query: who created microsoft windows?

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: far, six major versions of Windows 10 have been released, with the version Redstone 5 being prepared to be released around October 2018: Windows Server 2016 is a release of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system that was unveiled on September 30, 2014. Windows Server 2016 was officially released at Microsoft's Ignite Conference, September 26–30, 2016. Microsoft Windows version history Microsoft Windows was announced by Bill Gates on November 10, 1983. Microsoft introduced Windows as a graphical user interface for MS-DOS, which had been introduced a couple of years earlier. In the 1990s, the product line evolved from an operating

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Microsoft Windows version history Microsoft Windows was announced by Bill Gates on November 10, 1983. Microsoft introduced Windows as a graphical user interface for MS-DOS, which had been introduced a couple of years earlier. In the 1990s, the product line evolved from an operating environment into a fully complete, modern operating system over two lines of development, each with their own separate codebase. The first versions of Windows (1.0 through to 3.11) were graphical shells that run from MS-DOS; later on, Windows 95, though still being based on MS-DOS, was its own operating system, using a 16-bit DOS-based kernel and

title: Microsoft Windows

text: unwanted software. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users who have genuine copies of Microsoft Windows can freely download the program from Microsoft's web site, and Windows Defender ships as part of Windows Vista and 7. In Windows 8, Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials have been combined into a single program, named Windows Defender. It is based on Microsoft Security Essentials, borrowing its features and user interface. Although it is enabled by default, it can be turned off to use another anti-virus solution. Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and the optional Microsoft Safety Scanner are two other free security

title: Microsoft Windows

text: the new system is sometimes referred to as "Windows 10 on Xbox One" or "OneCore". Xbox One's system also allows backward compatibility with Xbox 360, and the Xbox 360's system is backwards compatible with the original Xbox. In 2017 Microsoft announced that it would start using Git, an open source version control system created by Linus Torvalds. Microsoft has previously used a proprietary version control system called "Source Depot". Microsoft began to integrate Git into Team Foundation Server in 2013, but Windows continued to rely to Source Depot. However, this decision came with some complexity. The Windows codebase is not

title: Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions

text: Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of computer software operating systems created by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). All versions of Microsoft Windows are commercial proprietary software. Basic general information about Windows. Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE) is a variation of Microsoft's Windows operating system for minimalistic computers and embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinctly different kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows. It is supported on

text: the drive must be DVD-compatible. The drive may be detached after installing Windows. Maximum limits on physical memory (RAM) that Windows can address vary depending on both the Windows version and between IA-32 and x64 versions. Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of computer software operating systems created by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). All versions of Microsoft Windows are commercial proprietary software. Basic general information about Windows. Windows Embedded

title: Microsoft Windows

text: Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a group of several graphical operating system families, all of which are developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Active Windows families include Windows NT and Windows Embedded; these may encompass subfamilies, e.g. Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE) or Windows Server. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone. 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

title: Microsoft Windows

text: of Windows 8 known as Windows RT was specifically created for computers with ARM architecture and while ARM is still used for Windows smartphones with Windows 10, tablets with Windows RT will not be updated. 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

title: User profiles in Microsoft Windows

text: User profiles in Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows profile refers to the user profile that is used by the Microsoft Windows operating system to represent the characteristics of the user. Establishing a user account on the computer (or on its parent domain) does not create a profile for that user. The profile is created the first time the user interactively logs on at the computer. Logging on across a network to access shared folders does not create a profile. At first logon, a folder will typically be created under "Documents and Settings" (standard folder on English version of Windows 2000, XP

title: Microsoft Windows

text: available describing how to increase the security of Microsoft Windows products. Typical suggestions include deploying Microsoft Windows behind a hardware or software firewall, running anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and installing patches as they become available through Windows Update. Owing to the operating system's popularity, a number of applications have been released that aim to provide compatibility with Windows applications, either as a compatibility layer for another operating system, or as a standalone system that can run software written for Windows out of the box. These include: Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a group of several graphical operating system families, all

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: most of the important features of OS/2, such as long file names, a desktop, or protection of the system against misbehaving applications, Microsoft quickly took over the OS and GUI markets for the IBM PC. The Windows API became the de facto standard for consumer software. Meanwhile, Microsoft continued to develop Windows NT. The main architect of the system was Dave Cutler, one of the chief architects of VMS at Digital Equipment Corporation (later acquired by Compaq, now part of Hewlett-Packard). Microsoft hired him in October 1988 to create a successor to OS/2, but Cutler created a completely new system

title: Microsoft Windows SDK

text: Microsoft Windows SDK Microsoft Windows SDK, and its predecessors Platform SDK, and .NET Framework SDK, are software development kits (SDKs) from Microsoft that contain documentation, header files, libraries, samples and tools required to develop applications for Microsoft Windows and .NET Framework. "Platform SDK" specializes in developing applications for Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003. ".NET Framework SDK" is dedicated to developing applications for .NET Framework 1.1 and .NET Framework 2.0. "Windows SDK" is the successor of the two and supports developing applications for Windows XP and later, as well as .NET Framework 3.0 and later. "Platform SDK" is the

