Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later

An experiment building a Xonix game for Windows 1.0 using Microsoft C 4.0 and the original WinAPI, exploring how little the core application programming model has changed over 40 years. The same source code compiles across Windows SDK versions from 1.0 to modern 64-bit systems with minimal changes. The compiled 16-bit EXE runs on Windows 1.x through 32-bit Windows 10, demonstrating remarkable binary-level compatibility. Key limitations of early Windows — cooperative multitasking, no double buffering, severe memory constraints — are also discussed.