Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Company founded by two great friends at that time Paul Allen and Bill Gates had one goal in mind - having Impact on the world. They came to an idea of creating new Operating System (Microsoft Windows) that turned page of many computers at that time and continued providing great service through the years. They started their journey 37 years ago and ever since than constantly provide new upgrades, new versions and many other tools that are user-friendly as well as special security for their customers.

**Microsoft Windows** is a group of several graphical operating system families, all of which are 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 (PC) market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984.

## Versions

 **Microsoft Company**  went a step further and beside releasing enough new versions for personal usage they have also created separate versions for businesses of all kind. Down below we will make separate lists with years of release:

 **Models for personal computers**

* Windows 1.0 - (1985)
* Windows 2.0 - (1987)
* Windows 2.1 - (1988)
* Windows 3.0 - (1990)
* Windows 3.1 - (1992)
* Windows 95 - (1995)
* Windows 98 - (1998)
* Windows 2000- (1999)
* Windows Me - (2000)
* Windows XP - (2001)
* Windows Vista-(2006)
* Windows 7 - (2009)
* Windows 8 - (2012)
* Windows RT - (2012)
* Windows 8.1 - (2013)
* Windows 10 - (2015)
* Windows 11 - (2021)

 **Models for businesses**

* Windows NT 3.1 (1993)
* Windows NT 3.5 (1994)
* Windows NT 3.51 (1995)
* Windows NT 4.0 (1996)
* Windows 2000 Server (2000)
* Windows Server 2003 (2003)
* Windows Server 2003 R2 (2005)
* Windows Server 2008 (2008)
* Windows Server 2008 R2 (2009)
* Windows Server 2012 (2012)
* Windows Server 2012 R2 (2013)
* Windows Server 2016 (2016)
* Windows Server 2019 (2018)
* Windows Server 2022 (2021)

## History

Four decades ago **Microsoft Company** decided to create company that will put PC on every desk and in every home. At that time it seemed like a long shot, however four decades later they have truly accomplished their goal.

### Windows 1.0

First version of Microsoft Windows, released on November 20, 1985, achieved some popularity. It was very simple to use, basic interface for a user that provides some tools for user. It had implemented Windows Paint and Write, simple word processor, calendar, clipboard and RAM. Later on Microsoft merged with Apple in order to create new Macintosh computer with base of Windows 1.0.

### Windows 2.0/1

Second version of Microsoft Windows, released on December 9, 1987, upgraded and accepted even more than first version. They introduced very well accepted new applications -  **Windows Word**  and  **Windows Excel** , which are still being used till this day. It had protected kernel implemented inside and it was first  *run-time version*  at that point. Later they upgraded version 2.0 to 2.1 and finally on Decembar 31, 2001, Microsoft declared Windows 2.x obsolete ( no longer produced or used; out of date ) and stopped upgrading it.

### Windows 3.0 / OS-2 / 3.1x

released in 1990, was the first Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months. It featured improvements to the user interface and to multitasking capabilities. It was updated to version 3.1 in 1992.
Also they were working hard on OS/2 which would take full advantage of the aforementioned protected mode of the Intel 80286 processor and up to 16 MB of memory.

### Windows NT 3.1

First business target model was released in July 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT based on IBM OS/2 technology (which Microsoft had been co-developing for several years prior). NT was targeted at businesses rather than home users, although these separate lines would later be combined.

### Windows 95/98

Not very well sold, but they have introduced new upgrades and supports for native applications ( 32 - bits ) and long file names up to 255 characters, however their upgrade from Windows 95 to 98 resulted into new slowness which resulted into getting criticized from users, so they had to come with a solution and later in 1999 they have released new model -  *Windows 98 second edition*  which fixed problems.

### Windows XP

One of the best and most used OS in the world - Windows XP was released in October 25, 2001. They merged their previous versions into one and created new branch. It had a few versions for everybody, ranging from home - users up to big businesses ( Windows XP Home Edition / Professional / N / Tablet PC Edition / Professional x64 edition and so on ). First on release it was critised because of bad security which resulted into new three major releases in order to fix the issue.

### Windows Vista

It was released on November 30, 2006 to business customers and later on January 30, 2007 to regular consumers. It had enhanced security, additional tools and new implemented restrictions which consumers didn't like and it wasn't very well accepted. it was mainly used for businesses later on and many consumers returned to XP because it had more rough and administrative approach towards using Windows.

### Windows 7

Released on October, 2009. It was launched as successor to Vista, and is considered to be a lot more stable, usable and secure. It had faster booting, Device Stage, less obtrusive User Account control and many more options. it was very well accepted and sold to various users all around the world. It had new sidebar with all kind of gadgets and also they removed several applications which users didn't like. It was met with positive reviews, which in summary said that OS is a lot faster and easier to use.
 **Windows 7**  was released in six editions, where every edition had targeted audience.

### Windows 8

Released on June 1, 2011, Windows 8 was launched as the successor to Windows 7 and introduced major changes to the OS's platform and user interface to improve experience on mobile devices, because Windows was now competing with mobile OS's. Windows Server 2012 was also released. Later upgraded to Windows 8.1 on October 17, 2013 to address complaints of Windows 8. It included visual enhancements, new apps, and support for new technologies. It received more acceptance than Windows 8. Windows Server 2012 R2 was released at that time.

### Windows 10

It was officially released on July 29, 2015. It had a number of new features such as Cortana ( Voice assistant ), Microsoft Edge web browser, Windows store, Virtual desktops, Unified settings app. It was constantly upgraded, they were working hard on security and always looked a way to upgrade versions.
Since 2015 - 2022 - Windows 10 had exactly 16 versions which were separated into two half per year. It was very well accepted with the audience, specially with new look which gave special touch to consumers.

### Windows 11

Next generation of NTs Windows and successor to Windows 10. Better knows under codename  **Sun Valley** , it was released on October 5, 2021. It was free to get for all Windows consumers, which they could obtain through Windows Update. It provided modern code, much faster than Windows 10, updates are faster, restarting is faster. They implemented new interface which had better edges, color combinations, however they removed some of old features such as Cortana, Internet Explorer etc.
Although Windows 11 is still new OS, it was sold very well, with mixed reviews.

## Pros and Cons of Microsoft Windows

### Pros

* Support for all hardware

Many Hardware companies specialize into making compact hardware with Windows in order to provide best service for its users.

* Ease of use

Many Windows users will find it easy to switch between Windows versions since most of them have similar tools. Windows is made to be user-friendly and user can easily move through interface and configure it the way he likes it

* Software support

Constant software updates. Focus on fixing bugs and providing extra help

* Made for high – end gaming

Mainly because of popularity and great performance of this OS, gaming companies specialize on making video games for Windows which provides great results and max functionality and enjoyment for users.

* Plug and play feature

you don’t need to manually install features for hardware

### Cons

* Bad security

Very easy to hack. Specially since its one of the most used OS out there. Windows is prone to become target of hackers. User needs to constantly update Windows or pay monthly for security.

* Most of software is paid

If we want to use some special packages or specific applications we need to pay extra money or pay monthly for some features

* Rebooting system

If the system is slow and feels like buggy, user needs to reboot system in order to refresh it.

* Consumes a good amount of system resources

Constant new versions and upgrades takes a good amount of systems resources so a user might need to pay attention which Windows is going to be good on his PC. For example Windows 10 takes up to 40 GB of storage space ( 25-40 based on version ), while other OS takes a lot less

1. ↑ The Unusual History of Microsoft Windows. Retrieved on April 22, 2007.