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Windows 1.0
Initially, Windows was little more than an operating environment add-on for DOS. MS DOS Executive was another of its names that fell by the wayside but it more accurately described the user-friendly GUI addition to computing.
Microsoft had worked on the early Apple computers - prior to the Macs - on their desktop accessories and much of the Windows look was licensed from Apple. -
Windows 2.0
Two years on, the second iteration was fundamentally about improvements to the memory management and the interface itself; two of the most important areas of any OS. Windows 2.0 opened up the expanded memory for programs to use which was normally saved for running peripherals. It meant a greater ability to multi-task and it began to look more like the real picture with Microsoft sneaking overlapping windows into the design. -
Windows 3.0, 3.1 & 3.11
Windows 3.0 was the first success for Microsoft in the commercial sense. The company had re-written critical operations in Assembly rather than C making them lighter and faster and the introduction of virtual memory and VGA cards meant a more efficient, more powerful and more graphic-capable platform.
Windows 3.0 sold 2 million copies in its first six months rising to 10 million over the next 18. -
Windows 95
Windows 95, originally codenamed Chicago, saw a significant step change in the user interface with the Start menu and taskbar as well as offering impressive under-the-hood improvements too.
It introduced pre-emptive multitasking into the operating system which was a way to ensure that each application gets a fair chunk of the CPU while it's trying to run. -
Windows 98
Most of the problems were cleaned up by the second edition (Windows 98 SE) one year later but there was further controversy in the user interface with Internet Explorer's integration into the design and into Windows Explorer. It eventually led to the accusation that Microsoft was abusing its position at the expense of the waning browser competition that was Netscape Navigator (the forerunner of Mozilla Firefox). -
Windows ME
Windows ME - Millennium Edition - never received a lot of love and has to be marked out as a failure.
The turn of the century OS was more of a stop-gap than anything else while plans were afoot to merge the Windows business line, Windows NT, with the consumer stream (this happened with Windows XP).
Essentially, ME had the same core as Windows 98 but adopted many of the features of the latest entrant in the NT range - the very popular Windows 2000. -
Windows XP
Windows XP was the best version of Windows to date and is still fondly remembered by many. Codenamed Whistler, Windows XP was arguably the best version of Windows ever despite its divisive look. It unified Microsoft's business and consumer Windows products meaning that the consumer version had better security and stability.
The new approach of one OS with several variants was added which is why we got Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional. -
Windows Vista
Compared to XP though, Vista was a failure. It became one of Microsoft's most contentious operating systems. First available to businesses, the software (codenamed Longhorn) was finally given to the public at the beginning of 2007 with a brand new user interface, it got on the end of some very harsh reviews indeed. Despite all the troubles, Vista still outsold XP in its equivalent first month with 20 million copies leaving the shelves. -
Windows 7
Curiously, the 8th consumer release of the Microsoft OS, Windows 7 was really very similar to Vista but with plenty of refinements while hardware was now able to run it much more effectively.
It was codenamed both Blackcomb and Vienna and cane in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. It had a significantly faster boot time, better power management options for notebook users and also featured multi-touch. It was so good that it hampered Windows 8. -
Windows 8
Windows 8 was introduced just a few short years after the release of Windows 7 and to say it brought a number of new graphical and user-interface changes is an understatement. The problem was that it just wasn't that intuitive, Microsoft did a bad job at communicating the changes. This new version had a focus on touchscreen devices and was designed to that end with a new user-interface system that left many confused and frustrated. -
Windows 8.1
In late 2013, Microsoft launched Windows 8.1 - a free upgrade for Windows 8 users that was intended to fix many of the problems that people were complaining about at the time. This involved tweaks to the user-interface design - most importantly bringing back the classic Start button. -
Windows 10
Windows 10 came in the hazy days of 2015. This version of Windows was, at the time, a free upgrade for all Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users and as such a sensible choice for almost everyone. The system requirements were basically the same as Windows 7. -
Windows 11
Windows 11 launched in October 2021 with some subtle changes but quite a lot of similarities to Windows 10. It was a free upgrade for users of Windows 10, so a welcome addition for many. Windows 11 had a few teething issues, but not many and packs many nice features that we enjoyed including improved window snapping, grouping and more.