History of Microsoft Windows

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Windows logo used since November 2006.

In 1983 Microsoft announced the development of Windows, a graphical user interface (GUI) for its own operating system (MS-DOS), which had shipped for IBM PC and compatible computers since 1981. Since then, Microsoft has shipped many versions of Windows, and the product line has changed from a GUI product to a modern operating system.

[edit] Early history: an expansion of MS-DOS

Early Windows logo

Main articles: Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, and Windows 2.1x

The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released on 20 November 1985, achieved little popularity. It was originally going to be called "Interface Manager" but Rowland Hanson-the head of marketing at Microsoft, convinced the company that the name <Windows> would be more appealing to consumers. 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 problems. 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 "cardfiler", a "Microsoft 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 to develop several Desk Accessories and other minor pieces of software that were included with early Macintosh system software. 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, in order 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. There was no trash can icon with which to delete files, since Apple claimed ownership of the rights to that paradigm.

Microsoft Windows version 2 came out on 9 December 1987, 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 beginning of the success of Windows.

Versions 2.0x used the real-mode memory model, which confined it to a maximum of 1 megabyte of memory. In such a configuration, it could run under another multitasker like DESQview, which used the 286 Protected Mode.

Later, two new versions were released: Windows/286 2.1 and Windows/386 2.1. Like previous versions of Windows, Windows/286 2.1 used the real-mode memory model, but was the first version to support the "High Memory Area|HMA". Windows/386 2.1 had a protected mode kernel with LIM-standard EMS emulation, the predecessor to XMS which would finally change the topology of IBM PC computing. All Windows and DOS-based applications at the time were real mode, running over the protected mode kernel by using the virtual 8086 mode, which was new with the 80386 processor.

Version 2.03, and later 3.0, faced challenges from Apple over its overlapping windows and other features Apple charged mimicked the ostensibly copyrighted "look and feel" of its operating system and "embodie[d] and generated a copy of the Macintosh" in its OS. Judge William Schwarzer dropped all but 10 of Apple's 189 claims of copyright infringement, and ruled that most of the remaining 10 were over uncopyrightable ideas.

[edit] Success with Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0 screenshot.

Main article: Windows 3.0

Microsoft Windows scored a significant success with Windows 3.0, released in 1990. In addition to improved capabilities given to native applications, Windows also allowed users to better multitask older MS-DOS based software compared to Windows/386, thanks to the introduction of virtual memory.

Windows 3.0's user interface was finally a serious competitor to the user interface of the Macintosh computer. PCs had improved graphics by this time, due to VGA video cards, and the Protected/Enhanced mode allowed Windows applications to use more memory in a more painless manner than their DOS counterparts could. Windows 3.0 could run in Real, Standard, or 386 Enhanced modes, and was compatible with any Intel processor from the 8086/8088 up to the 80286 and 80386. This was the first version to run Windows programs in protected mode, although the 386 enhanced mode kernel was an enhanced version of the protected mode kernel in Windows/386.

A "multimedia" version, Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0, was released several months later. This was bundled with "multimedia upgrade kits", comprising a CD-ROM drive and a sound card, such as the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro. This version was the precursor to the multimedia features available in Windows 3.1 and later, and 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.

[edit] A step sideways: OS/2

OS/2 logo

Main article: OS/2

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 Intel 80286 processor and up to 16MB of memory. OS/2 1.0, released in 1987, supported swapping and multitasking and allowed running of DOS executables.

A GUI, called the Presentation Manager (PM), was not available with OS/2 until version 1.1, released in 1988. Its API was incompatible with Windows. (Among other things, Presentation Manager placed X,Y coordinate 0,0 at the bottom left of the screen like Cartesian coordinates, while Windows put 0,0 at the top left of the screen like most other computer window systems.) Version 1.2, released in 1989, introduced a new file system, HPFS, to replace the FAT file system.

By the early 1990s, conflicts developed in the Microsoft/IBM relationship. They cooperated with each other in developing their PC operating systems, and had access to each others' 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 however fell apart, 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. Both retained the rights to use OS/2 and Windows technology developed up to the termination of the agreement; Windows NT, however, was to be written anew, mostly independently (see below).

After an interim 1.3 version to fix up many remaining problems with the 1.x series, IBM released OS/2 version 2.0 in 1992. This was a major improvement: it featured a new, object-oriented GUI, the Workplace Shell (WPS), that included a desktop and was considered by many to be OS/2's best feature. Microsoft would later imitate much of it in Windows 95. Version 2.0 also provided a full 32-bit API, offered smooth multitasking and could take advantage of the 4 gigabytes of address space provided by the Intel 80386. Still, much of the system still had 16-bit code internally which required, among other things, device drivers to be 16-bit code as well. This was one of the reasons for the chronic shortage of OS/2 drivers for the latest devices. Version 2.0 could also run DOS and Windows 3.0 programs, since IBM had retained the right to use the DOS and Windows code as a result of the breakup.