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: Bundling of Microsoft Windows Bundling of Microsoft Windows is the installation of Microsoft Windows in computers before their purchase. Microsoft encourages original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of personal computers to include Windows licenses with their products, and agreements between Microsoft and OEMs have undergone antitrust scrutiny. Users opposed to the bundling of Microsoft Windows have sought refunds for Windows licenses, arguing that the Windows end-user license agreement entitles them to return unused Windows licenses for a cash refund. Although some customers have successfully obtained payments (in some cases after litigation or lengthy negotiations), others have been less successful. Microsoft encourages original

title: Microsoft Windows

text: 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. The next major version of Windows NT, 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

title: Microsoft Windows

text: each of which denote a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. As of 2014, the following Windows families are being actively developed: The following Windows families are no longer being 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 1981, when Microsoft started work on a program called "Interface Manager". It was announced in November 1983 (after the Apple Lisa, but before the Macintosh) under the name "Windows", but Windows

title: Microsoft Windows SDK

text: specific language or technology. Windows SDKs are available for free; they were once available on Microsoft Download Center but were moved to MSDN in 2012. A developer might want to use an older SDK for a particular reason. For example, the Windows Server 2003 Platform SDK released in February 2003 was the last SDK to provide full support of Visual Studio 6.0. Some older PSDK versions can still be downloaded from the Microsoft Download center; others can be ordered on CD/DVD. The Windows SDK documentation includes manuals documenting: Microsoft Windows SDK Microsoft Windows SDK, and its predecessors Platform SDK, and

title: Microsoft Windows

text: Windows to share arbitrary devices between multi-tasked DOS applications. Windows 3.0 applications can run in protected mode, which gives them access to several megabytes of memory without the obligation to participate in the software virtual memory scheme. 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. Windows 3.1, made generally available on March 1,

title: Microsoft Windows

text: especially well suited to the decentralized nature of Linux development that Git was originally created to manage. Each Git repository contains a complete history of all the files, which proved unworkable for Windows developers because cloning the repository takes several hours. Microsoft has been working on a new project called the Virtual File System for Git (VFSForGit) to address these challenges. According to Net Applications, that tracks use based on web use, Windows is the most-used operating system family for personal computers as of July 2017 with close to 90% usage share. When including both personal computers of all kinds,

title: Microsoft Windows

text: products offered by Microsoft. In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft introduced the Limited Periodic Scanning feature, which allows Windows Defender to scan, detect, and remove any threats that third-party anti-virus software missed. The Advanced Threat Protection service is introduced for enterprise users. The new service uses cloud service to detect and take actions on advanced network attacks. In an article based on a report by Symantec, internetnews.com has described Microsoft Windows as having the "fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006."

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: of computers without a copy of Windows pre-installed, with the additional goal of getting them to revise and improve their refund policies while the first goal has not been met. An analyst stated that refund actions by individual users were "a publicity stunt [that] has no impact". Bundling of Microsoft Windows Bundling of Microsoft Windows is the installation of Microsoft Windows in computers before their purchase. Microsoft encourages original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of personal computers to include Windows licenses with their products, and agreements between Microsoft and OEMs have undergone antitrust scrutiny. Users opposed to the bundling of Microsoft Windows

title: Microsoft Windows

text: Linux and NetWare due to the 'static' allocation of permission being applied directory to the file or folder. However using this process of AGLP/AGDLP/AGUDLP allows a small number of static permissions to be applied and allows for easy changes to the account groups without reapplying the file permissions on the files and folders. On January 6, 2005, Microsoft released a Beta version of Microsoft AntiSpyware, based upon the previously released Giant AntiSpyware. On February 14, 2006, Microsoft AntiSpyware became Windows Defender with the release of Beta 2. Windows Defender is a freeware program designed to protect against spyware and other

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: Criticism of Microsoft Windows The various versions of Microsoft's desktop operating system, Windows, have received many criticisms since Microsoft's inception. In 2010, Google engineer Tavis Ormandy criticized Microsoft for taking too long to patch (fix) a reported security vulnerability in the Windows virtual DOS machine (VDM), which was patched 7 months after Mr. Ormandy reported it to Microsoft. In 2004, Marc Maiffret, chief hacking officer for security research firm eEye Digital Security, had criticized Microsoft for providing a security patch for the Windows ASN.1 implementation only after 200 days. Right after the release of Windows Vista, computer scientist Peter Gutmann

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: Microsoft, for analysis, in accordance with the End User License Agreement. The terms of services agreement from Microsoft was updated to state the following: Criticism of Microsoft Windows The various versions of Microsoft's desktop operating system, Windows, have received many criticisms since Microsoft's inception. In 2010, Google engineer Tavis Ormandy criticized Microsoft for taking too long to patch (fix) a reported security vulnerability in the Windows virtual DOS machine (VDM), which was patched 7 months after Mr. Ormandy reported it to Microsoft. In 2004, Marc Maiffret, chief hacking officer for security research firm eEye Digital Security, had criticized Microsoft for

title: Microsoft Windows SDK

text: successor of the original Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 3.1x and Microsoft Win32 SDK for Windows 9x. It was released in 1999 and is the oldest SDK. Platform SDK contains compilers, tools, documentations, header files, libraries and samples needed for software development on IA-32, x64 and IA-64 CPU architectures. however, came to being with .NET Framework. Starting with Windows Vista, the Platform SDK, .NET Framework SDK, Tablet PC SDK and Windows Media SDK are replaced by a new unified kit called "Windows SDK". However, the .NET Framework 1.1 SDK is not included since the .NET Framework 1.1 does not ship

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Microsoft case, blaming unfair marketing tactics on Microsoft's part. Microsoft went on to release five different versions of Windows 95: OSR2, OSR2.1, and OSR2.5 were not released to the general public; rather, they were available only to OEMs that would preload the OS onto computers. Some companies sold new hard drives with OSR2 preinstalled (officially justifying this as needed due to the hard drive's capacity). The first Microsoft Plus! add-on pack was sold for Windows 95. Windows NT 4.0 was the successor of 3.5 (1994) and 3.51 (1995). Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0 to manufacturing in July 1996, one year

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Center and Internet Explorer - these editions were called names such as "Windows 7 N." Microsoft focuses on selling Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional. All editions, except the Starter edition, are available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Unlike the corresponding Vista editions, the Professional and Enterprise editions are supersets of the Home Premium edition. At the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2008, Microsoft also announced Windows Server 2008 R2, as the server variant of Windows 7. Windows Server 2008 R2 ships in 64-bit versions (x64 and Itanium) only. In 2010, Microsoft released Windows Thin PC or WinTPC, which is

