-
Period: to
History of Microsoft Windows OS
-
GUI (graphical user interface) debuts
Microsoft introduces the first graphical operating system, allowing PC users the new option of "point-and-click" -
Windows 1.0
The first version of Windows software with bit-map displays and task bar of desktop applications -
Windows 2.0
The introduction of Windows 2.0 showed innovation and performance commitment, improving user interface, such as overlapping application windows, and expanding memory, implementing a sophisticated software memory scheme to swap data in and out of main memory as needed. -
Windows 3.0
Introduced new virtual memory and loadable vitual device drivers, and rewrote critical operations to assembly, allowing faster processing and several megabytes of memory. -
Windows 95
Its intorudction heralded longer character strings of up to 255, the ability to run 32-bit apllications, and the utilization of a universal data bus characterized by the "plug-and-play" the automatic recognition and facilitation of hardware, allowing the components of the computer to share information more effectively than ever before. The operating system release also debuted the Internet Explorer application included on Windows Desktop, providing an already installed online browser. -
Windows 98
Windows 98 provided an enhanced shell with new user interface features such as the ability to minimize windows, single click launching, higher bandwidth and faster processing, and enhanced navigational ability in Internet Explorer, including Back and Forward buttons, as well as an address and favorties tool bar. -
Winodws XP
The most-widespread operating system in use today, over 400 million copies were in use by January 2006. First consumer-oriented OS to be based on NT architecture and kernel with greater hardware and software portability than any other OS released previously. -
Windows Vista
New release featured an updated GUI and visual style nicknamed Aero, a redisigned search function and redisigned sub-systems, and new multimedia tools; created with the primary goal of improving security and overcoming former vulnerabilities in previous Windows operating systems. The OS garnered criticism over its re-designed and therefore unfamiliar interface. -
Success is Sweet
By the near end of the first decade of the 21st-century, Microsoft Windows had cornered approximately 91% of the market share in client-operating system accessing the Internet. -
Windows 7
Windows was designed with the intention of being more a focused "upgrade" OS, such as advanced touch and handwriting recognition, with a redesigned Windows Shell and new tasbar, as well as greater compatability with applications and hardware and better performance.