[edit] Windows 3.1 and NT

Microsoft Windows logo (1992-2000)

Windows 3.11 screenshot.

Main articles: Windows 3.1x, Windows NT, and Windows NT 3.1

In response to the impending release of OS/2 2.0, Microsoft developed Windows 3.1, which includes several minor improvements to Windows 3.0 (such as display of TrueType scalable fonts, developed jointly with Apple), but primarily consists of bugfixes and multimedia support. It also excludes support for Real mode, and only runs on an 80286 or better processor. Later Microsoft also released Windows 3.11, a touch-up to Windows 3.1 which includes all of the patches and updates that followed the release of Windows 3.1 in 1992. Around the same time, Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups (WfW), available both as an add-on for existing Windows 3.1 installations and in a version that included the base Windows environment and the networking extensions all in one package. Windows for Workgroups includes improved network drivers and protocol stacks, and support for peer-to-peer networking. One optional download for WfW was the "Wolverine" TCP/IP protocol stack, which allowed for easy access to the Internet through corporate networks. There are two versions of Windows for Workgroups, WfW 3.1 and WfW 3.11. Unlike the previous versions, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 only runs in 386 Enhanced mode, and requires at least an 80386SX processor.

All these versions continued version 3.0's impressive sales pace. Even though the 3.1x series still lacked 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 purchased by Compaq, now part of Hewlett-Packard).^[1] Microsoft hired him in August 1988 to create a successor to OS/2, but Cutler created a completely new system 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.^[2] Microsoft eventually paid $150 million U.S. and agreed to support DEC's Alpha CPU chip in NT.

Windows NT 3.1 (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.^[3] Microsoft announced at the conference its intentions to develop a successor to both Windows NT and Windows 3.1's replacement (code-named 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. Parts of Cairo have still not made it into Windows as of 2009 - specifically, 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^[4] 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 developers were not going to go through the trouble of developing drivers for a small segment of the market. Additionally, although allowing for good performance and fuller exploitation of system resources, it was also resource-intensive on limited hardware, and thus was only suitable for larger, more expensive machines.

However, these same features made Windows NT perfect for the LAN server market (which in 1993 was experiencing a rapid boom, as office networking was becoming common). NT also had advanced network connectivity options and the efficient NTFS file system. Windows NT version 3.51 was Microsoft's entry into this field, and took away market share from Novell (the dominant player) in the following years.

One of Microsoft's biggest advances initially developed for Windows NT was a new 32-bit API, to replace the legacy 16-bit Windows API. This API was called Win32, and from then on Microsoft referred to the older 16-bit API as Win16. The Win32 API had three main implementations: one for Windows NT, one for Win32s (which was a subset of Win32 which could be used on Windows 3.1 systems), and one for Chicago. Thus Microsoft sought to ensure some degree of compatibility between the Chicago design and Windows NT, even though the two systems had radically different internal architectures. Windows NT was the first Windows operating system based on a hybrid kernel.

[edit] Windows 95

Windows 95 Logo

Windows 95 screenshot.

Main article: Windows 95

After Windows 3.11, Microsoft began to develop a new consumer oriented version of the operating system code-named Chicago. Chicago was designed to have support for 32-bit preemptive multitasking like OS/2 and Windows NT, although a 16-bit kernel would remain for the sake of backward compatibility. The Win32 API first introduced with Windows NT was adopted as the standard 32-bit programming interface, with Win16 compatibility being preserved through a technique known as "thunking". A new GUI was not originally planned as part of the release, although elements of the Cairo user 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 Chicago when it was released on 24 August 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 a version of DOS 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 2GB reserved for the operating system), and in theory prevented them from inadvertently corrupting the memory space of other Win32 applications. In this respect the functionality of Windows 95 moved closer to Windows NT, although Windows 95/98/ME did not support more than 512 megabytes of physical RAM without obscure system tweaks.

IBM continued to market OS/2, producing later versions in OS/2 3.0 and 4.0 (also called Warp). Responding to complaints about OS/2 2.0's high demands on computer hardware, version 3.0 was significantly optimized both for speed and size. Before Windows 95 was released, OS/2 Warp 3.0 was even shipped preinstalled with several large German hardware vendor chains. However, with the release of Windows 95, OS/2 began to lose market share.

