Among the most iconic and widely used applications in Microsoft's history, there is one whose origin is, to say the least, unexpected: Windows SolitaireThis game, which has been a great way for millions of users around the world, was actually written by a mere 20-year-old intern... who was never paid for his creation.
Wes-Cherry was still a college student when he joined Microsoft as an intern in the summer of 1988. During his internship, between assigned tasks and quieter moments, he decided to code a game to pass the time.
A coded game to relieve boredom
Wes found his inspiration in a version of Solitaire he had been playing on a Mac… instead of studying for exams. He wanted to create his own version for Windows, and so started developing it in his spare time, on Windows 2.1.
But programming such a game at the end of the 80s was not so simple. Cherry recalls: " The only vaguely interesting thing is the optimizations I made to make moving cards smooth. ". At the time, displaying a single pixel in the EGA buffer (the memory where the pixels to be displayed were stored on old graphics cards) was a bit like " take a hammer and chisel to carve the silicon for hours ».
At the time, object-oriented programming was just beginning to develop, and there was no C++ compiler for Windows yet. Cherry therefore had to improvise some sort of communication system between the different parts of the program, to mimic the principles of inheritance and polymorphism… a real technical headache!
Little-known anecdote: The design of the card deck itself was done by Susan Kare, a Macintosh pioneer and a major figure in interface design. She is notably known for having created some of the most famous icons in the Apple universe.
Windows Solitaire Becomes a Worldwide Hit
The game originally remained on an internal Microsoft server called "Bogus Software," where developers shared their creations while practicing with the Windows API. A product manager in the Windows department stumbled upon it... and decided to integrate it into Windows 3.0, which launched in 1990.
When Microsoft broke the news to him, the company was clear: he wouldn't get anything, except for an IBM XT computer to fix a few bugs during his university year. Cherry didn't flinch: " It suited me perfectly then, and it still suits me today. ».
Even Bill Gates endorsed the game… but not without reservation. According to Cherry, his main criticism was that Solitaire was too difficult to win. Officially, Microsoft justified the addition of the game by explaining that it served to teach users how to use the mouse. In reality? It was just a game for fun ».
Cherry even included a special "boss" key to display a fake spreadsheet, so it could hide the game when a superior came by. Microsoft refused to implement this feature.
Despite the colossal success of Windows Solitaire, which has become one of the most used software in the history of Windows, Wes Cherry never received any financial compensation.
On the other hand, for another game he developed later – Pipe Dream – he received a few thousand dollars in Microsoft shares, when it was included in one of the company's entertainment packs.
Today, Wes Cherry has moved away from the world of coding. He produces cider on Vashon Island, near Seattle, where he runs his cidery: Dragon's Head Cider. I don't program much anymore, just a little in C/C++ for embedded controllers for cider-making machines " he explains. Let's hope he enjoys a peaceful life, despite the lack of remuneration for a game that has nevertheless made history... and fought the boredom of millions of users.
source: Wes Cherry Interview About Windows Solitaire by Great Big Story
