Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of

several proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed and marketed

by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Active Microsoft
Windows families include Windows NT and Windows IoT; these may encompass subfamilies,
e.g. Windows Server or Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE). Defunct Microsoft
Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.
Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985, as a
graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user
interfaces (GUIs).[3] Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal computer (PC)
market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in
1984. Apple came to see Windows as an unfair encroachment on their innovation in GUI
development as implemented on products such as the Lisa and Macintosh (eventually settled in
court in Microsoft's favor in 1993). On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system.
However, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market
to Android,[4] because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones. In 2014, the
number of Windows devices sold was less than 25% that of Android devices sold. This
comparison, however, may not be fully relevant, as the two operating systems traditionally target
different platforms. Still, numbers for server use of Windows (that are comparable to competitors)
show one third market share, similar to that for end user use.
As of February 2020, the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets and embedded
devices is Windows 10. The most recent version for server computers is Windows Server, version
1909.[5] A specialized version of Windows also runs on the Xbox One video game console.[6]

Genealogy
By marketing role
Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks, each of which denote a
family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. As of
2014, the following Windows families were being actively developed:

 Windows NT: Started as a family of operating systems with Windows NT 3.1, an

operating system for server computers and workstations. It now consists of three operating
system subfamilies that are released almost at the same time and share the same kernel:
o Windows: The operating system for mainstream personal
computers, tablets and smartphones. The latest version is Windows 10. The main
competitor of this family is macOS by Apple for personal computers and Android for
mobile devices (c.f. Usage share of operating systems § Market share by category).
o Windows Server: The operating system for server computers. The latest version
is Windows Server 2019. Unlike its client sibling, it has adopted a strong naming scheme.
The main competitor of this family is Linux. (c.f. Usage share of operating systems
§ Market share by category)
o Windows PE: A lightweight version of its Windows sibling, meant to operate as
a live operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers (especially
on many computers at once), recovery or troubleshooting purposes. The latest version is
Windows PE 10.
 Windows IoT (previously Windows Embedded): Initially, Microsoft developed Windows
CE as a general-purpose operating system for every device that was too resource-limited to
be called a full-fledged computer. Eventually, however, Windows CE was renamed Windows
Embedded Compact and was folded under Windows Compact trademark which also consists
of Windows Embedded Industry, Windows Embedded Professional, Windows Embedded
Standard, Windows Embedded Handheld and Windows Embedded Automotive.[7]
The following Windows families are no longer being developed:
 Windows 9x: An operating system that targeted consumers market. Discontinued
because of suboptimal performance. [citation needed] (PC World called its last version, Windows Me,
one of the worst products of all time. [8]) Microsoft now caters to the consumer market with
Windows NT.
 Windows Mobile: The predecessor to Windows Phone, it was a mobile phone operating
system. The first version was called Pocket PC 2000; the third version, Windows Mobile
2003 is the first version to adopt the Windows Mobile trademark. The last version is Windows
Mobile 6.5.
 Windows Phone: An operating system sold only to manufacturers of smartphones. The
first version was Windows Phone 7, followed by Windows Phone 8, and Windows Phone 8.1.
It was succeeded by Windows 10 Mobile, that is now also discontinued.

Version history
Main article: History of Microsoft Windows

See also: List of Microsoft Windows versions

The term Windows collectively describes any or all of several generations of Microsoft operating

system products. These products are generally categorized as follows:

Early versions
Main articles: Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, and Windows 2.1x