It is probably impossible to choose one specific reason why OS/2 failed to gain much market share. While OS/2 continued to run Windows 3.1 applications, it lacked support for anything but the Win32s subset of Win32 API (see above). Unlike with Windows 3.1, IBM did not have access to the source code for Windows 95 and was unwilling to commit the time and resources to emulate the moving target of the Win32 API. IBM also introduced OS/2 into the United States v. Microsoft case, blaming unfair marketing tactics on Microsoft's part, but many people would probably agree that IBM's own marketing problems and lack of support for developers contributed at least as much to the failure.^{[original research?]}

Microsoft went on to release five different versions of Windows 95:

Windows 95 - original release
Windows 95 A - included Windows 95 OSR1 slipstreamed into the installation.
Windows 95 B - (OSR2) included several major enhancements, Internet Explorer (IE) 3.0 and full FAT32 file system support.
Windows 95 B USB - (OSR2.1) included basic USB support.
Windows 95 C - (OSR2.5) included all the above features, plus IE 4.0. This was the last 95 version produced.

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). This product was sold under the name Windows 97 in some countries in Europe.

The first Microsoft Plus! add-on pack was sold for Windows 95.

[edit] Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT logo

Main article: Windows NT 4.0

Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0, which features the new Windows 95 interface on top of the Windows NT kernel. (a patch was available for developers to make NT 3.51 use the new UI, but it was quite buggy).

Windows NT 4.0 came in four versions:

Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
Windows NT 4.0 Server
Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition (includes support for 8-way SMP and clustering)
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server

[edit] Windows 98

Windows 98 logo

Windows 98 screenshot.

Main article: Windows 98

On 25 June 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98, which was widely regarded as a minor revision of Windows 95, but generally found to be more stable and reliable than its 1995 predecessor. It included new hardware drivers and better support for the FAT32 file system which allows support for disk partitions larger than the 2 GB maximum accepted by Windows 95. The USB support in Windows 98 is far superior to the token, unreliable support provided by the OEM editions of Windows 95. It also controversially integrated the Internet Explorer browser into the Windows GUI and Windows Explorer file manager, prompting the opening of the United States v. Microsoft case, dealing with the question of whether Microsoft was abusing its hold on the PC operating system market to unfairly compete with companies such as Netscape.

In 1999, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, an interim release whose most notable feature was the addition of Internet Connection Sharing, which was a form of network address translation, allowing several machines on a LAN (Local Area Network) to share a single Internet connection. Hardware support through device drivers was increased. Many minor problems present in the original Windows 98 were found and fixed which make it, according to many, the most stable release of Windows 9x family.

[edit] Windows 2000

Windows 2000 logo

Windows 2000 screenshot.

Main article: Windows 2000

Microsoft released Windows 2000, known during its development cycle as Windows NT 5.0, in February 2000. 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 DNS, LDAP, and Kerberos to connect machines to one another. Terminal Services, previously only available as a separate edition of NT 4, was expanded to all server versions. A number of features from Windows 98 were incorporated as well, such as an improved Device Manager, Windows Media Player, and a revised DirectX that made it possible for the first time for many modern games to work on the NT kernel. Windows 2000 is also the last NT-kernel Windows operating system to lack Product Activation.

While Windows 2000 upgrades were available for Windows 95 and Windows 98, it was not intended for home users.^[5] It lacked device drivers for many common consumer devices such as scanners and printers^{[citation needed]}.

Windows 2000 was available in six editions:

Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition

[edit] Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

Windows Me logo

Main article: Windows Me

In September 2000, Microsoft introduced Windows Me (Millennium Edition), which upgraded Windows 98 with enhanced multimedia and Internet features. It also introduced the first version of System Restore, which allowed users to revert their system state to a previous "known-good" point in the case of system failure. System Restore was a notable feature that made its way into Windows XP. The first version of Windows Movie Maker was introduced as well.

Windows Me was conceived as a quick one-year project that served as a stopgap release between Windows 98 and Windows XP. Many of the new features were available from the Windows Update site as updates for older Windows versions, (System Restore and Windows Movie Maker were exceptions). As a result, Windows Me was not acknowledged as a unique Operating System along the lines of 95 or 98. Windows Me was widely criticised for serious stability issues, and for lacking real mode DOS support, to the point of being referred to as the "Mistake Edition". Windows Me was the last operating system to be based on the Windows 9x (monolithic) kernel and MS-DOS. It is also the last 32-bit release of Microsoft Windows which does not include Product Activation.

[edit] Windows XP

The Windows logo, redesigned with the release of Windows XP, used until 4 December 2006.

Windows XP screenshot - showing the Sample Pictures folder, Sample Music folder, and Control Panel, with the blue Luna scheme and Bliss desktop.

Main article: Windows XP

[edit] Windows Server 2003

Windows 2003 enterprise server screenshot.

Main article: Windows Server 2003

On 24 April 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 server environments are disabled by default for stability reasons, most noticeable are the "Windows Audio" and "Themes" services; Users have to enable them manually to get sound or the "Luna" look as per Windows XP. The hardware acceleration for display is also turned off by default, users have to turn the acceleration level up themselves if they trust the display card driver.

