Windows has been through many iterations since Windows 1.0 hit the shelves in 1985, with the latest and most advanced Windows 7 due to be launched soon, it would be worth having a look at some lesser known facts:
1. Windows 1.0 was released on 20th Nov 1985 and the hardware requirements were 256KB of RAM, DOS 2.0 and two floppy drives, two years late.
2. The retail price was $100, which is worth about $177 in today's money.
3. Microsoft sent out a press kit featuring a Squeegee (Window washer) and a washcloth to announce the launch of Windows 1.0.
4. If Bill Gates had got his way, he would have called it “Interface Manager”.
5. Windows 1.0 was only out for two weeks before it had to be patched to fix bugs. Windows 1.0 crashed an estimated 25 times a day.
6. Windows 3.1 was the first stable release, which led to many hardware manufacturers preloading it on their computers. This proved to be a major turning point in Windows history and world domination.
7. Erik Noyes from Charles Schwab came up with the phrase Blue Screen of Death “BSoD” in 1991.
8. Between 1986 and 1996 Microsoft's stock soared hundred-fold and it was estimated that Microsoft had created 10,000 millionaires by 2000.
9. Bill Gates earns $250 every second, $20m a day and $7.8BN a year. If Bill drops a thousand dollar bill, it's not worth his while to pick it up, as he'll make the same amount in the time it takes him to pick it up.
10. Bill Gates scored 1590 on his SAT. Paul Allen, scored a perfect 1600.
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