Members of the Windows 1.0 team at their 40-year reunion this week. L-R, kneeling/sitting: Joe Barello, Ed Mills, Tandy Trower, Mark Cliggett, Steve Ballmer (holding a Windows 1.0 screenshot) and Don ...

Do you remember Windows 1.0? Chances are, your answer is “no.” When Microsoft released the very first version of Windows nearly 25 years ago, on Nov. 20, 1985, it was late to the game and little used.

First developed in 1981 by computer scientist Chase Bishop, the software project that would eventually become Windows actually started life under a far wonkier name: "Interface Manager." The title was ...