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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Alex Wawro

Windows turns 40 — here's the 20 best (and worst) moments in Windows history

Windows Microsoft Bill Gates Xbox Apple
Windows 10 Logo with Windows Vista background image and inset photos of Steve Ballmer, Windows 95 and Bill Gates.

Windows turns 40 this week, and we're celebrating the big 4-0 with a look back at how everyone's favorite operating system has succeeded (and failed) over the years.

Microsoft officially launched the inaugural version of Windows on November 20, 1985, just a few months after I was born. The company had already been in business for a decade selling BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800 (which is why we celebrated Microsoft turning 50 back in April), but it was Windows that made the company the tech titan it is today.

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