Windows 1.0, the first version, released in 1985

The history of Windows dates back to 1981, when Microsoft started work on a program called
"Interface Manager". It was announced in November 1983 (after the Apple Lisa, but before
the Macintosh) under the name "Windows", but Windows 1.0 was not released until November
1985.[9] Windows 1.0 was to compete with Apple's operating system, but achieved little popularity.
Windows 1.0 is not a complete operating system; rather, it extends MS-DOS. The shell of
Windows 1.0 is a program known as the MS-DOS Executive. Components included Calculator,
Calendar, Cardfile, Clipboard viewer, Clock, Control
Panel, Notepad, Paint, Reversi, Terminal and Write. Windows 1.0 does not allow overlapping
windows. Instead all windows are tiled. Only modal dialog boxes may appear over other windows.
Microsoft sold as included Windows Development libraries with the C development environment,
which included numerous windows samples.[10]
Windows 2.0 was released in December 1987, and was more popular than its predecessor. It
features several improvements to the user interface and memory management. [11] Windows 2.03
changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led to
Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights. [12]
[13]
 Windows 2.0 also introduced more sophisticated keyboard shortcuts and could make use
of expanded memory.
Windows 2.1 was released in two different versions: Windows/286 and Windows/386.
Windows/386 uses the virtual 8086 mode of the Intel 80386 to multitask several DOS programs
and the paged memory model to emulate expanded memory using available extended memory.
Windows/286, in spite of its name, runs on both Intel 8086 and Intel 80286 processors. It runs
in real mode but can make use of the high memory area.[citation needed]
In addition to full Windows-packages, there were runtime-only versions that shipped with early
Windows software from third parties and made it possible to run their Windows software on MS-
DOS and without the full Windows feature set.
The early versions of Windows are often thought of as graphical shells, mostly because they ran
on top of MS-DOS and use it for file system services.[14] However, even the earliest Windows
versions already assumed many typical operating system functions; notably, having their
own executable file format and providing their own device drivers (timer, graphics, printer, mouse,
keyboard and sound). Unlike MS-DOS, Windows allowed users to execute multiple graphical
applications at the same time, through cooperative multitasking. Windows implemented an
elaborate, segment-based, software virtual memory scheme, which allows it to run applications
larger than available memory: code segments and resources are swapped in and thrown away
when memory became scarce; data segments moved in memory when a given application had
relinquished processor control.

Windows 3.x
Main articles: Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1x

Windows 3.0, released in 1990

Windows 3.0, released in 1990, improved the design, mostly because of virtual memory and
loadable virtual device drivers (VxDs) that allow Windows to share arbitrary devices between
multi-tasked DOS applications. [citation needed] Windows 3.0 applications can run in protected mode,
which gives them access to several megabytes of memory without the obligation to participate in
the software virtual memory scheme. They run inside the same address space, where the
segmented memory provides a degree of protection. Windows 3.0 also featured improvements to
the user interface. Microsoft rewrote critical operations from C into assembly. Windows 3.0 is the
first Microsoft Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in
the first six months.[15][16]
Windows 3.1, made generally available on March 1, 1992, featured a facelift. In August 1993,
Windows for Workgroups, a special version with integrated peer-to-peer networking features and
a version number of 3.11, was released. It was sold along with Windows 3.1. Support for
Windows 3.1 ended on December 31, 2001.[17]
Windows 3.2, released 1994, is an updated version of the Chinese version of Windows 3.1. [18] The
update was limited to this language version, as it fixed only issues related to the complex writing
system of the Chinese language.[19] Windows 3.2 was generally sold by computer manufacturers
with a ten-disk version of MS-DOS that also had Simplified Chinese characters in basic output
and some translated utilities.
Windows 9x
Main article: Windows 9x

The next major consumer-oriented release of Windows, Windows 95, was released on August 24,
1995. While still remaining MS-DOS-based, Windows 95 introduced support for native 32-bit
applications, plug and play hardware, preemptive multitasking, long file names of up to 255
characters, and provided increased stability over its predecessors. Windows 95 also introduced a
redesigned, object oriented user interface, replacing the previous Program Manager with the Start
menu, taskbar, and Windows Explorer shell. Windows 95 was a major commercial success for
Microsoft; Ina Fried of CNET remarked that "by the time Windows 95 was finally ushered off the
market in 2001, it had become a fixture on computer desktops around the world." [20] Microsoft
published four OEM Service Releases (OSR) of Windows 95, each of which was roughly
equivalent to a service pack. The first OSR of Windows 95 was also the first version of Windows
to be bundled with Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer.[21] Mainstream support for Windows
95 ended on December 31, 2000, and extended support for Windows 95 ended on December 31,
2001.[22]
Windows 95 was followed up with the release of Windows 98 on June 25, 1998, which introduced
the Windows Driver Model, support for USB composite devices, support for ACPI, hibernation,
and support for multi-monitor configurations. Windows 98 also included integration with Internet
Explorer 4 through Active Desktop and other aspects of the Windows Desktop Update (a series of
enhancements to the Explorer shell which were also made available for Windows 95). In May
1999, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, an updated version of Windows 98.
Windows 98 SE added Internet Explorer 5.0 and Windows Media Player 6.2 amongst other
upgrades. Mainstream support for Windows 98 ended on June 30, 2002, and extended support
for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006. [23]
On September 14, 2000, Microsoft released Windows Me (Millennium Edition), the last DOS-
based version of Windows. Windows Me incorporated visual interface enhancements from its
Windows NT-based counterpart Windows 2000, had faster boot times than previous versions
(which however, required the removal of the ability to access a real mode DOS environment,
removing compatibility with some older programs),[24] expanded multimedia functionality (including
Windows Media Player 7, Windows Movie Maker, and the Windows Image Acquisition framework
for retrieving images from scanners and digital cameras), additional system utilities such
as System File Protection and System Restore, and updated home networking tools.[25] However,
Windows Me was faced with criticism for its speed and instability, along with hardware
compatibility issues and its removal of real mode DOS support. PC World considered Windows
Me to be one of the worst operating systems Microsoft had ever released, and the 4th worst tech
product of all time.[8]

