The card deck itself was designed by Susan Kare, who was known for her work on icon designs for the original Macintosh. Solitaire was developed in 1988 by the intern Wes Cherry. Reversi was included in Windows versions up to Windows 3.1. Pre-release versions of Windows 1.0 initially included another game, Puzzle, but it was scrapped in favor of Reversi, based on the board game of the same name.
Microsoft planned to include games when developing Windows 1.0 in 1983–1984. The latest version of Windows, Windows 11, includes Microsoft Solitaire Collection and Surf. Microsoft Solitaire has been included in every version of Windows since Windows 3.0, except Windows 8 and 8.1. Some games that have appeared in Microsoft Entertainment Pack and Microsoft Plus! have been included in subsequent versions of Windows as well. Video games have been included in versions of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting from Windows 1.0x, all published by Microsoft. Solitaire has been included in every version of Windows since Windows 3.0, except Windows 8 and 8.1.