Evolution of windows Operating system
Turns out that more than 45.3% of laptop users use windows as their operating system which Is a big portion of consumers, and it is the most dominated OS of 2021, anywhere from budget to ultra books, windows is a preferred platform. How did they get tot his position?. Some times it is needed to look back and see about how humble it all started. In this article we are going to see about all the major windows operating systems that has ever launched. So lets get into it.
Windows has been active from 1985, and they have launched many versions ever since, their first step came in the form of Windows 1.0 and that’s where we are going to start.
WINDOWS 1.0
Early operating systems were rather a set of codes, than a graphical interface that you see today. Windows 1.0 launched as a graphical cover on top of one such operating system called as MS DOS, this means that windows 1.0 wasn’t even a standalone operating system, it was just a graphical shell, but still this was a revolution at that time, everyone praised it, as windows made the computers ‘operate-able’ to everyone.
Still many users ranted about it because they have said that it was so demanding on the early computers, and moreover it needed a mouse to operate it, which at that time, was not a, take it for granted product.
WINDOWS 2.0
In 1987 Microsoft launched their windows 2.0 which was more polished, for the first time windows themselves could overlap on top of each other which made multi-tasking easier, and this OS could output a whopping 256 colors on compatible computers, which at the moment of emerging “colour computers”, was insane. Even though third party applications did not emerge yet, both Microsoft word and excel made their first debut in windows 2.0. Even this article which you are reading was written on ms word, which shows its importance.
WINDOWS 2.1
This version launched at 1988, was the first version of windows that demanded and required a hard drive to run the OS, as previous versions ran on floppy disks. This also had a few tweaks to the Graphics itself but not anything revolutionary.
WINDOWS 3.0
This windows version was a major change to the windows environment, firstly because the launch event was expensive, Microsoft spent a whopping 3 million dollars just on the launch event itself, and secondly because this version was more polished, and enabled a much smoother multitasking experience, and moreover it possessed graphical(GUI) icons which made its graphical user interface look ‘graphical’. This version also bought us CD - ROM support and sound playback. This also introduced some simple games like minesweeper. Even-though this was very simple games, this is where windows Gaming started.
WINDOWS 3.1
This version is a step up from windows 3 with small and big tweaks, this version introduced drag and drop for icons as well as true type feature which means you will get to see the outcome of your word document ‘live’ as you type, just like WYSIWYG.
WINDOWS 3.1 NT
Despite the similar name between the 3.1 and the 3.1 NT, these two computers share completely different code base.
Remember when I said that all these early windows versions ran on top of MS dos? This defies that, this is the first version of windows that ran on completely independent base OS as a ‘standalone’ operating system and this unveiled bucket load of new developer and consumer features.
In fact, modern versions of windows are of the same NT lineage, till windows 11. Although the next version NT 3.5 also ran on the independent code base just as the 3.1 NT, windows didn’t just ditch dos based windows yet.
WINDOWS 95
1995 marked the birth of the blockbuster windows version Windows 95, which is named after the year it was launched. Even- though this version of windows ran on top of Ms dos, this year is when widows starts showing up as a standalone OS. This version is when Windows launched their iconic features like the start menu and the task bar, which resembles modern day versions. It also supported USB with later patch updates.
They have also updated the NT versions, with the new…
WINDOWS 4.0
This version Shared the same GUI as the windows 95 with not a lot of new features, but it was a step up from the Windows NT 3.5.
WINDOWS 98
This was a tweaked and beefed up version of the Windows 95, which was supposed to integrate better with the internet, but as it is early adoption and internet haven’t matured yet, so this had a lot of defects and bugs, some were fixed and patched while others were prevalent, which made them launch the Windows 98 ‘second edition’ which said to have fixed it.
Even-though this Windows 98 SE had stopped most of the problems that the first one had, this was'nt enough to recommend it.
