Talk:Microsoft FreeCell/Archive 1

Crash Bug
Maybe this is trivial, but pre-Vista versions can crash by enlarging the window vertically and right-clicking the bottom-right. It's actually trying to reveal a card, but it's trying to do the first one from the stack to the right. Obviously, it doesn't exist.

This doesn't cause problems in some versions of Windows. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.92.3.8 (talk) 01:11, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

The Internet FreeCell Project
The article states:
 * Although this deal has defied every attempt to solve it, even by several exhaustive-search software solvers, no definitive proof has yet been offered that it is, in fact, unsolvable.

Now, this seems to me to be quite similar to the status of the four colour theorem, the only difference being that the freecell game is too insignificant for the computerized proof to appear in any serious perr-reviewed publication. Still, if the statement about exhaustive-serach solvers is true, that must be a valid proof.--Noe (talk) 13:11, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * That's an excellent point. Unfortunately, we have no verification that any of the solvers are sufficiently rigorous to accept their work as proof. It's a ridiculously fine line but a solid proof depends upon the unquestionable truth of the elements that go into it. Dfmclean (talk) 12:20, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

How to Play?
This article doesn't have any info on HOW to play. Could someone add basic rules? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.244.106.196 (talk) 05:09, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * This article is about the specific windows computer program. For the rules of the game, check out the article on FreeCell the game. Kurtto (talk) 23:43, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Internet site about how to solve different games
I remember that I once got over an internet site with a list og various ways of solving different games. I tried to google to find this site, but didn´t come across it. Are there anyone here that know anout such a site? --Oddeivind (talk) 10:13, 21 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Is this the one you mean? Kurtto (talk) 23:52, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Crashing Bug
In the copy of Vista I have, the program can crash after repeated uses of FreeCell. I have found that turning off all the options, such as animation, prevents the program from crashing. The crash cannot be cured by removing and reinstalling FreeCell under "Turn Windows features on and off". I solved the crash by going back to a restore point. But if you regularly play, I recommend turning off animation at a minimum. —Preceding unsigned comment added by My Flatley (talk • contribs) 16:34, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts for Vista are used in pairs. The first key pressed selects a card to move, the second keystroke moves the card to position. Numbers 1 thru 8 select columns 1 thru 8. As the second keystroke, 1 thru 8 moves the selected card. Zero (0) cycles through the freecell cards, and as the second keystroke moves the selected card to a freecell. Right click moves cards to home. Crtl+Z reverses a move (and may be used repeatedly). Arrow keys cycle about the page; use the space bar or Enter to select the arrowed card, column or space, then arrow key to the receiving position and press the space bar or Enter to move the card. (If the readers would like this on the main page feel free to move it.) My Flatley (talk) 03:57, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
 * "Right click" is only a shortcut, not a keyboard shortcut! To put a selected card home use nine (9) as target number. These keyboard controls are also valid for pre-Vista. And to unselect a card (first stroke) without move you can retype its column number (1–8), which opens one by one the complete faces of all cards in that column, too (in pre-Vista versions the aces couldn't be identyfied clearly). hd 2011-11-27 17:10h (CET)

References for the Internet Freecell project
Hi there, just noticed that the mention here of the Internet Freecell Project is uncredited, and all references I can find through Google are in fact quotations from this page!! But I do know that there was a similar attempt launched by Hugh Gibson on May 17th 1995 on the cix conferencing system (cix.co.uk) which used the same technique, splitting into 20s and sharing the load, documenting human solutions to all games, finally audited on 23/9/96 (coming up with the same answer with all solutions documented except 11982). Cix, however, is a subscription system and thus we can't reference this result directly from here I suspect. Is the "Internet Freecell Project" similar or is it that there is no longer a valid archive of that date for it? Tillsbury (talk) 03:56, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Oberon Games?
I don't believe it is correct to mark Oberon Games as the developer of Microsoft FreeCell. The game was originally written by Jim Horne while he worked at Microsoft, and the "About" dialog box on Windows XP FreeCell credits him for it. Has this changed in Windows Vista? I could not find any mention of FreeCell on the Oberon Games website, except as one of the games included in a product they offer. Please provide some citation for this statement --nandhp (talk) 18:21, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The version of FreeCell included in Windows Vista was developed by Oberon Games. Themodernizer (talk) 15:56, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
 * That seems very unlikely and is not documented anywhere. Ham Pastrami (talk) 08:35, 13 September 2009 (UTC)


 * On the contrary, the "About" dialog box in the Vista version states "FreeCell developed for Microsoft Corporation by Oberon Games and Microsoft Corporation." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:304:AE25:BAD9:643D:7402:48C9:20E8 (talk) 21:22, 2 September 2015 (UTC)