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Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, , as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces GUIs. 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 On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system in all countries.
The most recent version for embedded devices is Windows 11 , version 21H2. Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks, each of which denotes a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. As of , the following Windows families were being actively developed:. The term Windows collectively describes any or all of several generations of Microsoft operating system products.
These products are generally categorized as follows:. The history of Windows dates back to when Microsoft started work on a program called "Interface Manager". It was announced in November after the Apple Lisa , but before the Macintosh under the name "Windows", but Windows 1. Windows 1. The shell of Windows 1. 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.
Windows 2. It features several improvements to the user interface and memory management. The result of this change led to Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights. It runs in real mode but can make use of the high memory area. 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. 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. They run inside the same address space, where the segmented memory provides a degree of protection. Microsoft rewrote critical operations from C into assembly. In August , Windows for Workgroups, a special version with integrated peer-to-peer networking features and a version number of 3. It was sold along with Windows 3.
Support for Windows 3. The next major consumer-oriented release of Windows, Windows 95 , was released on August 24, While still remaining MS-DOS-based, Windows 95 introduced support for native bit applications , plug and play hardware, preemptive multitasking , long file names of up to 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 , it had become a fixture on computer desktops around the world. Windows 95 was followed up with the release of Windows 98 on June 25, , 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 Windows 98 SE added Internet Explorer 5. Mainstream support for Windows 98 ended on June 30, , and extended support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, Windows Me incorporated visual interface enhancements from its Windows NT-based counterpart Windows , 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 , [31] 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.
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. However, following the successful release of Windows 3. 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 bit version of Windows. Windows NT was the first Windows operating system based on a hybrid kernel. The hybrid kernel was designed as a modified microkernel , influenced by the Mach microkernel developed by Richard Rashid at Carnegie Mellon University, but without meeting all of the criteria of a pure microkernel.
The first release of the resulting operating system, Windows NT 3. Windows NT 3. Windows NT 4. The Windows NT name was dropped at this point in order to put a greater focus on the Windows brand. 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, a " compatibility mode " to help provide backwards compatibility with software designed for previous versions of Windows, and Remote Assistance functionality. 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.
Extended support ended on April 8, After Windows , Microsoft also changed its release schedules for server operating systems; the server counterpart of Windows XP, Windows Server , was released in April After a lengthy development process , Windows Vista was released on November 30, , for volume licensing and January 30, , 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 was released in early On July 22, , Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 were released as RTM release to manufacturing while the former was released to the public 3 months later on October 22, 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.
Windows 8 , the successor to Windows 7, was released generally on October 26, 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. 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 , and a new keyboard shortcut for screenshots.
Windows 8 and Windows 8. On September 30, , Microsoft announced Windows 10 as the successor to Windows 8. It was released on July 29, , 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. In February , Microsoft announced the migration of its Windows source code repository from Perforce to Git. This migration involved 3. In June , shortly before Microsoft's announcement of Windows 11, Microsoft updated their lifecycle policy pages for Windows 10, revealing that support for their last release of Windows 10 will be October 14, On June 24, , Windows 11 was announced as the successor to Windows 10 during a livestream.
The new operating system was designed to be more user-friendly and understandable. It was released on October 5, In July , Microsoft announced it will start selling subscriptions to virtualized Windows desktops as part of a new Windows service in the following month. It is not a standalone version of Windows, but a web service that provides access to Windows 10 and Windows 11 built on top of Azure Virtual Desktop.
The new service will allow for cross-platform usage , aiming to make the operating system available for both Apple and Android users. The subscription service will be accessible through any operating system with a web browser. The new service is an attempt at capitalizing on the growing trend, fostered during the COVID pandemic , for businesses to adopt a hybrid remote work environment, in which "employees split their time between the office and home". As the service will be accessible through web browsers, Microsoft will be able to bypass the need to publish the service through Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Microsoft announced Windows availability to business and enterprise customers on August 2, 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. 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 is not affected by changes in the Windows interface language. The availability of languages depends on the application developers themselves.
Windows 8 and Windows Server 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.
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