Windows NT
Main article: Windows NT

Early versions (Windows NT 3.1/3.5/3.51/4.0/2000)

In November 1988, a new development team within Microsoft (which included former Digital
Equipment Corporation developers Dave Cutler and Mark Lucovsky) began work on a revamped
version of IBM and Microsoft's OS/2 operating system known as "NT OS/2". NT OS/2 was
intended to be a secure, multi-user operating system with POSIX compatibility and a
modular, portable kernel with preemptive multitasking and support for multiple processor
architectures. However, following the successful release of Windows 3.0, the NT development
team decided to rework the project to use an extended 32-bit port of the Windows API known as
Win32 instead of those of OS/2. Win32 maintained a similar structure to the
Windows APIs (allowing existing Windows applications to easily be ported to the platform), but
also supported the capabilities of the existing NT kernel. Following its approval by Microsoft's
staff, development continued on what was now Windows NT, the first 32-bit version of Windows.
However, IBM objected to the changes, and ultimately continued OS/2 development on its own. [26]
[27]
The first release of the resulting operating system, Windows NT 3.1 (named to associate it
with Windows 3.1) was released in July 1993, with versions for
desktop workstations and servers. Windows NT 3.5 was released in September 1994, focusing
on performance improvements and support for Novell's NetWare, and was followed up
by Windows NT 3.51 in May 1995, which included additional improvements and support for
the PowerPC architecture. Windows NT 4.0 was released in June 1996, introducing the
redesigned interface of Windows 95 to the NT series. On February 17, 2000, Microsoft
released Windows 2000, a successor to NT 4.0. The Windows NT name was dropped at this
point in order to put a greater focus on the Windows brand. [27]
Windows XP
Main article: Windows XP

The next major version of Windows NT, Windows XP, was released on October 25, 2001. The
introduction of Windows XP aimed to unify the consumer-oriented Windows 9x series with the
architecture introduced by Windows NT, a change which Microsoft promised would provide better
performance over its DOS-based predecessors. Windows XP would also introduce a redesigned
user interface (including an updated Start menu and a "task-oriented" Windows Explorer),
streamlined multimedia and networking features, Internet Explorer 6, integration with
Microsoft's .NET Passport services, modes to help provide compatibility with software designed
for previous versions of Windows, and Remote Assistance functionality.[28]
At retail, Windows XP was now marketed in two main editions: the "Home" edition was targeted
towards consumers, while the "Professional" edition was targeted towards business environments
and power users, and included additional security and networking features. Home and
Professional were later accompanied by the "Media Center" edition (designed for home theater
PCs, with an emphasis on support for DVD playback, TV tuner cards, DVR functionality, and
remote controls), and the "Tablet PC" edition (designed for mobile devices meeting
its specifications for a tablet computer, with support for stylus pen input and additional pen-
enabled applications).[29][30][31] Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009.
Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.[32]
After Windows 2000, Microsoft also changed its release schedules for server operating systems;
the server counterpart of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, was released in April 2003. [27] It
was followed in December 2005, by Windows Server 2003 R2.
Windows Vista
Main article: Windows Vista

