As the Windows operating system has evolved, so too have many of its icons. As Windows 7 comes on to the scene with new user interface features, I recently began looking back at the changes in the icons that we all click on every day. While I discovered that many icons have changed with each new version of Windows, I also discovered that many stayed the same over several different versions.
In this gallery, I’ll take a look at some of the Windows icons that have evolved over the years.
Keep in mind that rather than show every icon for each version, I’ll only show an icon when it changes. For example, the Calculator icon changed slightly from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, but then remained the same until Windows XP. As such, I won’t include the Calculator icons for Windows 98 thru Windows ME. Likewise, if the Windows 7 icon is the same as the Windows Vista icon, I’ll only show the Vista icon.
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The icons changed as Cardfile evolved into the Address Book and then to Contacts in Windows Vista.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
Once Windows 2000 came on to the scene, the icon and the name changed from MSDOS to Command Prompt.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
From the MSDOS Executive to File manager to My Computer, to Computer, the file management icon has changed quite regularly.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
The evolution of the globe icon shows a very interesting progression.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
The Media Player icons went from a film based motif to a Play button theme.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
Another staple of the operating system since version 1.0, the Notepad icon has evolved since version 3.0, but not radically.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
Using a microphone for the Sound Recorder icon seems to be a better representation.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
The theme for this icon remained fairly consistent over the years. After Windows XP, HyperTerminal was given the boot and is no longer a part of the operating system.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
The icon for the operating system’s mini word processor has an interesting evolution that included a writing instrument up until most recently.
Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
My first computer was a Kaypro 16 \"luggable\" running MS-DOS 2.11 which I obtained while studying computer science in 1986. After two years, I discovered that I had a knack for writing documentation and shifted my focus over to technical writing.
