We all know that Windows became the real deal with version 3.0 but nonetheless versions 1.x and 2.x do exist.
So out of curiosity, there were PC shipped with those versions already installed out of the box?
mrfusion92 wrote on 2023-11-14, 08:02:We all know that Windows became the real deal with version 3.0 but nonetheless versions 1.x and 2.x do exist.
So out of curiosity, there were PC shipped with those versions already installed out of the box?
I personally do not recall OEM bundles with a PC of Windows versions prior to 3.0, but I could be wrong as I was still quite young in 1988ish
Windows 2.x was bundled with Microsoft hardware such as mice.
I think a version or very similar model to the PS/2 model 25 was the first computer ever shipped with Windows. I want to say it was 1.x or so.
MS Windows 1&2 was also available on non-IBM PCs. PC-9800 comes to mind.
Not sure if it was pre-installed, though.
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I recall advising my father's club on a PC they wanted to buy for administrative purposes. It was an early 386 (DX-20 iirc), Amstrad-branded and it came with Windows 2.0 installed. This would have been around 1990.
I see on WinWorldPC that there are Amstrad, Ericsson, NEC, Tandon, Tulip, Wang and Zenith OEM versions of Win2.03, which is a strong indication it would have been installed on such systems.
Were any 80's IBM and compatible PCs with hard drives before DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0 sold with any software preinstalled on the hard drive? The only hardware I experienced at that time with either custom build or floppy based. The manuals for DOS explained the setup procedure for the hard disk, as if that was always necessary when first starting up the PC. So I just think that preinstalled was just not a thing, but that software was either bundled, or purchased as an option at sale, or purchased later. Yes there were OEM versions of DOS and Windows, so those were bundled with the PC. So in that sense, yes there were OEM versions of Windows. Preinstalled? Not sure it matters.
