![]() The DLL, or Dynamic Link Library, is a file that contains resources or specially prepared executable code that many programs should have access to. What’s most interesting about Windows Solitaire, though, is that it also serves as a perfect example of what DLL files are for. ![]() (According to Wikipedia, there has been at least one high-profile firing, directly attributed to Solitaire.) Taking up a combined total of 344 KB, most Windows users had no reason to remove it afterwards…except for corporations and companies who (rightly) worried about productivity loss on the job. Solitaire’s main ingredient to popularity, though, was that it was automatically installed with Windows starting with version 3.0 (earlier versions tended to include a different game, Reversi). (Okay, there was also that thing called Minesweeper…but that’s not quite the point.) Nobody quite realized what the ploy was for a while, as they eventually became more dextrous with their pointing devices. Solitaire, then, was not so much designed as a pack-in computer game, as it was designed as a clever ploy to get a computer user to learn how the mouse works, by encouraging them to click, drag, and double-click. To some users, they were still awkward and difficult to figure out. ![]() The thing to remember about Solitaire was that it came at a time when, while Macintosh users had already been accustomed to using the mouse in everyday tasks since 1984, owners of PCs still didn’t quite grasp how they worked. Solitaire (yes, it’s actually called Klondike in most written rules, but let’s not argue semantics) was not so much a card game as it was a revolution in computing…but not in the way you might think, going by the way I phrased that sentence. Arguably the reason many of us even know what solitaire is (myself included): Microsoft Solitaire for Windows, developed by Wes Cherry, an intern for Microsoft at the time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |