List all the windows operating systems in order they were released ?

Asked by Wiki User

Wiki User

Answered December 18, 2011 2:30AM

This is a detailed list of only the more popular editions.

1981 — MS-DOS — Technically not an OS.

1985 — Windows 1.0 — Not an OS, but an add on to MS-DOS.

1987 — Windows 2.0 — Still an add on, but becoming more popular.

1988 — Windows 2.03 — First to be able to overlap windows.

1990 — Windows 3.0 — Very successful. Multitasking abilities. Becoming more like an OS

1992 — Windows 3.1 — Minor changes.

1993 — Windows NT — Geared towards business, and networking.

1995 — Windows 95 — DOS history.

1998 — Windows 98 — Heavily criticized. Major compatibility issues.

1999 — Windows 98 Second Edition — Fixed predecessors bugs.

2000 — Windows 2000 — Geared towards networks, and IT Professionals.

2000 — Windows Me — Rated worst OS. Stability and compatibility issues.

2001 — Windows XP — Came in Home, and Professional.

2002 — Windows XP Media Center — XP version geared towards media management.

2003 — Windows Server 2003 — To replace Windows 2000 Server products.

2005 — Windows Server 2003 R2 — Second release.

2007 — Windows Vista — Totally redesigned XP

2009 — Windows 7 — First version of Windows with a Television Marketing campaign, or with commercials on tv

Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a set of various exclusive families of graphical operating systems, all of which Microsoft designs and introduces. For a certain part of the computing industry, each family offers its services. The graphical operating system developed and launched by Microsoft is known as Microsoft Windows (also referred to as Windows or Win), and it presents a way to save documents, run apps, play games, watch videos, and connect to the Internet. On November 10, 1983, Microsoft Windows launched for the first time the version 1.0, and after that, different sets of Windows, including the latest edition, Windows 10, were released. Windows is generally a major part of a Microsoft software GUI ( graphical user interface) that is expanded, sold and merchandised, and operates as a monitoring area that includes a single running program. Moreover, it can be customized according to users needs. The operating system of Microsoft Windows is named after this feature of the UI element. Besides the graphical user interface ( GUI), windows presents multitasking features, virtual memory management functionalities, along with support for many peripheral devices and it is available in both versions, the 32 and 64-bit. Windows OS, the world’s most popular PC gaming platform, offers a wide variety of games available, and is accessivle for everyone as it often adapts to the users needs and requirements, whether they present an inability, a particular taste, or a distinctive work style. includes features that awakens user’s creativity and effeciency. Windows Virtual Memory is much more powerful than Macs, since it runs on a PC running low on memory without breaking down, whereas a low-memory Mac is much more likely to crash. The newest release of this collection is Windows 10 which provides a set of innovations from touch screen support to functionality to help you focus on your work and better evolve. Indeed, Windows 10 arrives with an overall antivirus, firewall, ransomware, and internet features.

Why is Microsoft Windows known as “Windows” ?

Prior to the release of Microsoft Windows, Microsoft users used the MS-DOS single task command line operating system. Since Microsoft labels most of its products with one word, it has called for a word that better symbolizes its new operating system Interface. Due to its numerous windows that permit various tasks and programs to run at the same time, Microsoft chose the term ‘Windows’.Since a common name like «Windows» cannot be trademarked, it is legally known as «Microsoft Windows«. The first version of Microsoft Windows was introduced in 1985.

Windows OS devolepment

The various different Microsoft Operating Systems along with the year in which they were launched are showed in the illustration:

Operating System Version

The Version API Helper functions are used to determine the version of the operating system that is currently running. For more information, see Getting the System Version.

The following table summarizes the most recent operating system version numbers.

Operating system	Version number
Windows 10	10.0*
Windows Server 2019	10.0*
Windows Server 2016	10.0*
Windows 8.1	6.3*
Windows Server 2012 R2	6.3*
Windows 8	6.2
Windows Server 2012	6.2
Windows 7	6.1
Windows Server 2008 R2	6.1
Windows Server 2008	6.0
Windows Vista	6.0
Windows Server 2003 R2	5.2
Windows Server 2003	5.2
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition	5.2
Windows XP	5.1
Windows 2000	5.0

* For applications that have been manifested for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Applications not manifested for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 will return the Windows 8 OS version value (6.2). To manifest your applications for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, refer to Targeting your application for Windows.

Identifying the current operating system is usually not the best way to determine whether a particular operating system feature is present. This is because the operating system may have had new features added in a redistributable DLL. Rather than using the Version API Helper functions to determine the operating system platform or version number, test for the presence of the feature itself.

