Microsoft Word Turns 25

Back on the home front, Microsoft's Windows environment was steadily growing in capability. With the increased success of the Mac version, it made sense that Microsoft would create a version of Word for its own GUI environment.

The company released Word 1.0 for Windows (seen here) in 1989, which featured a Mac-like, full mouse-driven interface with drop-down menus and true WYSIWYG display features--and a price tag of $500. With the launch of Windows 3.0 in 1990 ($149.95; upgrade $79.95), sales of Word for Windows took off, and, over the following few years, Microsoft solidified its control of the PC-compatible word-processor market.