After a lengthy development process, Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006, for

volume licensing and January 30, 2007, for consumers. It contained a number of new features,
from a redesigned shell and user interface to significant technical changes, with a particular focus
on security features. It was available in a number of different editions, and has been subject
to some criticism, such as drop of performance, longer boot time, criticism of new UAC, and
stricter license agreement. Vista's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 was released in
early 2008.
Windows 7
Main article: Windows 7

On July 22, 2009, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were released as RTM (release to
manufacturing) while the former was released to the public 3 months later on October 22, 2009.
Unlike its predecessor, Windows Vista, which introduced a large number of new features,
Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with
the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista was
already compatible.[33] Windows 7 has multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with an
updated taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,[34] and performance
improvements.
Windows 8 and 8.1
Main articles: Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7, was released generally on October 26, 2012. A number
of significant changes were made on Windows 8, including the introduction of a user interface
based around Microsoft's Metro design language with optimizations for touch-based devices such
as tablets and all-in-one PCs. These changes include the Start screen, which uses large tiles that
are more convenient for touch interactions and allow for the display of continually updated
information, and a new class of apps which are designed primarily for use on touch-based
devices. The new Windows version required a minimum resolution of 1024×768 pixels,
[35]
 effectively making it unfit for netbooks with 800×600-pixel screens.
Other changes include increased integration with cloud services and other online platforms (such
as social networks and Microsoft's own OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) and Xbox Live services),
the Windows Store service for software distribution, and a new variant known as Windows RT for
use on devices that utilize the ARM architecture.[36][37][38][39][40][41] An update to Windows 8,
called Windows 8.1,[42] was released on October 17, 2013, and includes features such as new live
tile sizes, deeper OneDrive integration, and many other revisions. Windows 8 and Windows
8.1 have been subject to some criticism, such as removal of the Start menu.
Windows 10
Main article: Windows 10

On September 30, 2014, Microsoft announced Windows 10 as the successor to Windows 8.1. It
was released on July 29, 2015, and addresses shortcomings in the user interface first introduced
with Windows 8. Changes on PC include the return of the Start Menu, a virtual desktop system,
and the ability to run Windows Store apps within windows on the desktop rather than in full-
screen mode. Windows 10 is said to be available to update from qualified Windows 7 with
SP1, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices from the Get Windows 10 Application
(for Windows 7, Windows 8.1) or Windows Update (Windows 7).[43]
In February 2017, Microsoft announced the migration of its Windows source code repository
from Perforce to Git. This migration involved 3.5 million separate files in a 300 gigabyte
repository.[44] By May 2017, 90 percent of its engineering team was using Git, in about 8500
commits and 1760 Windows builds per day.[44]
Multilingual support
Multilingual support has been built into Windows since Windows 3. The language for both the
keyboard and the interface can be changed through the Region and Language Control Panel.
Components for all supported input languages, such as Input Method Editors, are automatically
installed during Windows installation (in Windows XP and earlier, files for East Asian languages,
such as Chinese, and right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic, may need to be installed separately,
also from the said Control Panel). Third-party IMEs may also be installed if a user feels that the
provided one is insufficient for their needs.
Interface languages for the operating system are free for download, but some languages are
limited to certain editions of Windows. Language Interface Packs (LIPs) are redistributable and
may be downloaded from Microsoft's Download Center and installed for any edition of Windows
(XP or later) – they translate most, but not all, of the Windows interface, and require a certain
base language (the language which Windows originally shipped with). This is used for most
languages in emerging markets. Full Language Packs, which translates the complete operating
system, are only available for specific editions of Windows (Ultimate and Enterprise editions of
Windows Vista and 7, and all editions of Windows 8, 8.1 and RT except Single Language). They
do not require a specific base language, and are commonly used for more popular languages
such as French or Chinese. These languages cannot be downloaded through the Download
Center, but available as optional updates through the Windows Update service (except Windows
8).
The interface language of installed applications are not affected by changes in the Windows
interface language. Availability of languages depends on the application developers themselves.
Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 introduces a new Language Control Panel where both the
interface and input languages can be simultaneously changed, and language packs, regardless
of type, can be downloaded from a central location. The PC Settings app in Windows
8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 also includes a counterpart settings page for this. Changing
the interface language also changes the language of preinstalled Windows Store apps (such as
Mail, Maps and News) and certain other Microsoft-developed apps (such as Remote Desktop).
The above limitations for language packs are however still in effect, except that full language
packs can be installed for any edition except Single Language, which caters to emerging
markets.
Platform support
Windows NT included support for several different platforms before the x86-based personal
computer became dominant in the professional world. Windows NT 4.0 and its predecessors
supported PowerPC, DEC Alpha and MIPS R4000. (Although some these platforms
implement 64-bit computing, the operating system treated them as 32-bit.) However, Windows
2000, the successor of Windows NT 4.0, dropped support for all platforms except the third
generation x86 (known as IA-32) or newer in 32-bit mode. The client line of Windows NT family
still runs on IA-32, although the Windows Server line has ceased supporting this platform with the
release of Windows Server 2008 R2.
With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture (IA-64), Microsoft released new versions of
Windows to support it. Itanium versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were released
at the same time as their mainstream x86 counterparts. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, released in
2005, is the last Windows client operating systems to support Itanium. Windows Server line
continues to support this platform until Windows Server 2012; Windows Server 2008 R2 is the
last Windows operating system to support Itanium architecture.
On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server
2003 x64 Editions to support the x86-64 (or simply x64), the eighth generation of x86
architecture. Windows Vista was the first client version of Windows NT to be released
simultaneously in IA-32 and x64 editions. x64 is still supported.
An edition of Windows 8 known as Windows RT was specifically created for computers with ARM
architecture and while ARM is still used for Windows smartphones with Windows 10, tablets with
Windows RT will not be updated. Starting from Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and later
includes support for PCs with ARM architecture.[45]

