In 1984, a small company in Redmond, Washington, released a GUI for MS-DOS called Windows. This wasn't the first time that the term "windows" was used for a graphical interface functioning on top of a DOS command line (that honor belongs to Douglas Engelbart and the Stanford Research Institute), but it occured at a time ripe for the convenience of a GUI.
Through the 1970s, computer mainframes were becoming more prevalient in the workspace. These mainframes were primarily being used to process data and edit documents, and the widespread use meant that something had to happen to allow the computer to become more accessible than it was at the time. This accessibility came in the form of Microsoft Windows. It was a program that put an easy to use interface on top of the more complex command line process of DOS, which then allowed people with less experience with computers to utilize them in a day to day environment. By beginning to harness the power of the mouse, Windows moved DOS away from the realm of the Priesthood, where command line knowledge was necessary to operate the machine, and towards a friendly, point and click environment that allowed anyone with minimal experience to run the computer.
By removing the specialization necessary to operate computers, Windows both moved towards a modernist idea of people as interchangable parts and an Orwellian dystopia of unthinking drones.
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