Minesweeper & Windows 3.1

[Kasper Kristensen]

Hello Minesweepers, I'm currently very interested in some obscure Minesweeper trivia as it's crucial for my semester project.

The obscure piece of minesweeper trivia in questions is; why was Minesweeper (and Solitaire) included in Windows 3.1 and all following versions, all the way to Windows 7. The reasons for my interest is because I heard a rumor saying: Minesweeper was included in Windows 3.1 in order to teach fundamental functions of the mouse (left and right click) in a fun way.

I would like to know if this is perceived as fact and if someone here knows any references to it, or maybe put this rumor to rest?

or

What do you think does it seem reasable, could it be true

[EWQMinesweeper]

don't have any sources but i'm pretty sure that:

ms was used to teach people left, right and double clicks
solitaire was used for click and drag teaching
not sure about pinball and freecell

[thefinerminer]

The only evidence I have seen for this rumour is a techradar.com article (see http://www.minesweeper.info/wiki/Media) and the writer did not have any evidence for his claim.

I would love to see your report when you are done, and could put it on this site.