Microsoft Windows - Wikipedia. Microsoft Windows. Developer. Microsoft.

Source model. Closed / shared source. Initial release. November 2.

Windows 1. 0. Latest release. August 8, 2. 01. 7; 6 days ago (2. Install Adobe Reader On Linux Mint 16 Live Usb. It consists of several families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry with the OS typically associated with IBM PC compatible architecture. Active Windows families include Windows NT and Windows Embedded; these may encompass subfamilies, e. Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE) or Windows Server. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.

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Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 2. 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 1. On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system. However, in 2. 01. Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android. In 2. 01. 4, the number of Windows devices sold was less than 2.

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 for end user use. As of September 2. The most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox Onevideo game console.

As of 2. 01. 4, the following Windows families are being actively developed: Windows NT: Started as a family of operating system with Windows NT 3. It now consists of three operating system subfamilies that are released almost at the same time and share the same kernel. It is almost impossible for someone unfamiliar with the subject to identify the members of this family by name because they do not adhere to any specific rule; e. Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8. Windows RT are members of this family but Windows 3. 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.

These products are generally categorized as follows: Early versions. The history of Windows dates back to September 1. Chase Bishop, a computer scientist, designed the first model of an electronic device and project Interface Manager was started. It was announced in November 1.

Apple Lisa, but before the Macintosh) under the name . Windows 1. 0 is not a complete operating system; rather, it extends MS- DOS. The shell of Windows 1.

Verizon-owned social media platform Tumblr, along with a laundry list of other Yahoo services, is potentially locking users out of their accounts due to an ending. Desktop icons all have blue highlight box around text Written on July 27th 2009 at 07:59. Last modified: March 23, 2011. Microsoft Windows, or simply Windows, is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. It consists of several families of.

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 1.

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. Windows/3. 86 uses the virtual 8. Intel 8. 03. 86 to multitask several DOS programs and the paged memory model to emulate expanded memory using available extended memory. Windows/2. 86, in spite of its name, runs on both Intel 8.

Intel 8. 02. 86 processors. It runs in real mode but can make use of the high memory area. 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. Windows 3. Vx. Ds) that allow Windows to share arbitrary devices between multi- tasked DOS applications.

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. In August 1. 99. 3, Windows for Workgroups, a special version with integrated peer- to- peer networking features and a version number of 3. It was sold along Windows 3. Support for Windows 3.

December 3. 1, 2. While still remaining MS- DOS- based, Windows 9. Windows 9. 5 also introduced a redesigned, object oriented user interface, replacing the previous Program Manager with the Start menu, taskbar, and Windows Explorershell.

Windows 9. 5 was a major commercial success for Microsoft; Ina Fried of CNET remarked that . The first OSR of Windows 9. Windows to be bundled with Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer. Windows 9. 8 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 9. In May 1. 99. 9, Microsoft released Windows 9. Second Edition, an updated version of Windows 9.

Windows 9. 8 SE added Internet Explorer 5. Windows Media Player 6. Mainstream support for Windows 9. June 3. 0, 2. 00. Windows 9. 8 ended on July 1. Windows ME incorporated visual interface enhancements from its Windows NT- based counterpart Windows 2.

DOS environment, removing compatibility with some older programs). 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.

NT OS/2 was intended to be a secure, multi- user operating system with POSIX compatibility and a modular, portablekernel with preemptive multitasking and support for multiple processor architectures. However, following the successful release of Windows 3. NT development team decided to rework the project to use an extended 3. Windows API known as Win. OS/2. Win. 32 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 3. Windows. However, IBM objected to the changes, and ultimately continued OS/2 development on its own.

Windows NT 3. 5 was released in September 1. Novell's Net. Ware, and was followed up by Windows NT 3. May 1. 99. 5, which included additional improvements and support for the Power. Dst Patch For Oracle 10G Express. PC architecture. Windows NT 4.

June 1. 99. 6, introducing the redesigned interface of Windows 9. NT series. On February 1. Microsoft released Windows 2.

NT 4. 0. 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 . Home and Professional were later accompanied by the . Extended support ended on April 8, 2. 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.