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: instead. Cutler had been developing a follow-on to VMS at DEC called Mica, and when DEC dropped the project he brought the expertise and around 20 engineers with him to Microsoft. DEC also believed he brought Mica's code to Microsoft and sued. Microsoft eventually paid US$150 million and agreed to support DEC's Alpha CPU chip in NT. Windows NT Workstation (Microsoft marketing wanted Windows NT to appear to be a continuation of Windows 3.1) arrived in Beta form to developers at the July 1992 Professional Developers Conference in San Francisco. Microsoft announced at the conference its intentions to develop a

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: developing their PC operating systems, and had access to each other's code. Microsoft wanted to further develop Windows, while IBM desired for future work to be based on OS/2. In an attempt to resolve this tension, IBM and Microsoft agreed that IBM would develop OS/2 2.0, to replace OS/2 1.3 and Windows 3.0, while Microsoft would develop a new operating system, OS/2 3.0, to later succeed OS/2 2.0. This agreement soon fell apart however, and the Microsoft/IBM relationship was terminated. IBM continued to develop OS/2, while Microsoft changed the name of its (as yet unreleased) OS/2 3.0 to Windows NT.

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Windows 7 and 8.1 users for one year after release. A number of new features like Cortana, the Microsoft Edge web browser, the ability to view Windows Store apps as a window instead of fullscreen, virtual desktops, revamped core apps, Continuum, and a unified Settings app were all features debuted in Windows 10. Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will be the last major version of its series of operating systems to be released. Instead, Microsoft will release major updates to the operating system via download or in Windows Update, similar to the way updates are delivered in macOS. So

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: the head of marketing at Microsoft, convinced the company that the name "Windows" would be more appealing to customers. Windows 1.0 was not a complete operating system, but rather an "operating environment" that extended MS-DOS, and shared the latter's inherent flaws and errors. The first version of Microsoft Windows included a simple graphics painting program called Windows Paint; Windows Write, a simple word processor; an appointment calendar; a card-filer; a notepad; a clock; a control panel; a computer terminal; Clipboard; and RAM driver. It also included the MS-DOS Executive and a game called Reversi. Microsoft had worked with Apple Computer

title: Microsoft Windows

text: x86 counterparts. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, released in 2005, is the last Windows client operating systems to support Itanium. Windows Server line continues to support this platform until Windows Server 2012; Windows Server 2008 R2 is the last Windows operating system to support Itanium architecture. On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions to support the x86-64 (or simply x64), the eighth generation of x86 architecture. Windows Vista was the first client version of Windows NT to be released simultaneously in IA-32 and x64 editions. x64 is still supported. An edition

title: Microsoft Windows

text: 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 95). In May 1999, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, an updated version of Windows 98. Windows 98 SE added Internet Explorer 5.0 and Windows Media Player 6.2 amongst other upgrades. Mainstream support for Windows 98 ended on June 30, 2002, and extended support for Windows 98 ended on July

title: Microsoft Windows library files

text: elements of the user interface. Some types of programs will also call GDI functions directly to perform lower-level drawing operations within a window previously created via USER32 functions. COMCTL32.DLL implements a wide variety of standard Windows controls, such as File Open, Save, and Save As dialogs, progress bars, and list views. It calls functions from both USER32.DLL and GDI32.DLL to create and manage the windows for these UI elements, place various graphic elements within them, and collect user input. COMDLG32.DLL, the Common Dialog Box Library, implements a wide variety of Windows dialog boxes intended to perform what Microsoft deems 'common

title: Microsoft Windows

text: known as Windows RT for use on devices that utilize the ARM 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, deeper OneDrive integration, and many other revisions. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 have been subject to some criticism, such as removal of the Start menu. On September 30, 2014, Microsoft announced Windows 10 as the successor to Windows 8.1. It was released on July 29, 2015, and addresses shortcomings in the user interface first introduced with Windows 8. Changes include the return of the

title: Microsoft Windows

text: 11, 2006. 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 mode DOS environment, removing compatibility with some older programs), 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.

title: Microsoft Windows

text: ushered off the market in 2001, it had become a fixture on computer desktops around the world." Microsoft published four OEM Service Releases (OSR) of Windows 95, each of which was roughly equivalent to a service pack. The first OSR of Windows 95 was also the first version of Windows to be bundled with Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer. Mainstream support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2000, and extended support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2001. Windows 95 was followed up with the release of Windows 98 on June 25, 1998, which introduced the Windows Driver

title: Microsoft Windows

text: to the user interface and memory management. Windows 2.03 changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led to Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights. 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 the 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

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: States v. Microsoft Corp." court case, which was eventually settled out of court. Another issue with the integration was that security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer also create security vulnerabilities in Windows, which could allow an attacker to exploit Windows with remote code execution. In January 2009, the European Commission started to investigate Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer into Windows; the Commission stated: "Microsoft's tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice." The European Commission and Microsoft eventually agreed that Microsoft would include a web browser choice

title: Microsoft Windows

text: computing, the operating system treated them as 32-bit.) However, Windows 2000, the successor of Windows NT 4.0, dropped support for all platforms except the third generation x86 (known as IA-32) or newer in 32-bit mode. The client line of Windows NT family still runs on IA-32, although the Windows Server line has ceased supporting this platform with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2. With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture (IA-64), Microsoft released new versions of Windows to support it. Itanium versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were released at the same time as their mainstream

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: 8.1 receiving the kernel number 6.3. So far, neither has had any service packs yet, although many consider Windows 8.1 to be a service pack for Windows 8. Windows 8 is available in the following editions: The first public preview of Windows Server 2012 and was also shown by Microsoft at the 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Windows 8 Release Preview and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate were both released on May 31, 2012. Product development on Windows 8 was completed on August 1, 2012, and it was released to manufacturing the same day. Windows Server 2012 went on sale

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Server release. Windows Home Server 2011 is considered a "major release". Its predecessor was built on Windows Server 2003. WHS 2011 only supports x86-64 hardware. Microsoft decided to discontinue Windows Home Server 2011 on July 5, 2012 while including its features into Windows Server 2012 Essentials. Windows Home Server 2011 was supported until April 12, 2016. On October 26, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 to the public. One edition, Windows RT, runs on some system-on-a-chip devices with mobile 32-bit ARM (ARMv7) processors. Windows 8 features a redesigned user interface, designed to make it easier for touchscreen users to use Windows.

title: Microsoft Windows

text: basic output and some translated utilities. 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 a major commercial success for Microsoft; Ina Fried of CNET remarked that "by the time Windows 95 was finally

title: Microsoft Windows

text: However, Windows ME was faced with criticism for its speed and instability, along with hardware compatibility issues and its removal of real mode DOS support. "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. In November 1988, a new development team within Microsoft (which included former Digital Equipment Corporation developers Dave Cutler and Mark Lucovsky) began work on a revamped version of IBM and Microsoft's OS/2 operating system known as "NT OS/2". NT OS/2 was intended to be a secure, multi-user operating system

title: Microsoft Windows

text: 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. After a lengthy development process, Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006, for volume licensing

title: Microsoft Windows

text: was less than 25% that of 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 that for end user use. , the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets, smartphones and embedded devices is Windows 10. The most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2019. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One video game console. Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: and proved slightly more popular than its predecessor. Much of the popularity for Windows 2.0 came by way of its inclusion as a "run-time version" with Microsoft's new graphical applications, Excel and Word for Windows. They could be run from MS-DOS, executing Windows for the duration of their activity, and closing down Windows upon exit. Microsoft Windows received a major boost around this time when Aldus PageMaker appeared in a Windows version, having previously run only on Macintosh. Some computer historians date this, the first appearance of a significant "and" non-Microsoft application for Windows, as the start of the success

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: a 32-bit user space. Windows 95 introduced many features that have been part of the product ever since, including the Start menu, the taskbar, and Windows Explorer (renamed File Explorer in Windows 8). In 1997, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 4 which included the (at the time) controversial Windows Desktop Update. It aimed to integrate Internet Explorer and the web into the user interface and also brought many new features into Windows, such as the ability to display JPEG images as the desktop wallpaper and single window navigation in Windows Explorer. In 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98, which also included the

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: the user's location data and send this data to Microsoft and "trusted partners" to improve location detection (Windows 8 had similar settings, except that location data collection did not include "trusted partners"). Users can opt out from most of this data collection, but telemetry data for error reporting and usage is also sent to Microsoft, and this cannot be disabled on non-Enterprise versions of Windows 10. The use of Cortana intelligent personal assistant also requires the collection of data "such as your device location, data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text messages, who

title: Briefcase (Microsoft Windows)

text: robustness as a folder and file backup mechanism. Briefcase (Microsoft Windows) In Microsoft Windows, the Briefcase is a special folder that supports a simple two-way file synchronization between itself and another folder. The Briefcase is designed for mobile PC users so that they may transfer it to a removable drive and have it synchronize with the computer to which the removable drive is attached. It follows the same metaphor as the "file" and "file folder" and then, while the file management tasks are performed by Windows Explorer, the briefcase behaves just like another folder, i.e. with support for copy-paste and

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: home users. Windows 2000 was available in four editions: In September 2000, Microsoft released a successor to Windows 98 called Windows ME, short for "Millennium Edition". It was the last DOS-based operating system from Microsoft. Windows ME introduced a new multimedia-editing application called Windows Movie Maker, came standard with Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows Media Player 7, and debuted the first version of System Restore – a recovery utility that enables the operating system to revert system files back to a prior date and time. System Restore was a notable feature that would continue to thrive in all later versions

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: in April 1992), which included several improvements to Windows 3.0, such as display of TrueType scalable fonts (developed jointly with Apple), improved disk performance in 386 Enhanced Mode, multimedia support, and bugfixes. It also removed Real Mode, and only ran on an 80286 or better processor. Later Microsoft also released Windows 3.11, a touch-up to Windows 3.1 which included all of the patches and updates that followed the release of Windows 3.1 in 1992. In 1992 and 1993, Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups (WfW), which was available both as an add-on for existing Windows 3.1 installations and in a version

title: Microsoft Windows library files

text: runtime libraries. Programs written in C#, Visual Basic.NET, C++/CLI and other .NET languages require the .NET Framework. It has many libraries (one of them is mscorlib.dll Multilanguage Standard Common Object Runtime Library, formerly Microsoft Common Object Runtime Library) and so-called assemblies (e.g. System.Windows.Forms.dll). Microsoft Windows library files The Microsoft Windows operating system supports a form of shared libraries known as "dynamic-link libraries", which are code libraries that can be used by multiple processes while only one copy is loaded into memory. This article provides an overview of the core libraries that are included with every modern Windows installation, on top

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: to develop applications for Apple's new Macintosh computer, which featured a graphical user interface. As part of the related business negotiations, Microsoft had licensed certain aspects of the Macintosh user interface from Apple; in later litigation, a district court summarized these aspects as "screen displays". In the development of Windows 1.0, Microsoft intentionally limited its borrowing of certain GUI elements from the Macintosh user interface, to comply with its license. For example, windows were only displayed "tiled" on the screen; that is, they could not overlap or overlie one another. Microsoft Windows version 2 came out on December 9, 1987,

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: and Italy that bundling Microsoft Windows and then refusing to offer partial refunds for just the Windows license violates applicable law. In September 2014, the Supreme Court of Italy in ruling 19161/2014 decided that a laptop buyer was entitled to receive a refund of €140 for the price of a Microsoft Windows license and a Microsoft Works license on a computer, saying that bundling was "a commercial policy of forced distribution" and slammed this practice as "monopolistic in tendency". In India bundling is challenged by users as a violation of Competition Act 2002 and one of them has sent a

