What was Windows originally called?

Back in 1985, Microsoft took personal computing from cryptic command lines to something your grandmother might actually use. But here's a fun twist - the software that would become Windows almost launched with a name that sounds like it was pulled from a programmer's filing cabinet. What was it?

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The answer is: Interface Manager

Interface Manager. Go ahead, try saying that with any enthusiasm. You can't, can you? That's exactly the problem Microsoft faced with their original name choice for Windows. It's like calling a sports car "Transportation Device" or Netflix "Digital Entertainment Content Delivery System."

In the early days of 1983, Microsoft's developers were cooking up something special - software that would let you point and click instead of typing commands like a computer programmer. Inside Microsoft's walls, everyone called it Interface Manager, a name that perfectly captured the essence of the product... if you were a robot.

Enter Rowland Hanson, Microsoft's marketing head, who probably did a spit-take when he first heard the name. He had a wild idea: what if they named it after those box things on the screen that held all the programs? You know, windows?

Bill Gates wasn't exactly doing backflips over the suggestion. He'd grown fond of Interface Manager, the way you might grow fond of a comfortable but deeply unfashionable sweater. But Hanson kept pushing, pointing out that regular humans might actually remember and understand the word "Windows."

The name switch happened just in time for Microsoft's big announcement in November 1983. Though it would take another two years of debugging and development before Windows 1.0 actually hit store shelves, that simple name change proved golden. Sure, Apple had already put windows in their computers, but Microsoft turned the concept into a household name.

Just think about the bullet we dodged. Nobody ever got excited about "upgrading their Interface Manager." No tech reviewer ever wrote "The new IM 95 is a game-changer!" And can you imagine trying to explain to your grandparents that they need to restart their Interface Manager?

It's a perfect example of Microsoft learning that sometimes the best technical solution isn't the best human solution. Like a house without windows, Interface Manager would have left users squinting in the dark. Windows, on the other hand, opened up a whole new view of what computers could be - both literally and with a much better name.