To determine the best way to test for a feature, refer to the documentation for the feature of interest. The following list discusses some common techniques for feature detection:

• You can test for the presence of the functions associated with a feature. To test for the presence of a function in a system DLL, call the LoadLibrary function to load the DLL. Then call the GetProcAddress function to determine whether the function of interest is present in the DLL. Use the pointer returned by GetProcAddress to call the function. Note that even if the function is present, it may be a stub that just returns an error code such as ERROR_CALL_NOT_IMPLEMENTED.
• You can determine the presence of some features by using the GetSystemMetrics function. For example, you can detect multiple display monitors by calling GetSystemMetrics(SM_CMONITORS).
• There are several versions of the redistributable DLLs that implement shell and common control features. For information about determining which versions are present on the system your application is running on, see the topic Shell and Common Controls Versions.

If you must require a particular operating system, be sure to use it as a minimum supported version, rather than design the test for the one operating system. This way, your detection code will continue to work on future versions of Windows.

Note that a 32-bit application can detect whether it is running under WOW64 by calling the IsWow64Process function. It can obtain additional processor information by calling the GetNativeSystemInfo function.

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Brief history of operating systems

October 23, 2018

Brief history of operating systems

This post is also available in : Spanish French

Operating System History: From Resident Monitor to Windows

We couldn’t live without them today. Operating systems are essential for the functioning of our computers, mobile phones and, in short, the devices and computer infrastructures that we use in our daily lives and allow modern societies to run smoothly.

Operating systems are basic to the operation of both the hardware and software on our devices.

However, just like everything else, they haven’t always been there. The operating systems had an origin and have had a history that is closely linked to the development of information technology itself.

In this post we are going to see, very briefly, how the first operating systems were and how they have been developed over time.

A brief operating system history

In order to find the first operative systems we must travel to the decade of the 50’s of the 20th Century.

Previously, during the 1940s, programs were introduced directly onto the machine hardware through a series of micro switches. In the 1950s some technologies emerged that allowed a more “simple” interaction between the user and the computer.

Resident monitor: this is a system that loads the program into the computer, reading it from a tape or punched cards. This technology gave rise to the first operating system in history, created in 1956 for an IBM 704 computer, which was responsible for loading programs successively (starting with the next one when the previous one had finished loading), reducing the work time required.

Temporary storage: this is a system that also tried to increase speed by simultaneously loading programs and executing tasks.

In the 1960s, the rise of the integrated circuit launched the power of computers, and operating systems responded by becoming increasingly complex and offering new techniques.

Multiprogramming: In this technique, the main memory already holds more than one program, and the operating system is responsible for allocating the machine’s resources to execute tasks based on existing needs.

Timeshare: This is a system that assigns the execution of applications within a group of users working online.

Real time: it is used specially in the area of telecommunications, it is responsible for processing events external to the computer, so that, once a certain time has passed without success, it considers them as failed.

Multiprocessor: these are systems that try to manage the readings and writings made in memory by two programs that are running simultaneously, in order to avoid errors. As their name suggests, they are designed for use in computers that use more than one processor.

In the 1970s, IT continued to become increasingly complex, resulting in the first versions of some of the operating systems that have served as the basis for many of the ones we use today, such as UNIX.

The operating systems of this decade are still available only to highly qualified users, and their complexity means that they consume a large amount of resources. Among the most outstanding, in addition to UNIX, we find MULTICS, BDOS and CP/M, widely used in computers with Intel microprocessor.

The 1980s gave rise to the boom in commercial computing. The arrival of computers in thousands of offices and homes changes the focus of operating systems, forcing the development of more user-friendly systems that introduced graphic elements such as menus.

In this decade the development is such that it gives rise to some operating systems already legendary, and that contribute to the rise of computing in later decades, such as C++, SunOS (developed by Sun Microsystems and derived from UNIX), AmigaOS (developed for the Commodore Amiga) and some classics such as these:

MS-DOS: developed by Microsoft for IBM PCs, which contributed enormously to the popularization of computing and gave rise to Windows systems.

Mac OS: a system of Macintosh computers developed by Apple Inc, launched in 1984, and which included a novel graphic interface and the use of the mouse (a rarity at that time for users that were used to typing commands).
The decade of the 90’s continues with the explosive line marked in the 80’s, giving rise to many of the operating systems that, in more modern versions, we use today:

GNU/Linux: it was developed based on UNIX, and which is one of the greatest exponents of free software. Today, GNU/Linux is widely used all over the world, having a pre-eminence close to 100% in fields as striking as supercomputers.

Solaris: also developed on UNIX basis by Sun Microsystems for servers and workstations.

Microsoft Windows: which has resulted in a popular family of commercially successful operating systems used by millions of users around the world.

In the first decade of the present century, new operating systems continue to succeed each other, perhaps with less impact than those that emerged in the previous decade, but have their own place. Highlights include SymbOS, MorphOS, Darwin, Mac OS, Haiku and OpenSolaris.

So now we see the current decade, in which the rise of phones gives rise to some popular operating systems, including Android, developed by Google or iOS, created by Apple.

The operating system history is relatively short, but it has been very intense.

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