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: on the desktop OS market compared to Microsoft might mean that, even if signed versions of their operating systems were available, they might face difficulties getting hardware vendors to include their keys, especially if end users won't be able to manage those keys themselves. Boot locking is now required for ARM devices. Microsoft does not provide refunds for Windows licenses sold through an OEM, including licenses that come with the purchase of a computer or are pre-installed on a computer. A Microsoft Denmark representative stated that Microsoft's Windows license terms allow OEMs to offer a refund for just the Windows

title: Briefcase (Microsoft Windows)

text: Briefcase (Microsoft Windows) In Microsoft Windows, the Briefcase is a special folder that supports a simple two-way file synchronization between itself and another folder. The Briefcase is designed for mobile PC users so that they may transfer it to a removable drive and have it synchronize with the computer to which the removable drive is attached. It follows the same metaphor as the "file" and "file folder" and then, while the file management tasks are performed by Windows Explorer, the briefcase behaves just like another folder, i.e. with support for copy-paste and drag-and-drop. It has additional functions and toolbar buttons

title: Unicode in Microsoft Windows

text: Unicode in Microsoft Windows Microsoft was one of the first companies to implement Unicode (back then UCS-2, that evolved into UTF-16) in their products, while they are still in 2018 improving their operating system support for UTF-8. Windows NT was the first operating system that used "wide characters" in system calls. Using the UCS-2 encoding scheme at first, it was upgraded to UTF-16 starting with Windows 2000, allowing a representation of additional planes with surrogate pairs. Current Windows versions and all back to Windows XP and prior Windows NT (3.x, 4.0) are shipped with system libraries which support string encoding

title: Common menus in Microsoft Windows

text: a built-in feature of Windows Explorer (for example, the file sharing page), or created by a shell extension (for example MP3ext or WinRAR)) The system menu (also called the window menu or control menu) is a popup menu in Microsoft Windows, accessible by left-clicking on the upper-left icon of most windows, or by pressing the Alt and Space keys. This menu provides the user with the ability to perform some common tasks on the window, some in atypical ways. For example, normally a user would move a window by dragging the title bar of the window - but with the

title: Code page 932 (Microsoft Windows)

text: Code page 932 (Microsoft Windows) Microsoft Windows code page 932 (abbreviated MS932, Windows-932 or ambiguously CP932), also called Windows-31J amongst other names (see § Terminology below), is the Microsoft Windows code page for the Japanese language, which is an extended variant of the Shift JIS Japanese character encoding. It contains standard 7-bit ASCII codes, and Japanese characters are indicated by the high bit of the first byte being set to 1. Some code points in this page require a second byte, so characters use either 8 or 16 bits for encoding. IBM offer the same extended double-byte codes in their

title: Microsoft Windows library files

text: Microsoft Windows library files The Microsoft Windows operating system supports a form of shared libraries known as "dynamic-link libraries", which are code libraries that can be used by multiple processes while only one copy is loaded into memory. This article provides an overview of the core libraries that are included with every modern Windows installation, on top of which most Windows applications are built. HAL.DLL is a kernel-mode library file and it cannot be used by any user-mode program. NTDLL.DLL is only used by some programs, but it is a dependency of most Win32 libraries used by programs. The Windows

title: Microsoft Windows

text: dated from 2013–2016, detail the capabilities of the CIA to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare, such as the ability to compromise operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. All Windows versions from Windows NT 3 have been based on a file system permission system referred to as AGDLP (Accounts, Global, Local, Permissions) in which file permissions are applied to the file/folder in the form of a 'local group' which then has other 'global groups' as members. These global groups then hold other groups or users depending on different Windows versions used. This system varies from other vendor products such as

title: Microsoft Windows

text: menus, default printer management, four times as many tiles allowed in the Start menu, Find My Device, and Edge updates. In February 2017, Microsoft announced the migration of its Windows source code repository from Perforce to Git. This migration involved 3.5 million separate files in a 300 gigabyte repository. By May 2017, 90 percent of its engineering team now uses Git, in about 8500 commits and 1760 Windows builds per day. Multilingual support is 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

title: Code page 932 (Microsoft Windows)

text: 897, which maps 0x5C to the Yen symbol (codice_3) and 0x7E to the overline (codice_5), this is followed by the encoding named "ibm-943_P130-1999" in ICU. Code page 897 (and therefore also IBM-943 and IBM-932) also adds single-byte box-drawing characters replacing certain C0 control characters, however these may still be treated as control characters depending on the context, and are mapped to control characters in ICU. Code page 932 (Microsoft Windows) Microsoft Windows code page 932 (abbreviated MS932, Windows-932 or ambiguously CP932), also called Windows-31J amongst other names (see § Terminology below), is the Microsoft Windows code page for the Japanese

title: Microsoft Windows

text: given to the version of Windows that runs on the Xbox One. It is a more specific implementation with an emphasis on virtualization (using Hyper-V) as it is three operating systems running at once, consisting of the core operating system, a second implemented for games and a more Windows-like environment for applications. Microsoft updates Xbox One's OS every month, and these updates can be downloaded from the Xbox Live service to the Xbox and subsequently installed, or by using offline recovery images downloaded via a PC. The Windows 10-based Core had replaced the Windows 8-based one in this update, and

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Windows as of 2017 - most notably, the WinFS file system, which was the much touted Object File System of Cairo. Microsoft announced that they have discontinued the separate release of WinFS for Windows XP and Windows Vista and will gradually incorporate the technologies developed for WinFS in other products and technologies, notably Microsoft SQL Server. Driver support was lacking due to the increased programming difficulty in dealing with NT's superior hardware abstraction model. This problem plagued the NT line all the way through Windows 2000. Programmers complained that it was too hard to write drivers for NT, and hardware

