capacity for multitasking.

MS-DOS 1.00, released in 1981, is updated in 1982 with the versions 1.10 and 1.25 which basically corrected bugs. Version 2.00, available in 1983, is not a revolution by itself but brings in the management of FAT.12 which allows the system to deal with 15Mo limited hard disks. At this time 5.25 inch diskettes of 360Ko make their appearance. Also during that same year several updates become available: versions 2.01, 2.1, 2.11, and 2.25.

With the version 3.0 and its variations, we enter a slightly more renowned era. Between its release in 1984 and the different updates until 1987, MS-DOS will successively manage 5.25 inch diskettes of 1.2Mo, 3.5 inch diskettes of 720Ko, and the ones we all know so well: the 3.5 inch diskettes of 1.44Mo which many of you will probably still have on your computer. MS-DOS 3.00 also integrates the CMOS clock (yes it does) as well as the FAT16 which allows the creation of up to 4Go partitions (only possible with Windows NT4 and 64Ko clusters). FAT16 will last for a long time since FAT32 only appears with the OSR2 version of Windows 95.

The following versions do not bring any real revolution apart from the shell appearing in version 4.00 (1988) and the high memory management in version 5.0 (1991). Version 6.00, released in 1993, starts becoming more than just a simple system and features some new tools like ScanDisk, an antivirus, and DoubleSpace. The former, allowing the compression of files to increase the available memory space of a hard disk or diskette, will lead to Stac Electronics Company suing Microsoft for infringement of the patents. DoubleSpace is replaced by DriveSpace in 1994 with the release of MS-DOS 6.22.

We are now done with MS-DOS systems that preceded Microsoft’s modern systems. However, when version 6.22 comes out in 1994, several versions of windows have already been released. These versions take their roots in MS-DOS and are more of a graphical interface rather than a real operating system as we conceive them today.

3 - The First Windows Versions

The versions based on MS-DOS have all the troubles in the world meeting success. Windows version 1.00 comes out in November 1985 and is, without the shadow of a doubt, a true fiasco. This first version borrows a great deal of functionalities from Apple Lisa, with limitations imposed by the Apple firm.

These limitations literally kill this first version which suffers from numerous bugs, the executed code running at a snail’s pace, and very important limitations like the inability to run several applications simultaneously. Version 1.00 was displayed in black and white, and colors only appeared with the 1.01 update. We will remember this first draft for two reasons: the appearance of drivers and the taskbar that will disappear for years before its sudden comeback in 1995.


Windows 2.0 marks the beginning of the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft. Indeed Microsoft decides to step over the limitations imposed by Apple and, for example, will allow windows to overlay. There are, however, very few innovations and Windows 2.0 meets its predecessors’ fate. Microsoft fails again.


Version 3.00 is a big turn-around in Windows history. Greatly improved by Microsoft, and enjoying innovations introduced by the 286 and 386 Intel processors, the system reveals itself to be more stable and rich. Windows Explorer, as we know it today, appears under the form of WinFile which allows users to have a quick glance at their disk organization and to be able to carry out some basic operations. A new element will also appear that will change the life of users forever: the Solitaire game.

Windows 3.1 is the most “mature” version of the entire branch developed on MS-DOS. It is also the one that will meet the biggest success. The inclusion of the first True Type fonts gives enough credit to the system to be recognized as a valid working solution. This version then inspires the famous “Windows for Workgroups” editions which include certain network functions like the SMB files sharing (which will later become the open source project Samba).


When Windows for Workgroups becomes available, we are in November 1993. Microsoft knows perfectly well it will have to seriously revise its copy of Windows because the system just cannot face the modern challenges and its heavy MS-DOS heritage confines it with 16bits. All of us know that the answer given is Windows 95 which was named code Chicago before its release.

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