Introduction:
v Developer: Microsoft
v Written in: Assembly,C,C++
v OS Family: Windows 9x, Windows CE And Windows NT
v Working State: Publicly released
v Source Model: Closed/Shared
source
v Initial Release: November
20,1985; 28 years Ago, as Windows 1.0
v Latest Release: 6.3.9600(October
17,2003)
v Marketing Target: Personal Computing
v Available in: 137 languages
v Update Method: Windows Update
Windows Anytime Upgrade
Windows Store
WSUS
v Package Manager: Windows Installer(.msi),
Windows Store (.appx)
v Platforms:
ARM,IA-32,Itanium,X86-64
v Kernel Type:Windows NT family; Hybrid
Windows 9x and earlier;
Monolithic (MS-DOS)
v Default UI: Windows Shell
v License: Proprietary
Commercial Software
v Official Website: windows.microsoft.com
Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface
operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft.
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).
Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world’s personal computer market with
over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984.
As of April 2014, the most recent versions of Windows for
personal computers, smartphone, server computers and embedded devices are
respectively Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows
Embedded 8.
Versions
Early Versions:
The history of Windows
dates back to September 1981, when Chase Bishop, a computer scientist, designed
the first model of an electronic device and project "Interface Manager"
was started. 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. 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.
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.
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 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 80286processors. It runs
in real mode but can make use of
the high
memory area.
Windows 3.0 and 3.1:
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. Windows 3.0
applications can run in protected, which gives them access to several
megabytes of memory without the obligation to participate in the software
virtual memory scheme.Windows 3.0 also featured improvements to the user
interface. Microsoft rewrote critical operations from C into assembly. 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.
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 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. 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
modeDOS
environment, removing compatibility with some older programs), expanded multimedia functionality
(including Windows Media Player 7, Windows Movie Maker, and theWindows 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.
Windows
NT:
The
first release of the resulting operating system, Windows
NT 3.1 was
released in July 1993 with versions for desktop workstations andservers. 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 ofWindows
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.
Windows XP:
The
next major version of Windows, 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.
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). Mainstream support for Windows XP ended
on April 14, 2009. Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.
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. It was followed in December 2005 by Windows Server 2003 R2.
Windows Vista and Later:
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. Vista's server
counterpart, Windows Server 2008 was released in early
2008.
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 Windows 7 has multi-touch support, a
redesigned Windows
shell with
an updated taskbar, a home networking system
called HomeGroup, and performance
improvements.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. Other changes include increased
integration with cloud
services and
other online platforms (such as social networks and Microsoft's
own 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 theARM
architecture.An
update to Windows 8, called Windows
8.1,
was released on October 17, 2013, and includes features such as new live tile
sizes, deeperSkyDrive integration, and many
other revisions.
Windows CE:
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 whichWindows Mobile was derived. Its
successor, Windows
Phone 7,
was based on components from both Windows CE 6.0 R3 andWindows 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.
Security
Consumer
versions of Windows were originally designed for ease-of-use on a single-user
PC without a network connection, and did not have security features built in
from the outset. However, Windows NT and its successors are designed for
security and multi-user PCs, but were not initially designed with Internet
security in mind as much, since, when it was first developed in the early
1990s, Internet use was less prevalent. Microsoft releases security
patches through its Windows
Update service approximately once a month although
critical updates are made available at shorter intervals when
necessary. In versions of Windows after and
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