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: experienced by a single user who tried to circumvent Adobe Creative Suite copy protection mechanisms by changing files. When it failed to work the user concluded that it had to be the "draconian DRM" of Windows. Windows is criticized for having the Internet Explorer web browser integrated into the Windows shell from Windows 98 onwards. Previously Internet Explorer was shipped as a separate application. One problem was that since the Explorer cannot be easily replaced with a product of another vendor, this undermines consumer choice. This issue precipitated concerns that Microsoft engages in monopolistic practices and resulted in the "United

title: Microsoft Windows

text: the early 1990s, Internet use was less prevalent. These design issues combined with programming errors (e.g. buffer overflows) and the popularity of Windows means that it is a frequent target of computer worm and virus writers. In June 2005, Bruce Schneier's "Counterpane Internet Security" reported that it had seen over 1,000 new viruses and worms in the previous six months. In 2005, Kaspersky Lab found around 11,000 malicious programs—viruses, Trojans, back-doors, and exploits written for Windows. Microsoft releases security patches through its Windows Update service approximately once a month (usually the second Tuesday of the month), although critical updates are

title: Microsoft Windows

text: settings page for this. Changing the interface language also changes the language of preinstalled Windows Store apps (such as Mail, Maps and News) and certain other Microsoft-developed apps (such as Remote Desktop). The above limitations for language packs are however still in effect, except that full language packs can be installed for any edition except Single Language, which caters to emerging markets. Windows NT included support for several different platforms before the x86-based personal computer became dominant in the professional world. Windows NT 4.0 and its predecessors supported PowerPC, DEC Alpha and MIPS R4000. (Although some these platforms implement 64-bit

title: Microsoft Windows

text: to dominate the world's personal computer (PC) market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984. 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 1993). On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system. However, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android, because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones. In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: operating system that started with Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1. The action eventually led to the filing of the United States v. Microsoft case, dealing with the question of whether Microsoft was introducing unfair practices into the market in an effort to eliminate competition from other companies such as Netscape. In 1999, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, an interim release. One of the more notable new features was the addition of Internet Connection Sharing, a form of network address translation, allowing several machines on a LAN (Local Area Network) to share a single Internet connection. Hardware support through

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: criticised the digital rights management (DRM) that had been included in Microsoft Windows to allow content providers to place restrictions on certain types of multimedia playback. He collected the criticism in a write-up he released in which he stated that: The analysis drew responses from Microsoft, where Microsoft states some of the criticized DRM features were already present in Windows XP, and thus a new problem for customers and that these problematic features would only be activated when required by the content being played. Other responses came from George Ou of ZDNet and Ed Bott of ZDNet. Ed Bott also

title: Code page 936 (Microsoft Windows)

text: products such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Notepad++. Windows-936: IBM-1386: Code page 936 (Microsoft Windows) Windows Code page 936 (abbreviated MS936, Windows-936 or (ambiguously) CP936), is Microsoft's character encoding for simplified Chinese, one of the four DBCSs for East Asian languages. Originally, Windows-936 covered GB 2312 (in its EUC-CN form), but it was expanded to cover most of GBK with the release of Windows 95. IBM's Code page 936 is a different encoding for Simplified Chinese, although International Components for Unicode does not include an IBM-936 codec, and uses the Windows code page for the "cp936" label. IBM's code page

title: Microsoft FreeCell

text: Microsoft FreeCell FreeCell, also known as Microsoft FreeCell, is a computer game included in Microsoft Windows, based on a card game with the same name. The first computer version of the game is believed to have been created by Paul Alfille in 1978 for the PLATO system. Microsoft developer Jim Horne, who learned the game from the PLATO system, implemented a version with color graphics for Windows. It was first included in Microsoft Entertainment Pack Volume 2 and later the Best Of Microsoft Entertainment Pack. It was subsequently included with Win32s as an application that enabled the testing of the

title: Common menus in Microsoft Windows

text: Common menus in Microsoft Windows This is a list of commonly used Microsoft Windows menus. Most Recently Used (MRU) is a term used in computing to refer to the list of programs or documents that were last accessed. It is a feature of convenience allowing users to quickly see and access the last few used files and documents, but could also be considered bad in terms of privacy. In Microsoft Windows, a properties page is a panel of information in the file properties dialogue (accessed from the File menu, context menu, or by typing alt-Enter, or alt-double-clicking.) It can be

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: interface were borrowed and added as other aspects of the release (notably Plug and Play) slipped. Microsoft did not change all of the Windows code to 32-bit; parts of it remained 16-bit (albeit not directly using real mode) for reasons of compatibility, performance, and development time. Additionally it was necessary to carry over design decisions from earlier versions of Windows for reasons of backwards compatibility, even if these design decisions no longer matched a more modern computing environment. These factors eventually began to impact the operating system's efficiency and stability. Microsoft marketing adopted Windows 95 as the product name for

title: Unicode in Microsoft Windows

text: just not compiling. Earlier, and independent of the "UNICODE" switch, Windows also provides the "MBCS" API switch. This changes some functions that don't work in MBCS such as codice_5 to an MBCS-aware one such as codice_6. Notice that a lot of Microsoft documentation uses the term "Unicode" to mean "not 8-bit text". In Windows CE UTF-16 was used almost exclusively, with the 'A' API mostly missing. A limited set of ANSI API is available in Windows CE 5.0, for use on a reduced set of locales that may be selectively built onto the runtime image. In 2001, Microsoft released a

title: Microsoft Minesweeper

text: Microsoft Minesweeper Microsoft Minesweeper (formerly Minesweeper) is a minesweeper computer game created by Curt Johnson, originally for OS/2, and ported to Microsoft Windows by Robert Donner, both Microsoft employees at the time. First officially released as part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1 in 1990, it was included in the standard install of Windows 3.1 in 1992, replacing Reversi from Windows 3.0. Microsoft Minesweeper has been included without a major change in all subsequent Windows releases until Windows Vista, at which time an updated version by Oberon Media replaced it. In Windows 8 and later the game is not included,

