Microsoft, in a blog post, announced it was organizing a global tournament to commemorate 25 years of its popular game Solitaire. Starting on Monday, the contest will allow players to show their skills in five different versions of the game, such as FreeCell, TriPeaks, Pyramid, Spider and Klondike Solitaire, which are all available for download on Windows devices and Windows Phones.
Microsoft employee to play outside players
The tournament will be organized in two phases. First, there will be an internal contest involving only Microsoft employees, who will compete with one another to determine the best players within the organization. Then, the winners from the company will battle with the outside players in a second tournament scheduled to begin from June 5th. Microsoft has yet to reveal information regarding the prizes for the contest or the criteria to determine the winners. Moreover, only little is known about how players will actually compete in the contest.
Solitaire was developed by a company’s intern Wes Cherry in 1989, and was first made available to the public with Windows 3.0. Apart from being an application to entertain, the game was also created to acquaint people with the new user interface of the PCs, such as the ‘drag and drop’ option.
Solitaire to come pre-installed in Windows 10
Some predict that the Windows maker aims to promote the game prior to the release of the Windows 10. Interestingly, Solitaire ceased to be a built-in game in the Windows operating systems with Windows 8, but, now Microsoft plans to pre-install the game in the upcoming Windows 10. Microsoft is also looking to provide its users with other popular games such as Candy Crush Saga.
The company is expected to launch Windows 10 in July this year, and has claimed this will be the last version of Windows operating system. Presently, undergoing public beta testing, the upcoming OS will be the same across all Microsoft devices, including tablets, smartphones, desktops, Xbox gaming console and HoloLens. Moreover, Windows 10 will also allow users to manage their devices and other home appliances. The inclusion of a new feature known as Continuum indicates that the new OS will have a desktop mode for the users with a mouse and keyboard, and a touchscreen mode for use in smartphones and tablets. In addition, Windows 10 will also witness the return of the Start menu that was discarded in Windows 8.
