I am not sure I'd agree with you on that - they were a lot smaller than Windows now, but it was never minimalistic in any sense. Even Windows 1 incorporated several programs (Write, Paint, that cards thing, etc) that, while convenient, wasn't exactly minimal. Every version added something extra (overlapping windows, Program Manager, a trashcan and a desktop-as-a-place) without removing anything (except tiling windows, which weren't fashionable back then, or practical at VGA resolutions). Windows now is a nightmare of layers that seem to go all the way down to NT 4. I wouldn't mind that, but the way the GUI inherits the theme from whatever generation it was first built on creates a jarring and confusing experience. I respect backwards compatibility, but I would suggest Microsoft looked at IBM's MVS and its descendants to learn how it's properly done.