Tedium Highlight in Windows: The rise of the multimedia PC wasn’t an accident. 

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Tag results: Windows

sudo embrace

Microsoft’s decision to introduce sudo for Windows is strangely symbolic of how influential UNIX has been even on non-UNIX ecosystems.

Mac All The Keyboards

The standard Macintosh keyboard layout makes it easy to add writer-desired special characters without pulling up a menu or relying on software trickery. Here’s how to get it on Linux and Windows.

These Eyes Are Trackin’

Pondering the tale of Gator, a company that created a password manager way back in 1999, but ruined goodwill by going full spyware. (Oops, I mean adware.)

Plug and Pray

Why an early design decision around the IBM PC created the need for an innovation called plug and play—something we very much take for granted today.

Bog-Standard Multimedia

Why the PC industry standardized on multimedia in the early ’90s, and why that standardization effort didn’t really last.

Windows, Minimized

Windows CE was supposed to power everything but the PC. But its identity was seen as a threat to Windows proper.

Painting Outside The Lines

Adobe was already a big company when it first sold Photoshop, but its biggest competitor, Paint Shop Pro, was built by an airline pilot in his free time.

The Other Windows

Before Windows became a fact of life for most computer users, a scrappy upstart named GeoWorks tried taking Microsoft on. It failed, but it gave us AOL.

Photon Phailure

Microsoft’s late-era Windows Phone 7 did away with a decade of evolution. Its Photon project tried to do the same—while keeping the Windows Mobile legacy alive.

The Ghosts of Windows 3.1

The weird places that Windows 3.1 showed up throughout the ’90s, including a hated CD-i competitor and an unusual update of the Commodore 64.

Double Trouble

How a court battle involving groundbreaking disk-compression software foreshadowed Microsoft’s status as an antitrust darling.

Window Dressing

When macOS was still OS X, some Windows users weren't afraid to remake their desktops in Apple's vision. It was the ultimate case of imitation and flattery.

A Window Into Windex

From cleaning solutions to spray nozzles, the technology that made cleaning windows possible. And where did the word squeegee come from, anyway?

Lessons From The Video Professor

For more than 20 years, John Scherer’s Video Professor offered instructional videos and discs to make computers accessible to novices. Where did it go?
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