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3 days ago · Microsoft Windows is a computer operating system (OS) developed by Microsoft Corporation to run personal computers (PCs). Featuring the first graphical user interface for IBM-compatible PCs, Microsoft Windows soon dominated the PC market.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Dows 1.0
- Dows 2.0
- Dows 3.0/3.1
- Windows 95
- Windows 98/Windows Me (Millennium Edition)/Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
Released: Nov. 20, 1985 Replaced: MS-DOS(Microsoft Disk Operating System), although until Windows 95, Windows actually ran on top of MS-DOS instead of completely replacing it. Innovative/Notable:Windows. This was the first version of a Microsoft OS that you didn't have to enter commands to use. Instead, you could point and click in a box—a window—...
Released:Dec. 9, 1987 Replaced:Windows 1.0. Windows 1.0 wasn't warmly received by critics, who felt it was slow and too mouse-focused. The mouse was relatively new to computing at the time. Innovative/Notable:Graphics were much improved, including the ability to overlap windows (in Windows 1.0, separate windows could only be tiled). Desktop icons w...
Released:May 22, 1990. Windows 3.1: March 1, 1992. Replaced:Windows 2.0. It was more popular than Windows 1.0. Its overlapping Windows brought a lawsuit from Apple, which claimed that the new style infringed copyrights from the Apple GUI (Graphical User Interface). Innovative/Notable:Speed. Windows 3.0/3.1 ran faster than ever on new Intel 386 chip...
Released:Aug. 24, 1995 Replaced:Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS Innovative/Notable:Windows 95 is what really cemented Microsoft's dominance in the computer industry. It boasted a huge marketing campaign that captured the public's imagination in a way nothing computer-related ever had. More importantly, it introduced the Start menu, which ended up being so p...
Released:These were released in a flurry between 1998 and 2000 and are lumped together because there wasn't much to distinguish them from Windows 95. They were essentially placeholders in Microsoft's lineup, and although popular, they didn't approach the record-breaking success of Windows 95. They were built on Windows 95, offering basically increm...
Released:Oct. 25, 2001 Replaced:Windows 2000 Innovative/Notable: Windows XPis the superstar of this lineup—the Michael Jordan of Microsoft operating systems. Its most innovative feature is that it refuses to die, remaining on a non-trivial number of PCs even several years after its official end-of-life sunset from Microsoft. Despite its age, it's s...
Released:Jan. 30, 2007 Replaced:Tried, and spectacularly failed, to replace Windows XP. Innovative/Notable: Vista is the anti-XP. Its name is synonymous with failure and ineptitude. When released, Vista required much better hardware to run than XP (which most people didn't have), and relatively few devices like printers and monitors worked with it ...
Released:Oct. 22, 2009 Replaced:Windows Vista, and not a moment too soon. Innovative/Notable: Windows 7was a major hit with the public and earned a commanding market share of nearly 60 percent. It improved in every way on Vista and helped the public eventually forget the OS version of the Titanic. It's stable, secure, graphically friendly, and easy...
Released:Oct. 26, 2012 Replaced:Tried, and spectacularly failed, to replace Windows 7. Innovative/Notable: Microsoft knew it had to gain a foothold in the mobile world, including phones and tablets, but didn't want to give up on users of traditional desktops and laptops. So it tried to create a hybrid OS, one that would work equally well on touch a...
Released:July 28, 2015 Replaced:Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and Windows XP Innovative/Notable:Two major things: first, the return of the Start menu. Second, Windows 10 will allegedly be the last-named version of Windows. Future updates will be delivered in semi-annual update packages, instead of distinct new versions. Obscure Fact: Despite M...
Microsoft Windows was announced by Bill Gates on 10 November 1983, 2 years before it was first released. Microsoft introduced Windows as a graphical user interface for MS-DOS, which had been introduced two years earlier.
The history of Windows dates back to 1981 when Microsoft started work on a program called "Interface Manager". It was announced in November 1983 (after the Apple Lisa, but before the Macintosh) under the name "Windows", but Windows 1.0 was not released until November 1985.
Apr 6, 2020 · The history of Windows isn't just changing Start menus. Here's a look at the evolution of Microsoft's flagship operating system and the future of Windows 10.
- Anita George
Nov 25, 2023 · Microsoft Windows has come a long way since its humble beginnings over 30 years ago. Let’s take a journey through the origins, key versions, interface changes, market penetration, components, criticism, competitors, and future outlook of Microsoft’s groundbreaking operating system.
Jun 24, 2021 · Windows 1.0. Release date: November 1985. Key features: Microsoft moves away from MS-DOS with its first operating system that featured a graphical user interface, which allowed users to use a...
