It has been an integral part of all Windows' users' lives. It is a boring game, almost mind-numbing, but it has existed and thrived because we have often had nothing else to do. In a match-up between laziness and boredom, Solitaire was the perfect trade-off. And playing it usually tended towards an addiction-laced equilibrium state.
History
The game was developed in 1989 by Microsoft intern Wes Cherry. It has since been included into every Windows, except for those few copies which were installed by paranoid companies who ripped those innocent games out of the programs roster in a frenzy of profit-induced efficiency-increasing measures of absolute tyranny.
The intention of including the game was to assist new users in figuring out how to use the mouse. And thus began the phenomena of Windows gaming.
Susan Kare had developed the card deck. (Her portfolio). But it was the card trail that took our breaths away. Back in the old days, we would reset the turbo button on our cute little computers; and look in awe as the cards trailed at slower speeds.
Trivia
In the Windows Solitaire game using Standard Scoring, the highest possible score is 24113.
Mathematics
No one really knows what percentage of standard Solitaire games are winnable. It has been a topic of research for a long while now.
Research Paper - SEARCHING SOLITAIRE IN REAL TIME
Article -Solitaire-y Sequences
The Probability of Unplayable Solitaire (Klondike) Games
Random Theory
Theory - The odds of winning any game of Klondike Solitaire of the form (Draw X, Re-Deal Y, Win Z) are equivalent to the average of the sum of the weighted ratios of the length of the longest increasing subsequence of each winning permutation to the length of the permutation.
Proof - The Joel on Software Discussion Group
Cheats
One card in three card game
Start a three card draw game. Hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift and click on the deck to only draw one card. Please note: If you hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift at the circle at the end of the deck, points will not be taken off your score.
Automatic win
To automatically win the game, press Shift + Alt + 2. The cards will trail like you had won the game legitimately.
Links
Windows Solitaire Review
Solitaire-y Confinement. Why we can't stop playing a computerized card game. - By Josh Levin
Interview with creator of Windows Solitaire, Wes Cherry
Solitaire Costs Man His City Job After Bloomberg Sees Computer
A Look at Randomness in Microsoft Windows Solitaire, or, Using ...
Odds of Winning Solitaire
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