Windows CE
Main articles: Windows CE and Windows Phone

The latest current version of Windows CE, Windows Embedded Compact 7, displaying a concept media
player UI

Windows CE (officially known as Windows Embedded Compact), is an edition of Windows that

runs on minimalistic computers, like satellite navigation systems and some mobile phones.
Windows Embedded Compact is based on its own dedicated kernel, dubbed Windows CE kernel.
Microsoft licenses Windows CE to OEMs and device makers. The OEMs and device makers can
modify and create their own user interfaces and experiences, while Windows CE provides the
technical foundation to do so.
Windows CE was used in the Dreamcast along with Sega's own proprietary OS for the console.
Windows CE was the core from which Windows Mobile was derived. Its successor, Windows
Phone 7, was based on components from both Windows CE 6.0 R3 and Windows CE
7.0. Windows Phone 8 however, is based on the same NT-kernel as Windows 8.
Windows Embedded Compact is not to be confused with Windows XP Embedded or Windows NT
4.0 Embedded, modular editions of Windows based on Windows NT kernel.

Xbox OS
Main articles: Xbox One system software and Xbox 360 system software

Xbox OS is an unofficial name given to the version of Windows that runs on the Xbox One.[46] It is
a more specific implementation with an emphasis on virtualization (using Hyper-V) as it is three
operating systems running at once, consisting of the core operating system, a second
implemented for games and a more Windows-like environment for applications. [47] Microsoft
updates Xbox One's OS every month, and these updates can be downloaded from the Xbox Live
service to the Xbox and subsequently installed, or by using offline recovery images downloaded
via a PC.[48] The Windows 10-based Core had replaced the Windows 8-based one in this update,
and the new system is sometimes referred to as "Windows 10 on Xbox One" or "OneCore". [49]
[50]
 Xbox One's system also allows backward compatibility with Xbox 360, [51] and the Xbox 360's
system is backwards compatible with the original Xbox.[52]

Version control system

In 2017 Microsoft announced that it would start using Git, an open source version control system
created by Linus Torvalds. Microsoft has previously used a proprietary version control system
called "Source Depot". Microsoft had begun to integrate Git into Team Foundation Server in
2013, but Windows continued to rely on Source Depot. Because of its large, decades-long
history, the Windows codebase is not especially well suited to the decentralized nature
of Linux development that Git was originally created to manage. Each Git repository contains a
complete history of all the files, which proved unworkable for Windows developers because
cloning the repository takes several hours. Microsoft has been working on a new project called
the Virtual File System for Git (VFSForGit) to address these challenges. [53]