Solitaire And Minesweeper Weren’t Just Games…

Megalith

Megalith

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…they were also learning experiences! Or so claims Microsoft. Did any of you actually learn how to use a mouse by playing games?

…Microsoft product manager Libby Duzan told the Washington Post back in 1994 that the company “put Solitaire into Windows to soothe people intimidated by the operating system.” Recall that for many users, Windows 3.0 represented an entirely new user interface environment, with no command prompt in sight.
 
I don't even remember. The first computers I used were Apple when I was a young buck in grammar school.
 
I bought my first mouse to play video games. It used some special connector and I had to buy an adapter card to even plug it in.
 
When I was in school we had the TRS-80 and the atari 800. Good times. I didn't see a mouse until high school and it was on a Macintosh computer with a monochrome display and an external hard drive.
 
We actually suggested solitaire etc to help new users get up to speed. Believe it or not.
 
I still make use of the games for exactly this. Even now I still have clients who are new to computers. Normally the older retired generation who have picked up a laptop to talk to family through Facebook and Skype. Sticking a card game in front of these people is ideal. Solitare is all drag, drop, click, double click. It may sound silly - but it is all there and will turn even your granny into a mousing whizz.

If it wasn't for Solitaire I don't think I would have ever persuaded my Mum to touch the computer. It helped to ease her fear that she won't actually break it. Trouble is now she has found Amazon it is hard to tear her away :D
 
these were/are great tools to teach non-computer techy people (anyone born before 1980) basic computer skills. 1980 seems like a shocker but you would be amazed by the amount of folks that didnt have exposure to computers or careers ... then their employer brings them a computer or tablet to "automate their job" without realizing that they do not have those basic skills. I call them mom and dad.
 
I remember that.

Solitaire is the perfect medium to learn how to use the mouse. It utilized almost all of the mouse functions.
 
I was using a mouse in 1986 when I would use my friends Amiga 1000. In 87 another friend bought an Acorn Archimedes, one of the first Risc based home PC's and had tons of fun using the mouse to play a game called Zarch. It was a game where you flew around in a triangular craft and try to shoot the invading pods that are spreading a virus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNXypBxNGMo
 
Yes, and this has been common knowledge since the first release of those games. They never kept that part a secret. :) Either that, or it was just knowledge for those that were curious enough back then...
 
Hate to burst MS's bubble but I learned how to use a mouse on an Amiga 1000 in 1986.
 
I learned to use the mouse on a Sun workstation, but till this day I still test mice with speed runs off minedsweeper.
 
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