title: Message loop in Microsoft Windows

text: mouse clicks to their appropriate handlers as defined within the framework. However, each framework implements a message loop somewhere, and the message loop can usually be accessed or replaced when more direct control is required. Message loop in Microsoft Windows The message loop is an obligatory section of code in every program that uses a graphical user interface under Microsoft Windows. Windows GUI programs are event-driven. After starting a process, Windows maintains an individual message queue for it. Windows places messages into that queue whenever mouse activity occurs on that process's window, whenever keyboard activity occurs while that process's window

title: Message loop in Microsoft Windows

text: Message loop in Microsoft Windows The message loop is an obligatory section of code in every program that uses a graphical user interface under Microsoft Windows. Windows GUI programs are event-driven. After starting a process, Windows maintains an individual message queue for it. Windows places messages into that queue whenever mouse activity occurs on that process's window, whenever keyboard activity occurs while that process's window has focus, and at other times. A process can also add messages to its own queue. To accept user input, and for other reasons, each process must continuously retrieve messages from its queue, and act

title: Calendar (Windows)

text: Calendar (Windows) Calendar is a personal calendar application made by Microsoft. It offers synchronization of calendars using Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook.com Apple's iCloud calendar service, and Google Calendar. It supports the popular iCalendar format. Microsoft first included a Calendar app in Windows 1.0, which was included until Windows 3.1, and was replaced by Schedule+ in Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT 3.1. Schedule+ was later moved from Windows to the Microsoft Office suite, and Windows did not include another Calendar application until Windows Calendar in Windows Vista. Calendar had been created by Beta 2 of Windows Vista. This version supports

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: system royalties. Also, Microsoft penalized OEMs that installed alternative operating systems by making their license terms less favorable. Microsoft entered into a consent decree in 1994 that barred Microsoft from conditioning the availability of Windows licenses or varying their prices based on whether OEMs distributed other operating systems. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said that the decree was effective in allowing Dell and HP to offer Linux computers, and Jeremy Reimer of "Ars Technica" stated that the decree made it "fiscally realistic to sell computers with alternative operating systems". In 1999, a Microsoft representative stated that their contracts with OEMs

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: to the public on September 4, 2012. Windows 8 went on sale October 26, 2012. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 were released on October 17, 2013. Windows 8.1 is available as an update in the Windows store for Windows 8 users only and also available to download for clean installation. The update adds new options for resizing the live tiles on the Start screen. Windows 10, codenamed Threshold (Later Redstone), is the current release of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Unveiled on September 30, 2014, it was released on July 29, 2015. It was distributed without charge to

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: printing and company-wide identity integration. Windows Server 2003 is available in six editions: Windows Server 2003 R2, an update of Windows Server 2003, was released to manufacturing on December 6, 2005. It is distributed on two CDs, with one CD being the Windows Server 2003 SP1 CD. The other CD adds many optionally installable features for Windows Server 2003. The R2 update was released for all x86 and x64 versions, except Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, which was not released for Itanium. On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003, x64 Editions

title: Windows Media Center

text: of "new Windows OS requirements and behaviors". During the 2015 Build developers' conference, a Microsoft executive confirmed that Media Center, with its TV receiver and PVR functionality, would not be updated for or included with Windows 10, thus the product would be discontinued. Those upgrading to Windows 10 from a version of Windows that included the Media Center application would receive the paid Windows DVD Player app for free to maintain DVD playback functionality after the first Windows Update. Some users who wanted Microsoft to provide an official port of the Windows Media Center for Windows 10 created two change.org

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler"). The merging of the Windows NT/2000 and Windows 95/98/Me lines was finally achieved with Windows XP. Windows XP uses the Windows NT 5.1 kernel, marking the entrance of the Windows NT core to the consumer market, to replace the aging 16/32-bit branch. The initial release met with considerable criticism, particularly in the area of security, leading to the release of three major Service Packs. Windows XP SP1 was released in September 2002, SP2 came out in August 2004 and SP3 came out in April 2008. Service Pack 2 provided significant improvements and encouraged

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: after the release of Windows 95. Major new features included the new Explorer shell from Windows 95, scalability and feature improvements to the core architecture, kernel, USER32, COM and MSRPC. Windows NT 4.0 came in four versions: On June 25, 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis). It included new hardware drivers and the FAT32 file system which supports disk partitions that are larger than 2 GB (first introduced in Windows 95 OSR2). USB support in Windows 98 is marketed as a vast improvement over Windows 95. The release continued the controversial inclusion of the Internet Explorer browser with the

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: screen. Windows 10 was well-received, with many reviewers stating that Windows 10 is what Windows 8 should have been. Windows 10 also marks the last version of Windows to be traditionally released. Instead, "feature updates" are released twice a year with names such as "Creators Update" and "Fall Creators Update" that introduce new capabilities. The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released on November 20, 1985, achieved little popularity. The project was briefly codenamed "Interface Manager" before the windowing system was developed - contrary to popular belief that it was the original name for Windows and Rowland Hanson,

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: Chicago when it was released on August 24, 1995. Microsoft had a double gain from its release: first, it made it impossible for consumers to run Windows 95 on a cheaper, non-Microsoft DOS; secondly, although traces of DOS were never completely removed from the system and MS DOS 7 would be loaded briefly as a part of the booting process, Windows 95 applications ran solely in 386 enhanced mode, with a flat 32-bit address space and virtual memory. These features make it possible for Win32 applications to address up to 2 gigabytes of virtual RAM (with another 2 GB reserved

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: was part of Microsoft's specification for the Multimedia PC. The features listed above and growing market support from application software developers made Windows 3.0 wildly successful, selling around 10 million copies in the two years before the release of version 3.1. Windows 3.0 became a major source of income for Microsoft, and led the company to revise some of its earlier plans. Support was discontinued on December 31, 2001. During the mid to late 1980s, Microsoft and IBM had cooperatively been developing OS/2 as a successor to DOS. OS/2 would take full advantage of the aforementioned protected mode of the

