China DOS Union

Anyone who has played with Windows 1.x knows that the earliest Windows version generally available is Windows 1.01, released in November 1985, and there are many screenshots online.

As for whether Windows 1.00 ever existed, it has always been something of a mystery. These past two days I accidentally found the so-called Windows 1.00, labeled “windows premiere edition", that is, "the initial Windows edition".

This version was completed in August 1985. It was never publicly sold; the first publicly released version three months later was Windows 1.01. Below is the download for this Windows:

http://upload.cn-dos.net/img/1751.7z

It can be installed and run under VPC or DOSBox, and requires DOS 2.x/3.x. The Windows 1.x startup screen I had seen before always flashed by, but later I slowed DOSBox down to about the speed of machines back then, and found that the Windows 1.x startup screen actually has animation effects. Here I’ll post the startup animation:
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[ Last edited by fujianabc on 2009-11-21 at 22:16 ]

At the same time I also found even earlier test versions before Windows 1.00:

May 1985 windows 1.0 beta
http://upload.cn-dos.net/img/1752.7z

January 1985 windows 1.0 alpha
http://upload.cn-dos.net/img/1753.7z

November 1984 windows 1.0 developer release 5
http://upload.cn-dos.net/img/1754.7z

Windows development probably began around November 1983

These versions cannot run under VPC, only under DOSBox. The floppy disk images for the alpha and dr5 versions also include some C and Pascal source code

[ Last edited by fujianabc on 2009-11-21 at 22:28 ]

OP is awesome, could you explain the source?

Someone already posted them on vetusware a long time ago. I couldn’t get either the a or b version to run; I haven’t seen premier.
I wonder whether dosver.exe and win2.03’s mouse.drv can let premier boot directly on my real PC

[ Last edited by yksoft1 on 2009-11-22 at 12:10 ]

QEMU, MSDOS622, dosver.exe, win2.03 1987-11-12 mouse.drv
Success

The installers for versions a and b both have problems. LZ, please upload the installed ones.

b can install and start on qemu, but mouse cannot be replaced; once replaced, it won’t install.
As for a, after installation it shows DMAADD does not match.
Hard-coded...

[ Last edited by yksoft1 on 2009-11-22 at 13:01 ]

I copied beta and pre out of QEMU and put them onto a USB drive with DOS7.1 (with dosver already).
Booting from the USB drive (945 motherboard, Pentium D 3.06 CPU), both can run.

Originally posted by yksoft1 at 2009-11-22 12:33 PM:
The installers for versions a and b both have problems. LZ, please upload the installed ones.

b can install and start on qemu, but mouse cannot be replaced; once replaced, it won’t install.
As for a, after installation it shows DMAADD does not matc ...

http://upload.cn-dos.net/img/1756.7z
Uploaded. It contains dosbox as well as boot images for the alpha, beta, and premiere versions. Just run the several cmd files directly.

Mine are all based on pc-dos 2.1.

Like 1.01, premiere can use 2.03’s mouse.drv as a replacement; beta has no file that can be replaced.
alpha is very strange: without any modification at all, it directly supports current mouse operation.

As for the even earlier developer release 5, I wasn’t able to start it successfully, but I have seen screenshots online from someone who had installed it.

alpha is very strange: without any modification at all, it directly supports current mouse operation.
I simply don’t have a dos2.1 disk that can be used in a 1.44 floppy drive.
Also, the DOS I use to run premier and beta is wengier dos 7.1.1998

Originally posted by yksoft1 at 2009-11-22 08:47 PM:
alpha is very strange: without any modification at all, it directly supports current mouse operation.
I simply don’t have a dos2.1 disk that can be used in a 1.44 floppy drive.
Also, the DOS I use to run premier and beta is wengier dos 7.1.1998

It seems support for 1.44M floppy drives only began with dos 3.0 or 3.3; before that it did not support 1.44 floppy drives, only 5-inch floppy drives.
But vpc can load 360KB images. These Windows versions of mine were all installed under vpc, then started with dosbox.

Originally posted by fujianabc at 2009-11-22 21:07:

It seems support for 1.44M floppy drives only began with dos 3.0 or 3.3; before that it did not support 1.44 floppy drives, only 5-inch floppy drives.
But vpc can load 360KB images. These Windows versions of mine were all installed under vpc, then started with dosbox.

There actually used to be CP/M86 that could be written to 144 floppy disks.
I use QEMU; I’m too lazy to open those heavyweight virtual machines.
QEMU seems to support only 720 and 1.44

Originally posted by yksoft1 at 2009-11-23 12:19 AM:


There actually used to be CP/M86 that could be written to 144 floppy disks.
I use QEMU; I’m too lazy to open those heavyweight virtual machines.
QEMU seems to support only 720 and 1.44

That kind of 1.44M cp/m seems to be a later modified CP/M, with 1.44M floppy drive support added.

OP is awesome. I’ll take these versions.

OP!! This is too top-notch! I looked for this thing for ages and couldn’t find it. I must put it on my portable hard drive and keep it!! I wouldn’t trade it even for 200K RMB!!!

Many thanks to the OP :)

Also, could you provide the pc-dos2.0 installation package or boot disk (with fdisk, format, and sys)~

[ Last edited by ylide on 2009-12-7 at 08:50 ]