What is Windows Operating System?
By definition, an Operating System is a group of several GUIs (Graphical User Interface)
families, all of which are developed, sold and marketed by Microsoft.
The latest version of Microsoft Operating System which is being widely used across the
world is Windows 10.
History and Development of Windows
It was 1983 when work on “Interface Manager” was started by Microsoft but it was in
November 1995, when the first Windows 1.0 was introduced. Later on, with developments in
technology, the requirement of the people and increased demand for Graphical User
Interface, Microsoft kept releasing revised versions of Operating Systems.
Versions of Windows Operating System
Let us understand the different versions of Windows Operating System along with the
features of each of them individually.
1. Windows 1.0
It was released on November 20, 1985
Pure Operating Environment
Used Graphical User Interface
Simple Graphics
Offered limited multi-tasking was expected to have a better future potential
2. Windows 2.0
It was released on December 9, 1987
16-bit Graphic User Interface (GUI) based operating environment
Introduced Control Panel, and the first version of MS Word and Excel
Unlike Windows 1.0, it had the capacity to allow applications to overlap each other
It was also the last Windows OS which did not require a hard disk
Hardware played an important role
3. Windows 3.0
It was released in 1990
It was better at multitasking
Used 8086 microprocessors
It has both, conventional and extendable memory
First version of Windows to gather critical appreciation
Better memory/ storage
4. Window 95
It was the first complete Operating System
It was released on August 15, 1995
It merged MS-DOS and Windows products
It simplified plug and play features
Taskbar and Start menu was introduced with this Windows OS
Advanced from 16 bit GUI to 32 bit GUI
Long file names could be saved
Initially, computers with Windows 95 did not have Internet Explorer installed but by
the release date of Windows 95, the first version of Internet Explorer was installed in
the software
On December 31, 2001, Windows declared this version of OS outdated and ended its
support for the same
5. Windows 98
It was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998
It was a 16 bit and 32 bit product based on MS DOS
It was not an entirely new version but just a tuned-up version to Windows 95
Internet Explorer 4.01 was released along with this Windows version
It did not support USB printers or mass storage devices
An update to this version “Windows SE” was released in 1999
6. Windows 2000
It was officially released on February 17, 2000. However, its manufacturing had
begun in late 1999
A core set of features was followed for manufacturing Windows 2000 but 4 different
editions, targeting different sectors of the market were released. These included:
Server, Professional, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server
It was considered as one of the most secure OS ever
A local disk manager was introduced with these Windows
Multilingual User Interface – it supported many different languages
7. Windows XP
While the manufacturing started on August 24, 2001, the official product was released
on October 25, 2001
Advanced portable PC support
Automatic wireless connection support
Fast start-up
Better Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Help and support centre
8. Windows Vista
It was released on January 30, 2007
It had an upgraded version of Graphical User Interface
It was the first operating system to use DVD-ROM for installation
9. Windows 7
It was released on October 22, 2009
A large number of new features were introduced
Redesigned Windows shell with an updated taskbar
Incremental upgrade to the Windows line
Libraries were added in the file management system
A few features from the past Windows were removed
Extended hardware support
10. Windows 8
It was released for retail on October 26, 2012
Optimisations for touch-based
Installed in new devices like Laptops, Mobile phones, tablets, etc.
Increased integration with cloud services
Windows Store service for software distribution
Task manager had been redesigned
New security features were introduced
Online Applications could be directly downloaded
11. Windows 10
It was released on July 29, 2015
Addresses shortcomings in the user interface first introduced with Windows 8
A virtual desktop system
It had the ability to run windows store apps within windows on the desktop rather
than in the full-screen mode
Included new icons
To reduce storage shortcomings, Windows 10 automatically compresses the file size
