Google it!! Date: 4900 a.d.
History class, the teacher talks in his baritone voice:

"In the late 20th century, dates unconfirmed, there were two great oracles, Page and Brin - who laid the foundations of our great civilization. They discovered the guiding force of all life - the ultimate and ideal search algorithm. It is that discovery that laid the foundation of our civilization and has hence enabled all that we are familiar with today - free ad-supported video downloads, free ad-supported software, free ad-supported internet, free knowledge and, above all, the ability to search all computers, brains and souls all round the world.

It is said that before the arrival of Page and Brin, another culture was dominant, a culture which was rudimentary. A culture which seemed absurdly obsessed with holes in walls - as the culture was called Windows and the oracle was named Gates. While that culture focused on owning everything, on bundling, combining. Page and Brin made their culture open, all encompassing - free (albeit ad-supported), and flourished.

um... Peter, you wanted to learn about cultures before Windows? I'd give you a suggestion, why don't you use Google?"  ¶ 12:56 PM