37 Years after Its Launch, Someone Found Easter Egg in Windows 1.0

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As Easter approaches, let’s speak about Easter eggs: an industrious and highly dedicated user has discovered a secret dialog within Windows 1.0. That’s right, the operating system’s very first version, released in November 1985.

Lucas Brooks, who discovered it and publicized it on Twitter, deserves credit (via XDA Developers). The hidden message is merely a list of the developers that worked on Windows 1.0; however, it is not a part of the software that can be found by normal means.

Easter eggs in software come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with some being more well hidden than others. The fact that it took almost 37 years to discover this one indicates that it was meticulously hidden — hence the accompanying “Congratulations!” greeting.

Celebrity spotting

According to Brooks, the hidden dialog was tucked away towards the end of the operating system’s smiley bitmap file in encrypted form. There were no techniques available in 1985 to discover this type of additional data.

Gabe Newell, currently president of Valve, is perhaps the most well-known figure on the newly released list, having worked on everything from Half-Life to the Steam Deck. From 1983 through 1996, Newell worked at Microsoft before quitting to start Valve.

So don’t lose heart if you’re still tinkering with decades-old software; there may be some mysteries that have yet to be discovered. Brooks later discovered the similar dialog in Windows 2.0.


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