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: did not "stop[] any OEM from shipping any operating system on their PCs". In 2010, Microsoft stated that its agreements with OEMs to distribute Windows are nonexclusive, and OEMs are free to distribute computers with a different operating system or without any operating system. In a 2001 article in "Byte", it was reported that license agreements between OEMs and Microsoft forbade OEMs from including Windows alongside another operating system on the same computer. According to a 1999 "New York Times" article, "critics assert that the company continues to use its market clout to ensure that nearly all new personal computers

title: Criticism of Microsoft Windows

text: the release of 10, allegations also surfaced that Microsoft had backported the operating system's increased data collection to Windows 7 and Windows 8 via "recommended" patches that added additional "telemetry" features. The updates' addition of a "Diagnostics Tracking Service" is connected specifically to Microsoft's existing Customer Experience Improvement Program (which is an opt-in program that sends additional diagnostic information to Microsoft for addressing issues), and the Application Insights service for third-party software. The data collection functionality is capable of transmitting personal information, browsing history, the contents of emails, chat, video calls, voice mail, photos, documents, personal files and keystrokes to

title: Microsoft

text: button, and 32-bit compatibility; similar to NT, it provided the Win32 API. Windows 95 came bundled with the online service MSN (which was at first intended to be a competitor to the Internet), and (for OEMs) Internet Explorer, a web browser. Internet Explorer was not bundled with the retail Windows 95 boxes because the boxes were printed before the team finished the web browser, and instead was included in the Windows 95 Plus! pack. Branching out into new markets in 1996, Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit created a new 24/7 cable news channel, MSNBC. Microsoft created Windows CE 1.0,

title: Windows Genuine Advantage

text: Windows Genuine Advantage Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an anti-infringement system created by Microsoft that enforces online validation of the licensing of several Microsoft Windows operating systems when accessing several services, such as Windows Update, and downloading Windows components from the Microsoft Download Center. In Windows 7, WGA is renamed Windows Activation Technologies. WGA consists of two components: an installable component called "WGA Notifications" that hooks into Winlogon and validates the Windows license upon each logon and an ActiveX control that checks the validity of the Windows license when downloading certain updates from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update.

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: development phases, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition was named "Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems". In July 2005, Microsoft released a thin-client version of Windows XP Service Pack 2, called Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (WinFLP). It is only available to Software Assurance customers. The aim of WinFLP is to give companies a viable upgrade option for older PCs that are running Windows 95, 98, and ME that will be supported with patches and updates for the next several years. Most user applications will typically be run on a remote machine using Terminal Services or Citrix. Windows Home

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: widespread adoption of XP among both home and business users. Windows XP lasted longer as Microsoft's flagship operating system than any other version of Windows, from October 25, 2001 to January 30, 2007 when it was succeeded by Windows Vista. Windows XP is available in a number of versions: On April 25, 2003 Microsoft launched Windows Server 2003, a notable update to Windows 2000 Server encompassing many new security features, a new "Manage Your Server" wizard that simplifies configuring a machine for specific roles, and improved performance. It has the version number NT 5.2. A few services not essential for

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: device drivers was increased and this version shipped with Internet Explorer 5. Many minor problems that existed in the first edition were fixed making it, according to many, the most stable release of the Windows 9x family. Microsoft released Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000. It has the version number Windows NT 5.0. Windows 2000 has had four official service packs. It was successfully deployed both on the server and the workstation markets. Amongst Windows 2000's most significant new features was Active Directory, a near-complete replacement of the NT 4.0 Windows Server domain model, which built on industry-standard technologies like

title: Microsoft Windows version history

text: successor to both Windows NT and Windows 3.1's replacement (Windows 95, codenamed Chicago), which would unify the two into one operating system. This successor was codenamed Cairo. In hindsight, Cairo was a much more difficult project than Microsoft had anticipated and, as a result, NT and Chicago would not be unified until Windows XP—albeit Windows 2000, oriented to business, had already unified most of the system’s bolts and gears, it was XP that was sold to home consumers like Windows 95 and came to be viewed as the final unified OS. Parts of Cairo have still not made it into

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: come with Windows pre-installed." In 2009, Microsoft stated that it has always charged OEMs about $50 for a Windows license on a $1,000 computer. In 2007, Dell stated that its computers with Ubuntu installed would be priced about $50 lower than comparable systems with Windows installed. In a 2010 "ZDNet" article, Chris Clay wrote that Dell computers with Ubuntu preinstalled were priced higher than identical systems with Windows preinstalled, even though Ubuntu is free and open source. The claimed increase in the price of a computer resulting from the inclusion of a Windows license has been called the "Windows tax"

title: Unicode in Microsoft Windows

text: file as being UTF-8 (i.e. do not use a BOM), and arrange the string constants to have the UTF-8 bytes. If a BOM was added, a Microsoft compiler will interpret the strings as UTF-8, convert them to UTF-16, then convert them "back" into the current locale, thus destroying the UTF-8. Without a BOM and using a single-byte locale, Microsoft compilers will leave the bytes in a quoted string unchanged. Unicode in Microsoft Windows Microsoft was one of the first companies to implement Unicode (back then UCS-2, that evolved into UTF-16) in their products, while they are still in 2018 improving

title: Bundling of Microsoft Windows

text: sell for non-technical users". Microsoft historically engaged in licensing practices that discouraged the installation of non-Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft once assessed license fees based on the number of computers an OEM sold, regardless of whether a Windows license was included. Beginning in 1983, Microsoft sold MS-DOS licenses to OEMs on an individually-negotiated basis. The contracts required OEMs to purchase a number of MS-DOS licenses equal to or greater than the number of computers sold, with the result of zero marginal cost for OEMs to include MS-DOS. Installing an operating system other than MS-DOS would effectively require double payment of operating