The History of Windows

Here is something that I did some research on and though was pretty cool. Does any one know what the 1st version of Windows was? Does any one know when it came out? I can say that I remember. So here is a brief over view of the history of Windows.

Windows 1.0: Microsoft announced Windows in November 1983. This was after the release of the Apple. Windows promised a simple graphical interface, device-independent graphics, and multitasking support. But it was delayed several times; the first version was available to the consumer market in November 1985. The selection of applications were few, the sales were also few.

Windows 2.0 was introduced in the fall of 1987. It provided significant user interface improvements. With the addition of icons and overlapping windows. Windows became a workable environment for the development of major applications like Excel, Word for Windows, and Corel Draw. Sales were brought up by the programs supplied by the independent software vendors. Windows 2.0 was/386 renamed to Windows/286 when windows 386 came out. Windows/386 In late 1987, Microsoft released Windows/386. While it was equivalent to Windows/286, but it could run multiple DOS applications.

So do any of these ring a bell with you? Not me, I was still working with a DOS based computer at work. Also, back then who would have thought about a computer at home? You would have to be rich!

Microsoft Windows 3.0 was released in May 1990, was a complete overhaul of the Windows environment. It had a much more powerful user interface; independent software vendors started developing Windows applications like crazy. The new applications helped Microsoft sell more than 10 million copies of Windows; this made windows the best selling GUI in the history of computing.

This version was my 1st taste of windows. When they installed it on the computers in my work place I though I had died and gone to heaven! And OH BOY!! GAMES!!

Microsoft Windows 3.1, released in April 1992, it provided many improvements over Windows 3.0. In its first two months on the market, it sold over three million copies. OK guys, here is Windows 3.1, the official time I got my 1st PC at home and became a computer geek.

Windows 95 was released in August 1995. The target market was desktop users. Windows 95 no longer required a separate DOS. It included a more object-oriented GUI, built-in networking support and dial-up support.

Windows 98 was released as an upgrade to Windows 95. It has the same interface and features of Windows 95, but also included Support for Universal Serial Bus (USB) peripherals, Support for WebTV, Support for more than one monitor, Microsoft Web Server, Microsoft Task Scheduler.

In 1999, Microsoft released Windows 98SE it improved Windows greatly and also added the following features. It included support for DVD-ROM, startup time for programs, USB support.

Windows Me, or Millennium Edition, was released in 2000 as an upgrade to Windows 98SE. Very similar to its predecessor, Windows Me included new home networking capabilities, video capture and editing, and a new mechanism for system restoration in case of emergency.

Windows 2000 was released as an update to Windows NT 4.0. It was not an upgrade to Windows 98 or 98SE. Windows 2000 was built on Windows NT technology. There were three different versions of Windows 2000: Professional, Server, and Advanced Server. Professional was designed for desktop and laptop systems, both stand-alone and networked, for individual use. Server was designed to run file and printer servers. Advanced Server was designed to run more powerful servers.

Windows XP, released in late 2001, Windows XP was the replacement for both the 95/98 and NT families of Windows. Based on the same code used to create Windows 2000, XP came in two workstation versions at launch: Home and Professional.

Windows XP Home Edition Windows XP Home Edition was the replacement for Windows 95, 98, and Me. It had a lot of new and cool features. Easy switching between users on the same computer without the need to close applications System Restore, which allows the computer to restore itself to an earlier configuration if something goes wrong. A network wizard making a home network a whole lot easier to setup. These are just a few:

Windows XP Professional Edition was the replacement for Windows NT and 2000. It has all the all the features of XP Home. One of the many cool features is the Remote Desktop, which allows the creation of virtual sessions on one computer from another computer over the Internet.

So there we have it - a brief overview of the history of Windows.

// posted by BasicAnn on 9/07/2005 09:26:00 PM / Permanent Link