Minesweeper (Microsoft, PC)

Minesweeper is one of the games shipped with Windows, where you try to clear a field without tripping a mine. It has a surprisingly large following, and competitions are commonly being held with this game.

Up to Windows XP
While the game is open, type in xyzzy then press Shift+Enter. A pixel at the top-left corner of the screen will now tell you what is below the mouse cursor - if it's a mine, the pixel turns black, if it's a safe spot, the pixel turns white. To stop the timer, hold Down and press Esc. Minimizing and maximizing will start it again.

Windows Vista/7


As with most other games shipped with Vista and 7, Minesweeper has an internal g_debugEnabled variable.

The options included in this menu are:
 * Toggle Cheat Keys - Doesn't seem to do anything.
 * Toggle Show Mines - Shows all the mines on the field, but only after you have begun playing the game.
 * Test Text - Doesn't seem to do anything.
 * Win - Does exactly as it says; you automatically win the game.

In addition, the game will also allow the player to change the tile and background setting directly through the Game menu.

Unused Graphic
An empty digit that would be used for the two counters...except they always show a number and include leading zeroes, hence this is never used.

Revisional Differences
There have been several changes to Minesweeper since its introduction in the Windows Entertainment Pack.

Icons
The game's 32&times;32 icon was changed for Windows 95, but was reverted (along with the rest of the changed graphics) for Windows 2000...only to change again in Windows XP.

Minesweeper originally didn't have a unique 16&times;16 icon. The Windows 95 version added one, which was removed in the Windows 2000 version and added again in the XP version.

Tiles
The shading of the tiles was changed in Windows 95: the flag was made more square, the question mark became blue and was made thicker, the mines were shrunk, the mine was removed from under the X, the color of the 7 and 8 tiles were changed, and the numbers were made thinner for Windows 95.

All of this was reverted for the Windows 2000 release.

Other

 * The Windows 95 version removed the menu options Contents, Search for Help on... and How to Use Help and added the menu option Help Topics. This was reverted in the Windows 2000 release.
 * The Windows 2000 version had 5 non-graphical changes:
 * The beginner grid size was increased from 8&times;8 to 9&times;9.
 * The Timer Jump bug was fixed. In previous versions of the game, the system clock was used as a makeshift timer, which caused the first second to "jump" when the game is started at the middle or near the end of a second. In Windows 2000, a separate timer is used.
 * The Moving Window bug was fixed. Every time the difficulty of the game was changed, the window moved one pixel upwards, which made it possible for the window to leave the screen altogether. This does not occur in the Windows 2000 version.
 * Winmine.ini was removed. Instead, the game stored high scores and other data in the registry.
 * The Sound option was added to the game menu due to the nonexistence of Winmine.ini.

Regional Differences
In 1999, Sergio Chiodo of Italy set up the International Campaign to Ban Winmine, complaining that Minesweeper was offensive to minefield victims and suggesting the mines be changed to flowers. Microsoft took this suggestion and implemented it into the Italian versions bundled with Windows 2000, ME, and XP, renaming the game to Prato Fiorito ("Flower Field").

The Windows Vista and 7 versions default to mines or flowers depending on the user's locale, but it can be changed.