Windows Timeline

  • Windows 1.0

    Windows 1.0
    Windows 1.0 is the first major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical operating systems for personal computers developed by Microsoft. It was first released to manufacturing in the United States on November 20, 1985, while the European version was released as Windows 1.02 in May 1986.
  • Windows 2.0

    Windows 2.0
    Windows 2.0 is a major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical operating systems for personal computers developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on December 9, 1987, as a successor to Windows 1.0.
  • Windows 3.0

    Windows 3.0
    Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, launched in 1990. It features a new graphical user interface (GUI) where applications are represented as clickable icons, as opposed to the list of file names seen in its predecessors. Later updates would expand the software's capabilities, one of which added multimedia support for sound recording and playback, as well as support for CD-ROMs.
  • Windows for Workgroups 3.1

    Windows for Workgroups 3.1
    Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
  • Windows NT 3.1

    Windows NT 3.1
    Windows NT 3.1 is the first major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, released on July 27, 1993.
  • Windows 95

    Windows 95
    Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995, almost three months after the release of Windows NT 3.51.[4][5]
  • Windows NT 4.0

    Windows NT 4.0
    Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, and was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996,[1] and then to retail on August 24, 1996. It was Microsoft's primary business-oriented operating system until the introduction of Windows 2000.
  • Windows 98

    Windows 98
    Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998, and generally to retail on June 25, 1998. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit and 32-bit[3] monolithic product with the boot stage based on MS-DOS.[4]
  • Windows 98 SE

    Windows 98 SE
    Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998, and generally to retail on June 25, 1998. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit and 32-bit[3] monolithic product with the boot stage based on MS-DOS.[4]
  • Windows 2000

    Windows 2000
    Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999,[2] and was officially released to retail on February 17, 2000 and September 26, 2000 for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. It was Microsoft's business operating system until the introduction of Windows XP Professional in 2001.
  • Windows ME

    Windows ME
    Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (marketed with the pronunciation of the pronoun "me"),[5] is an operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is the successor to Windows 98, and was released to manufacturing on June 19, 2000, and then to retail on September 14, 2000. It was Microsoft's main operating system for home users until the introduction of its successor Windows XP in October 2001.[6]
  • Windows XP

    Windows XP
    Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users, and is available for any devices running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows Me that meet the new Windows XP system requirements.
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

    Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
    Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, released on April 25, 2005, is an edition of Windows XP for x86-64 personal computers. It is designed to use the expanded 64-bit memory address space provided by the x86-64 architecture.[1]
  • Windows Vista

    Windows Vista
    Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft as the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released in 2001. At the time, this 5-year gap was the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft's Windows desktop operating systems. Development was finished on November 8, 2006, and over the following three months, it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels.
  • Windows 7

    Windows 7
    Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009.
  • Windows 8

    Windows 8
    Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012,[6] and later to retail on October 26, 2012.[7]
  • Windows 10

    Windows 10
    The original version of Windows 10 (also retroactively named version 1507[1] and codenamed "Threshold 1") was released in July 2015. It carries the build number 10.0.10240; while Microsoft has stated that there was no designated release to manufacturing (RTM) build of Windows 10, build 10240 was described as an RTM build by various media outlets.
  • Windows 11

    Windows 11
    The Windows 11 2022 Update[74] (also known as version 22H2[75][76] and codenamed "Sun Valley 2") is the first and current major update to Windows 11. It carries the build number 10.0.22621. The first preview was released to Insiders who opted in to the Dev Channel on September 2, 2021.[77] The update began rolling out on September 20, 2022. Notable changes in the 2022 Update include:[78]