There is no doubt that the word "Windows" today refers directly to the systems of the giant company "Microsoft" as if the word had become a monopoly on it alone. We all know that the term "windows" refers to the style of graphic display windows that have become the display of information, data, and programs on computer screens instead of the text command prompt interface methods, which were prevalent at the time more than thirty years ago in the year 1985 (the date of the launch of the first version of Windows1 .0).
even though the word has become a registered trademark in the name of "Microsoft", have we ever wondered where the observation (Windows) came from, and how the term in the operating system market refers only to Microsoft systems to come to mind whenever it was mentioned? This is what we will explain in detail in this article.
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| What is the reason for naming the Windows system by this name? |
Getting Started with the Graphical Interface (GUI)
In the sixties and seventies, and until the beginning of the eighties, computers were not directed to the average user, and rather they were directed to specific people and accurately, as operating systems were not widespread, and any company, or computer, had its operating system. These systems carried out simple and limited tasks, but in complex ways that required deep knowledge of machine language and programming, and of the system that was specially prepared for these devices.
Even in the early beginnings of the eighties with the "MS-DOS" system (which Microsoft developed at that time for "IBM" computers and compatible devices only) using a computer was not something possible for the average person, and with the beginning of the spread of computers at that time and their entry into many industrial and research fields The need began to facilitate the way to use the computer for users who are not specialized in complex operating systems, as even with the "MS-DOS" system, it required specialized knowledge to use the system to access files and open programs and applications through complex text commands.
We can say that this period witnessed the beginnings of the application of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) idea, which transformed dealing with systems and programs from being text commands to visual interaction between the user and the operating system, through graphical interfaces and graphical icons. To imagine the qualitative leap brought about by the idea of the graphical interface, any click of the mouse button on any sign present in the interface of the operating system means shortening long lines of text commands that needed to be entered into text command systems, perhaps for long minutes, with the necessity of saving and writing them in a form Exactly correct even without extra blank space.
GUIs are not Microsoft's idea
The idea of a graphical user interface was not an idea specific to Microsoft, as several companies had already sought to develop graphical interfaces instead of the command prompt before Microsoft, and in fact, Apple had preceded Microsoft in issuing an operating system with a graphical interface since 1984, with its system that it issued with a device Macintosh.
At that time, Steve Jobs accused Microsoft of stealing Macintosh designs and using them in Windows 1.0 after it was put on the market on November 20, 1985, but Bill Gates then responded to Jobs that the idea was inspired and borrowed from "Xerox" systems (this company is credited with creating the desktop environment Also) which developed systems with a graphical interface before Microsoft and Apple itself.
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What about the word "Windows"?
After we knew that the idea of a graphical user interface was originally owned by Microsoft, it was preceded by other companies and systems, but what about the word "Windows", is it the brainchild of Microsoft? Microsoft was not thinking of launching the term "Windows" on its new system, even Bill Gates himself wanted to launch the name "Microsoft Interface Manager" on the company's new system.
In that period, the use of the term "Windows" was already widespread in technical circles to refer to systems that show multiple windows when opening programs, but there are those who played a decisive role in making Microsoft adopt this name, and he is the newly appointed Vice President of Marketing at the time, Rowland Hanson, who had two main contributions In making the "Microsoft Windows" brand in its current form.
The first contribution, which is still ongoing, is that "Hanson" suggested at that time to Microsoft to make the company's name a precedent for any of its products, such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word. This step contributed greatly to the consolidation of the company's name in the minds.
The second and essential addition regarding Windows, the Deputy Director of Marketing at that time searched for a new name for the system that Microsoft had not launched yet and while reviewing several technical articles at the time, he noticed the repetition of the use of words and definitions of the term Windows, as we previously indicated that the term was widely used in the circles Technology to refer to the system for displaying pop-up windows and dialog boxes, which prompted him to insert the name as an attempt to monopolize it through Microsoft by always associating it with it "Microsoft Windows".
So Microsoft was not the one who inserted the term Windows into the market of operating systems in the first place, as it was used even before Microsoft launched it on its systems officially, and had it not been for the Vice President of Marketing, Microsoft might not have called this name on its systems, but in any case, no one He now denies that the word "Windows" has become an exclusive reference to Microsoft systems, although it is an old design technique in operating systems used by several companies.
Despite all of the above, Microsoft deservedly monopolized the name through the continuous development of its system, until it acquired 77% of the share of computer operating systems around the world. Files of old criticism on the subject of intellectual and literary theft. The saying goes: "Ideas are presented on the side of the road, but credit and precedence lie in the formulation." Microsoft has certainly succeeded in crafting one of the most beautiful and best graphical user interfaces ever.
