Either Microsoft is gearing up for a very odd promotional effort or somebody on the Windows team has hijacked a functioning time machine.
Yesterday, the company posted a video boasting an “all-new Windows 1.0” to its social channels. It even went so far as to completely wipe all its previous posts from the Windows Instagram account, so all you’ll find is the clip of its logos over the years. The video scrolls from the simplicity of Windows 10 through the pixellated rainbow flag of Windows XP and Windows 95.
Whatever the situation is, the stunt is giving Windows’ social media managers a chance to load their replies to confused tweets with throwbacks, from Back to the Future gifs to all the jargon that was once the epitome of cool.
Windows 1.0 was the very first iteration of the Microsoft Windows lineage. The 16-bit platform was built to run graphical programs on top of an installation of MS-DOS, and it was one of the earliest efforts to transform computing from line commands to a more visual experience. Bill Gates headed up the project and saw Windows 1.0 as an important direction for his company.
Back in the present day, the curiosity just continues. Today, the Windows social accounts followed up the video with another throwback. The image features familiar software such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Flight Simulator in their box-packaged, 1985 glory.
We’ll be watching to see if this throwback campaign winds up having a more contemporary tie-in or if it’s just a thoroughly executed joke.