Windows 2.x: Difference between revisions
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By October 1986, the product had been renamed to Windows 1.5, and then again shortly after that to version 2.0, most likely as a recognition of the large changes that had been made as many new APIs had been added and parts of the kernel had been rewritten from C into assembly or vice versa. The product missed its initial release date of early 1987, though after that the development seems to have been fairly orderly with no large hiccups, and two alpha releases were sent to developers around May or June 1987, followed by two beta releases in July and August 1987. | By October 1986, the product had been renamed to Windows 1.5, and then again shortly after that to version 2.0, most likely as a recognition of the large changes that had been made as many new APIs had been added and parts of the kernel had been rewritten from C into assembly or vice versa. The product missed its initial release date of early 1987, though after that the development seems to have been fairly orderly with no large hiccups, and two alpha releases were sent to developers around May or June 1987, followed by two beta releases in July and August 1987. | ||
At the same time as Windows 2.0, Microsoft were also working on a version of Windows designed to use the Intel 386's virtual 8086 mode to pre-emptively multitask MS-DOS applications in virtual machines. This product was completed first, possibly due to contractual obligations, and version 2.01 was released with Compaq DeskPro 386 machines in September 1987. After two months of further bugfixes and polishing, the new version was released to retail in both | At the same time as Windows 2.0, Microsoft were also working on a version of Windows designed to use the Intel 386's virtual 8086 mode to pre-emptively multitask MS-DOS applications in virtual machines. This product was completed first, possibly due to contractual obligations, and version 2.01 was released with Compaq DeskPro 386 machines in September 1987. After two months of further bugfixes and polishing, the new version was released to retail in both 8086 and i386 variants on 7 December 1987 as version 2.03. | ||
The product was reviewed quite positively as a large improvement from its predecessor, with Windows/386 specifically singled out for praise, with the product winning a BYTE Award for "technical distinction" in January 1989. Over a million copies were sold by 1988, and although sales dropped somewhat in 1989, they still generally met internal sales targets (per antitrust documents) and nearly two million copies had been sold by January 1990. An increasing number of Windows applications were produced during this period, including the final completion of Word for Windows after a multi-year, infamously tortured development cycle in which the product missed over a dozen release dates and fell behind several Windows versions, as well as Excel for Windows. | The product was reviewed quite positively as a large improvement from its predecessor, with Windows/386 specifically singled out for praise, with the product winning a BYTE Award for "technical distinction" in January 1989. Over a million copies were sold by 1988, and although sales dropped somewhat in 1989, they still generally met internal sales targets (per antitrust documents) and nearly two million copies had been sold by January 1990. An increasing number of Windows applications were produced during this period, including the final completion of Word for Windows after a multi-year, infamously tortured development cycle in which the product missed over a dozen release dates and fell behind several Windows versions, as well as Excel for Windows. | ||