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((Short description|Video game included in Microsoft Windows))
((Use mdy dates|date=September 2019))
((lead too short|date=January 2016))
((Infobox software
| name             = FreeCell
| logo             = FreeCell Icon (Vista).png
| logo_size        = 64px
| screenshot       = FreeCell 7.png
| screenshot_size  = 300px
| caption          = FreeCell on Windows 7
| author           = Jim Horne
| developer        = [[Microsoft]]
| released         = ((Start date and age|1991))
| replaced_by      = [[Microsoft Solitaire Collection]] ([[Windows 10]])
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| platform         = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64]] (and historically [[DEC Alpha]], [[Itanium]], [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]], and [[PowerPC]])
| genre            = [[Computer game]]
))
'''FreeCell''', also known as '''Microsoft FreeCell''',<ref>((cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195942 |title=FreeCell Stops Responding When You Click Undo |website=Support |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |date=January 23, 2007 |access-date=January 20, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206221259/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195942 |archive-date=February 6, 2007 ))</ref> is a [[computer game]] included in [[Microsoft Windows]],<ref>((cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N03JdBfVv0kC&q=freecell+windows&pg=RA1-PA271|title=User-to-User|last=Rubenking|first=Neil J.|date=March 4, 1997|work=[[PC Magazine]]|access-date=January 20, 2017|page=271))</ref> based on a [[card game]] with [[FreeCell|the same name]].

==Development==
Paul Alfille implemented Freecell in 1978 for the [[PLATO (computer system)|PLATO]] computer system at [[Computer-based Education Research Laboratory|CERL]]; by the early 1980s [[Control Data Corporation]] had published it for all PLATO systems. Jim Horne, who enjoyed playing Freecell on the PLATO system at the [[University of Alberta]], published a [[shareware]] $10 [[DOS]] version with [[color graphics]] in 1988. That year Horne joined [[Microsoft]], and later ported the game to [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]].((r|dear2017))

The Windows version was first included in [[Microsoft Entertainment Pack]] Volume 2 and later the Best Of Microsoft Entertainment Pack.<ref name="FAQ - Freecell"/> It was subsequently included with [[Win32s]] as an application that enabled the testing of the [[32-bit]] [[Thunk (compatibility mapping)#OS/2 & Windows 16-bit address hack|thunking layer]] to ensure that it was installed properly.<ref name="Q106715">((cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/cascon/microsoft/q106715.htm |title=How to Troubleshoot Win32s Installation Problems |date=May 21, 1998 |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |access-date=July 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5rAGxCAjS?url=http://web.mit.edu/cascon/microsoft/q106715.htm |archive-date=July 12, 2010 ))</ref> However, FreeCell remained relatively obscure until it was released as part of [[Windows 95]].<ref name="nyt" /> In [[Windows XP]], FreeCell was extended to support a total of 1 million card deals.<ref name="FAQ - Freecell">((cite web|url=http://solitairelaboratory.com/fcfaq.html|title=FreeCell - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)|first=Michael|last=Keller|year=2005|access-date=January 20, 2017|publisher=Solitaire Laboratory))</ref>

==Releases==
[[File:FreeCell 10.png|thumb|[[Microsoft Solitaire Collection]] in Windows 10, in FreeCell mode]]
Today, there are FreeCell implementations for nearly every modern operating system as it is one of the few games pre-installed with every copy of Windows. Prior to [[Windows Vista]], the versions for Windows were limited in their player assistance features, such as retraction of moves. The Windows Vista FreeCell implementation contains basic hints and unlimited move retraction (via the Undo menu choice or command),<ref>((cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr8rWafdWZAC&q=freecell+vista+undo&pg=PA124|title=Ask Neil|first=Neil J. |last=Rubenking|date=January 2008|work=[[PC Magazine]]|page=124|access-date=June 12, 2012))</ref> and the option to restart the game. Some features have been removed, such as the flashing screen to warn the player of one move remaining. FreeCell is not included in the [[Windows 8]] operating system but is available in the [[Windows Store]] as the free [[Microsoft Solitaire Collection]], which is also bundled with [[Windows 10]].

==Legacy==
Microsoft created the Entertainment Packs to encourage non-business use of Windows. According to company [[telemetry#software|telemetry]] FreeCell was the seventh most-used Windows program, ahead of [[Microsoft Word|Word]] and [[Microsoft Excel]].<ref name=dear2017>((Cite book |title=The Friendly Orange Glow |last=Dear |first=Brian |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=2017 |isbn=9781101871560 |location=New York |pages=501–503 |chapter=27. Leaving the Nest))</ref>

The original Microsoft FreeCell package supports 32,000 numbered deals, generated by a 15-[[bit]], [[Pseudorandomness#Almost random|pseudorandom-number]] [[Random seed|seed]]. These deals are known as the "Microsoft 32,000",<ref name="FAQ - Freecell"/> and all but one of them have been completed.<ref name="nyt">((cite news|title=One Down, 31,999 to Go: Surrendering to a Solitary Obsession|work=New York Times|last=Kaye|first=Ellen|date=October 17, 2002|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/17/technology/one-down-31999-to-go-surrendering-to-a-solitary-obsession.html|access-date=January 20, 2017))</ref> Later versions of ''FreeCell'' include more than one million deals.<ref name="FAQ - Freecell"/> When Microsoft FreeCell became very popular during the 1990s, the Internet FreeCell Project attempted to solve all the deals by [[crowdsourcing]] consecutive games to specific people. The project ran from August 1994 to April 1995, and only #11982 proved unwinnable.<ref name="O'ReillyMott1999">((cite book|last1=O'Reilly|first1=Tim|last2=Mott|first2=Troy|last3=Glenn|first3=Walter J.|title=Windows 98 in a Nutshell|url=https://archive.org/details/windows98innutsh00orei|url-access=registration|access-date=June 12, 2012|date=September 2, 1999|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|isbn=9781565924864|pages=[https://archive.org/details/windows98innutsh00orei/page/199 199]–))</ref> Out of the current Microsoft Windows games, eight are unsolvable.<ref name="Leonhard2009">((cite book|last=Leonhard|first=Woody|title=Windows 7 All-In-One for Dummies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjhFgc4DdjIC&pg=PA293|access-date=June 12, 2012|date=September 15, 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470487631|pages=293–))</ref><ref name="SL-Lists">((Cite web |url=http://solitairelaboratory.com/fclists.html |title=FreeCell lists of difficult (and extra easy) deals |website=Solitaire Laboratory |date=March 13, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2018))</ref>

The significance of the "Microsoft 32,000" to many FreeCell players is such that other computer implementations of FreeCell will often go out of their way to guarantee compatibility with these deals, rather than simply using the most readily available [[pseudorandom number generator|random number generator]] for their target platforms.<ref name="FAQ - Freecell" /><ref>((cite web|title=PySol - Rules for Freecell|url=http://pysolfc.sourceforge.net/doc/rules/freecell.html|website=PySolFC documentation|access-date=February 3, 2018))</ref>

As an [[Easter egg (media)|easter egg]], Microsoft intentionally includes a few impossible games, with negative numbers. Playing these games do not count towards the statistics recorded by the computer.

==See also==
* [[List of games included with Windows]]

==References==
((Reflist))

((Windows Components))

[[Category:1991 video games]]
[[Category:Casual games]]
[[Category:Microsoft games]]
[[Category:Patience video games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Windows-only games]]

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