WINDOWS 2000NT
This version was more stable and well integrated to the internet compared to the earlier versions. But this also had a flaw, it had a lot of security holes, Windows trying to fix the internet bugs brought up security issues.
Now they started making focus on all parts of the operating system, with very hard work and determination they launched the next Windows version, which blew people's minds, and this version is none other than....
WINDOWS XP
Stepping into the 21st century, marked their legendary blockbuster, the Windows XP, this version squashed all the bugs that previous versions had and this was very stable as an operating system, and soon got very popular, it is so popular that this version was continued for 9 whole years, which is a lot of time for the tech industry.
This version soon launched other branches of it such as
1. XP professional
2. XP 64 bit
3. XP strip down for older systems with weaker drivers
If your parents had laptops or computers in the early 2000’s they are probably familiar with its popularity. This gained popularity due to XP’s stability, eye pleasing UI and optimised and powerful performance.
Anti piracy scheme also made its first and successful debut in version.
At this point Windows started becoming more and more mature, they have stopped making a whole new overhaul and instead tried to tweak it, but they have a long way to go!
WINDOWS VISTA
This was not as popular as XP mainly because it wasn’t hardware optimized so XP continued to standard instead. some told that it was so different than XP that it bought new issues in the less concentrated areas. IN the next one they fixed it…
WINDOWS 7
This version was launched in 2007 was a betterment from VISTA which was similar from its predecessor, but this was much stable than Vista, because the hardware and the software developed cohesively, this meant that the hardware was ready for the revamped software. This was also so successful that it canibalised its successor the Windows 8. Most of the versions of any operating system will be supported for 4-5 years until The company finally gives up on it, but this version’s popularity led to windows 7 being supported till 2023, which is a whopping 15 years, and this is highly unlikely to happen.
WINDOWS 8
This was launched at 2012 and this was confusing, this wasn’t bad but this was disliked by many laptop users. In 2010, Apple launched The i pad and this became popular very soon as they launched further versions, so Microsoft too, developed a tablet series called the surface tablets, and they gave Fully fledged Windows support for it, to make it look like an all in one device, so they have developed an OS which was optimized for tablets.
but the all new reimagined Start screen and the Apps screen did not make much sense for mouse keyboard users, they have even ditched the essential windows icon which made users dislike it,
TO combat this problem they have introduced a second version for it which was named as the Windows 8.1 they have made some software changes, brought back the Windows icon, and did many tweaks which could please both tablet and desktop users, so personally I have used windows 8.1 and, though the start menu was not my favorite, I liked the flat and minimalist design change, so that’s my personal opinion, let me know in the comments about yours.
WINDOWS 10
This is also a legendary OS which was launched at 2015 and is to be remembered for a long time, this scrapped the tablet optimized start screen, and the tablet oriented apps screen, but still it was proven to be optimized in both laptop and tablet. This still stands as my personal and public favorite, even- though it was advertised as the last version of Windows, they launched the next thing, and it is on the way….
WINDOWS 11
At the time of writing, this is still at BETA version and it is not released publicly, this brought us the translucent and a glossy feel which was used in earlier versions, but still had a flat look with minimalist themes, and having some iconic elements from Windows 10. They have now introduced features such as split screen layouts, centered icons, and new widgets screen, these are something that productivity users always wanted, they have also introduced 50+ new features, for which I will post an article about once it is launched. This is yet to be launched and I am Exited about it. I think it will be an awesome update. Lets cheer Microsoft!!
Windows as a company has evolved so much, if you compare Windows 11 and Windows 1.0 you can see how much They have developed and how far they have come, so, let’s wish better luck for their upcoming versions.
Valuable article isn’t? If you have liked it please comment down below, if you have any suggestions it is as always welcome, and this has been a hard article to make so, an appreciation would be nice, and as always this is Tech passion and I am Raghunath B from techenthusiastrs.blogspot.com and I am signing off… for now.
nice article boy keep it up
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ReplyDeleteThank you very much guys
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