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Windows 1.0
November 20, 1985 Windows 1.0 was declared obsolete and Microsoft stopped providing support and updates for the system on December 31, 2001. Its development was spearheaded by the company founder Bill Gates after he saw a demonstration of a similar software suite known as Visi On at COMDEX. Microsoft first presented Windows to the public on November 10, 1983.[6] Requiring two floppy disk drives and 192 KB of RAM, Microsoft described the software as a device driver for MS-DOS 2.0. -
Windows 2.0
December 9, 1987 Windows 2.0 allowed application windows to overlap each other, unlike its predecessor Windows 1.0, which could display only tiled windows. New features in Windows 2.0 included VGA graphics (although in 16 colors only). It was also the last version of Windows that did not require a hard disk. The first Windows versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel ran on Windows 2.0. -
Windows 3.0
May 22, 1990 Windows 3.0 succeeded Windows 2.1x and included a significantly revamped user interface as well as technical improvements to make better use of the memory management capabilities of Intel's 80286 and 80386 processors. Windows 3.0 includes a Protected/Enhanced mode which allows Windows applications to use more memory in a more painless manner than their DOS counterparts could. -
Windows for Workgroups 3.1
April 6, 1992 Windows 3.1 dropped real mode support and required a minimum of a 286 PC with 1 MB of RAM to run. Truetype font support was added, providing scalable fonts to Windows applications, without having to resort to using a third-party font technology such as Adobe Type Manager. While Windows 3.0 was limited to 16 MB maximum memory, Windows 3.1 can access a theoretical 4 GB in 386 Enhanced Mode. (The actual practical ceiling is 256 MB.) -
Windows NT 3.1
July 27, 1993 Windows NT began as a rewrite of the OS/2 operating system, which Microsoft had co-developed with IBM in the 1980s. Windows NT 3.1 and Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server (so numbered to associate them with Windows 3.1) were released on July 26, 1993. Windows NT 3.1 was localized into various languages, besides English, it was available in Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish -
Windows 95
August 24, 1995 The initial design and planning of Windows 95 can be traced back to around March 1992. Windows 95 was designed to be maximally compatible with existing MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows programs and device drivers, while offering a more stable and better performing system. To end-users, MS-DOS appears as an underlying component of Windows 95. For example, it is possible to prevent loading the graphical user interface and boot the system into a real-mode MS-DOS environment. -
WIndows NT 4.0
31 July 1996 The successor to Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0 introduced the user interface of Windows 95 to the Windows NT family, including the Windows shell, File Explorer (known as Windows NT Explorer at the time). Although the chief enhancement has been the addition of the Windows 95 shell, there are several major performance, scalability and feature improvements to the core architecture, kernel, USER32, COM and MSRPC. -
Windows 98
June 25, 1998 The famous startup sound for Windows 98 was composed by Microsoft sound engineer Ken Kato, who considered it to be a "tough act to follow." Windows 98 was the first operating system to use the Windows Driver Model (WDM). Windows 98 had more robust USB support (e.g. support for USB composite devices) than Windows 95 which only had support in OEM versions (OSR2.1 or later).[17] Windows 98 supports USB hubs, USB scanners and imaging class devices. -
Windows 2000
December 15, 1999 Four editions of Windows 2000 were released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server;[7] the latter was both released to manufacturing and launched months after the other editions. A new capability designed to protect critical system files called Windows File Protection was introduced. Microsoft recognized that a serious error (a Blue Screen of Death) or a stop error could cause problems for servers that needed to be constantly running. -
Windows ME
June 1, 2000 Windows ME is a continuation of the Windows 9x model, but with restricted access to real mode MS-DOS in order to decrease system boot time. Windows ME featured the shell enhancements inherited from Windows 2000 such as personalized menus. Faster boot times: Windows ME features numerous improvements for improving cold boot time, pre and post-logon boot times and time required for resuming from hibernation. -
Windows XP (The best version ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
August 24, 2001 Windows XP has the best startup sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQ2oiVqKHw While retaining some similarities to previous versions, Windows XP's interface was overhauled with a new visual appearance, with an increased use of alpha compositing effects, drop shadows, and "visual styles", which completely change the appearance of the operating system. -
Windows 98 SE
June 30, 2002 Windows 98 networking enhancements to TCP/IP include built-in support for Winsock 2, SMB signing,[20] a new IP Helper API, Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) (also known as link-local addressing) Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking supports PPTP tunneling, support for ISDN adapters, multilink support, and connection-time scripting to automate non-standard login connections. -
Windows XP professional x64 edition
April 25, 2005 The primary benefit of moving to 64-bit is the increase in the maximum allocatable random-access memory (RAM). Windows XP 32-bit is limited to a total of 4 gigabytes. Supports up to two physical CPUs (in separate physical sockets) and up to 64 logical processors (i.e. cores or threads on a single CPU). As such, As of 2014, the OS supports all commercially available multicore CPUs, including Intel Core series, or AMD FX series. -
Windows vista
8 November 2006 The new graphical user interface is named Windows Aero, which Jim Allchin stated is an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open.[46] Microsoft intended the new interface to be cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing than those of previous Windows versions, featuring new transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons, and animations, thus providing a new level of eye candy. -
Windows 7
July 22, 2009 Windows 7 was primarily intended to be an incremental upgrade to the operating system intending to address Windows Vista's poor critical reception while maintaining hardware and software compatibility. Among Windows 7's new features are advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. -
Windows 8
2011 Windows 8 was released to a mixed critical reception. New features and functionality in Windows 8 include a faster startup through UEFI integration and the new "Hybrid Boot" mode (which hibernates the Windows kernel on shutdown to speed up the subsequent boot) Windows Explorer, which has been renamed File Explorer, now includes a ribbon in place of the command bar. -
Windows 10
July 29, 2015 The Windows Runtime app ecosystem was revised into the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Windows 10 incorporates multi-factor authentication technology based upon standards developed by the FIDO Alliance.[70] The operating system includes improved support for biometric authentication through the Windows Hello platform.
