Video game included in Microsoft Windows
FreeCell, also known as Microsoft FreeCell,[1]
is a computer game included in Microsoft Windows,[2] based 🍐 on a card game with the same
name.
Development [ edit ]
Paul Alfille implemented Freecell in 1978 for the PLATO
computer 🍐 system at CERL; by the early 1980s Control Data Corporation had published it
for all PLATO systems. Jim Horne, who 🍐 enjoyed playing Freecell on the PLATO system at
the University of Alberta, published a sharewareR$10 DOS version with color graphics 🍐 in
1988. That year Horne joined Microsoft, and later ported the game to Windows.[3]
The
Windows version was first included in 🍐 Microsoft Entertainment Pack Volume 2 and later
the Best Of Microsoft Entertainment Pack.[4] It was subsequently included with Win32s
as 🍐 an application that enabled the testing of the 32-bit thunking layer to ensure that
it was installed properly.[5] However, FreeCell 🍐 remained relatively obscure until it
was released as part of Windows 95.[6] In Windows XP, FreeCell was extended to support
🍐 a total of 1 million card deals.[4]
Releases [ edit ]
Microsoft Solitaire Collection in
Windows 10, in FreeCell mode
Today, there are 🍐 FreeCell implementations for nearly every
modern operating system as it is one of the few games pre-installed with every copy 🍐 of
Windows. Prior to Windows Vista, the versions for Windows were limited in their player
assistance features, such as retraction 🍐 of moves. The Windows Vista FreeCell
implementation contains basic hints and unlimited move retraction (via the Undo menu
choice or 🍐 command),[7] and the option to restart the game. Some features have been
removed, such as the flashing screen to warn 🍐 the player of one move remaining. FreeCell
is not included in the Windows 8 operating system but is available in 🍐 the Windows Store
as the free Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which is also bundled with Windows
10.
Legacy [ edit ]
Microsoft created 🍐 the Entertainment Packs to encourage non-business
use of Windows. According to company telemetry FreeCell was the seventh most-used
Windows program, 🍐 ahead of Word and Microsoft Excel.[3]
The original Microsoft FreeCell
package supports 32,000 numbered deals, generated by a 15-bit, pseudorandom-number
seed. 🍐 These deals are known as the "Microsoft 32,000",[4] and all but one of them have
been completed.[6] Later versions of 🍐 FreeCell include more than one million deals.[4]
When Microsoft FreeCell became very popular during the 1990s, the Internet FreeCell
Project 🍐 attempted to solve all the deals by crowdsourcing consecutive games to specific
people. The project ran from August 1994 to 🍐 April 1995, and only #11982 proved
unwinnable.[8] Out of the current Microsoft Windows games, eight are
unsolvable.[9][10]
The significance of the 🍐 "Microsoft 32,000" to many FreeCell players
is such that other computer implementations of FreeCell will often go out of their 🍐 way
to guarantee compatibility with these deals, rather than simply using the most readily
available random number generator for their 🍐 target platforms.[4][11]
As an easter egg,
Microsoft intentionally includes a few impossible games, with negative numbers. Playing
these games do not 🍐 count towards the statistics recorded by the computer.
See also [
edit ]
