???? – 2001retired
Macintosh Classic II
“A handle, a monochrome glow, and enough speed to feel modern for a while.”
“It let your windows overlap, and the desktop was never the same.”
Released in December 1987 as the successor to Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0 was a graphical shell that finally let users overlap and resize windows, and brought desktop icons, keyboard shortcuts, and 16-color VGA graphics. It even introduced the world to Microsoft Word and Excel. Fans appreciated it as a genuine improvement over its predecessor, even if everyone agreed it was still a work in progress.
Its tenure was not without drama: Apple sued Microsoft in March 1988 over the overlapping windows, but the judge ruled in Microsoft's favor. Windows 2.0 handed things off to Windows 2.1 in May 1988, and Microsoft quietly ended support on December 31, 2001. It left behind more sales, more popularity, and the foundations of everything Windows became.
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“A handle, a monochrome glow, and enough speed to feel modern for a while.”
“It never let its windows overlap, but it opened one for everyone else.”
“No new looks, just better memory — the quiet cousin who fixed the plumbing.”