The Rise and Fall of OS/2
The original IBM PC came with a primitive command line operating system known as DOS. Made by Microsoft, it could do basic file management and run a single application at a time. That was...
Tagged: Microsoft
FreeCell and Other Types of Solitaire
I cheat at Solitaire. All the time, in fact. My game of choice is FreeCell, and I like it because (virtually) every game is winnable. Knowing that I can win makes me play differently....
Windows XP: The OS That Refuses to Die
Microsoft is terminating support for Windows XP this spring, 13 years after the operating system first came out. To put that in perspective, it would be like MS-DOS 4.01 (released in 1988) still being...
Ode to the Start Menu
Microsoft has had many failures over the years, but they’ve also had a hell of a lot of successes. One of their biggest innovations has been the Start Menu. Anyone who’s used a PC...
Microsoft’s Biggest Failures
Last week, I highlighted Apple’s biggest failures. Now I want to move north to Redmond, Washington, to the other Titan of Technology, Microsoft. Like Apple, the company has had its share of fiascos. Let’s...
The Ghosts of Microsoft Bob
In the early 1990s, Microsoft tried making a computer interface that looked like a house. The program was called Microsoft Bob. It featured a yellow smiley face logo with Bill Gates glasses. All your...
The Infamous Comic Sans
Comics Sans is the world’s most infamous fonts. Among graphic design geeks, the mere words “Comic Sans” are enough to bring out a sneer of disgust. It’s not the prettiest font, but there are...
Memories of MS-DOS
My first exposure to MS-DOS was at my aunt’s house. She had an old IBM computer in the basement. It had an amber monitor, and all the words on the screen were a hideous...
