Windows is an Operating system developed by Microsoft. It is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families. Microsoft introduced an operating system on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS. And then It came to dominate the world’s personal computer market with 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984.
Windows 1
This is where it all started. It was released in November 1985. And it was graphical user interface in 16-bit. It ran on top of MS-DOS. The important thing about this OS was the use of mouse. To help users become familiar with this input system, Microsoft included a game, Reversi that relied on mouse control.
Windows 2
It was released on December 1987, two years after the launch of Windows 1. The big innovation for Windows 2 was that windows could overlap each other. It also introduced the ability to minimise or maximise windows instead of “iconising” or “zooming”.
Control panel which contains various settings and configurations also introduced in Windows 2, and it survives to this day.
Microsoft word and Excel also made their first appearancee on Windows 2.
Windows 3
It was launched in 1990. It required a hard drive. It came pre-installed on computers from PC-compatible manufacturers including Zenith Data Systems. It introduced the ability to run MS-DOS programmes in windows,which brought multitasking to legacy programmes. And it came with a modern,colourful look to the interface with support to 256 colours. It introduced the Solitaire game.
Windows 3.1
It released in 1992 and it introduced TrueType fonts making Windows a viable publishing platform. This OS required 1MB of RAM to run and allowed MS-DOS programs to be controlled with a mouse for the first time. And it was the first one to distributed on a CD-ROM. When installed on a hard drive it only took up to 10 or 15MB.
Minesweeper also made its first appearance in this OS.
Windows 95
It was launched in August 1995. It brought the first ever Start button and Start menu. It also introduced the concept of “plug and play”-connect a peripheral and OS findws the appropriate drivers for it and makes it work. But it went just as an idea, it didn’t always work in practice.
It took the transformation from 16-bit to 32-bit. And it introduced the task bar and focused on multitasking. MS-DOS still played an important role for Windows 95.
Internet Explorer also made its debut with Windows 95 Plus! pack.At the time Netscape and NCSA Mosaic were popular.
Windows 98
It was released in June 1998. Windows 98 built on Windows 95 and it had IE 4, Outlook Express, Windows Address Book, Mcrosoft Chat and NetShow Player, which was replaced by Windows Media Player 6.2 in Windows 98 Second Edition in 1999.
It introduced the back and forward navigation buttons and the address bar in Windows Explorer. Windows Driver Model also made its first apperance in this OS.
USB support was much improved in Windows 98.
Windows ME
Millennium Edition was abbreviated as ME. It was comsidered a low point in the Windows series by many. It was the last OS to be based on MS-DOS and the last in the Windows 9x line since it is new millennium.
It was released in September 2000. IE 5.5, Windows Media Player 7b and Windows Movie Maker all made their first appearance in this OS.
This OS was notorious for being buggy, failing to install properly and being generally poor.
Windows 2000
This was the enterprise twin of ME, and it was released in February 2000 and was based on Windows NT and later became the basis for Windows XP.
It was the first Windows to support hibernation.
Windows XP
It was released in October 2001. It brought the familiar green start button, blue task bar and vista wallpaper, along with various shadow and other visual effects.
ClearType, which was designed to make text easier to read on LCD screens, was introduced, as were built-in CD burning, autoplay from CDs and other media, plus various automated update and recovery tools.
It was the longest running Microsoft OS, seeing three major updates and support up until April 2014. It was still used on an estimated 430m PCs when it was discontinued.
Its biggest problem was security. It’s huge popularity turned out to be a advantage for hackers and criminals, who exploited its flaws, especially in Internet Explorer.
Windows Vista
It was released in January 2007. It updated the look and feel of Windows with more focus on transparent elements, search and security.
It was buggy, burdened the user with hundreds of requests for app permissions under “User Account Control”
It came with a Microsoft’s DirectX 10 technology. Windows Media Player 11 and IE 7 debuted, along with Windows Defender. It also included speech recognition,Windows DVD Maker and Photo Gallery. It was the first Windows to be distributed on DVD.
Windows 7
It was released in October 2009. It was intended to fix all the problems and criticisms faced by Vista.
It was faster, more stable and easier to use, becoming the operating system most users and business would upgrade to from Windows XP.
Handwriting recognition debuted in 7
Windows 8
It was released in October 2012. It’s interface was designed to favor the touch-friendly start screen.
Windows 8 was faster than the previous versions of Windows and supported the new USB 3.0 devices. Windows Store was introduced in this version of Windows.
Windows 8.1
It was released on October 2013. It re-introduced the Start button, which brought up the Start screen from the desktop view of Windows 8.1. Users could also choose to boot directly into the desktop of Windows 8.1, which was more suitable for those using a desktop computer with a mouse and keyboard than the touch-focused Start screen.
Windows 10
It was released in July 2015. Cortana, the Microsoft Edge web browser, virtual desktops were all debuted in Windows 10. Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will be the last major version of its series of operating systems to be released. Instead, Microsoft will release major updates to the operating system via download or in Windows Update, similar to the way updates are delivered in macOS.