December 2005, Microsoft released Windows Server 2003 R2, which is actually Windows Server 2003 with SP1 (Service Pack 1) plus an add-on package. Among the new features are a number of management features for branch offices, file serving, printing and company-wide identity integration.

Windows Server 2003 is available in six editions:

Web Edition (32-bit)
Standard Edition (32 and 64-bit)
Enterprise Edition (32 and 64-bit)
Datacenter Edition (32 and 64-bit)
Small Business Server (32 and 64-bit)
Storage Server (OEM channel only)

[edit] Thin client: Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

Main article: Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

In July 2006, 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.

[edit] Windows Home Server

Main article: Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server (codenamed Q, Quattro) is a server product based on Windows Server 2003, designed for consumer use. The system was announced on January 7th, 2007 by Bill Gates. Windows Home Server can be configured and monitored using a console program that can be installed on a client PC. Such features as Media Sharing, local and remote drive backup and file duplication are all listed as features.

[edit] Windows Vista

Windows Vista logo

Windows Vista, showing its new Aero Glass interface, Welcome Center and Start menu.

Main article: Windows Vista

The current client version of Windows, Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) was released on 30 November 2006[1] to business customers, with consumer versions following on 30 January 2007. Windows Vista intended to have enhanced security by introducing a new restricted user mode called User Account Control, replacing the "administrator-by-default" philosophy of Windows XP. Vista also features new graphics features, the Windows Aero GUI, new applications (such as Windows Calendar, Windows DVD Maker and some new games including Chess, Mahjong, and Purble Place)^[6], a revised and more secure version of Internet Explorer, a new version of Windows Media Player, and a large number of underlying architectural changes.

Windows Vista ships in several editions:^[7]

Starter (only available in developing countries)
Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Enterprise (only available to large businesses and enterprises)
Ultimate (combines both Home Premium and Enterprise)

All editions (except Starter edition) are currently available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The biggest advantage of the 64-bit version is breaking the 4 gigabyte memory barrier, which 32-bit computers cannot fully access. In the first year after Vista's release, most installations were still 32-bit, due to poor driver support of the 64-bit version.

[edit] Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008, released on 27 February 2008, was originally known as Windows Server Codename "Longhorn". Windows Server 2008 builds on the technological and security advances first introduced with Windows Vista, and is significantly more modular than its predecessor, Windows Server 2003. At the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2008, Microsoft announced Windows Server 2008 R2, as the server variant of Windows 7. Windows Server 2008 R2 will ship in 64-bit only.

Windows Server 2008 is available in ten editions:

Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows HPC Server 2008
Windows Web Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Storage Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Small Business Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
Windows Server 2008 Foundation Server

[edit] Windows 7

Windows 7 logo

Windows 7 will be the next Windows release

Main article: Windows 7

[edit] Product progression

[edit] MS-DOS

MS-DOS 1.x through 6.22
Windows 95 (MS-DOS 7.0)
Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.x and Windows 98 (MS-DOS 7.1)
Windows Millennium Edition (MS-DOS 8.0)

[edit] Windows (MS-DOS Based)

Windows 1.0
Windows 2.0
Windows/286 and Windows/386 (Windows 2.1)
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.1, Windows 3.1 for Workgroups, Windows 3.11, and Windows 3.11 for Workgroups (WfW)
Windows 95 (Windows 4.0)
Windows 98 (Windows 4.1)
Windows Millennium Edition (Windows 4.9)

[edit] Windows NT

Windows NT 3.1
Windows NT 3.5
Windows NT 3.51
Windows NT 4.0 including up to Service Pack 6a
Windows 2000 (Windows NT 5.0) including up to Service Pack 4
Windows XP (Windows NT 5.1) including up to Service Pack 3
Windows Server 2003 (Windows NT 5.2) including up to Service Pack 2
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (Windows NT 5.2) including up to Service Pack 2
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (Windows NT 5.1) including up to Service Pack 3
Windows Home Server (Windows NT 5.2)
Windows Vista (Windows NT 6.0) including up to Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 (Windows NT 6.0) including up to Service Pack 1
Windows 7 (Windows NT 6.1)
Windows Server 2008 R2 (Windows NT 6.1)

[edit] Other

[edit] See also

Microsoft portal

[edit] Plus!

Windows 95 Plus (1996) Windows 98 Plus (1999) Windows XP Plus (2002)

[edit] References

^ Russinovich, Mark (December 1998). "Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story". http://www.krsaborio.net/research/1990s/98/12_b.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
^ Smith, Mark (27 August, 1999). "The Death of Alpha on NT". Windows IT Pro. http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/7153/the-death-of-alpha-on-nt.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
^ Russinovich, Mark (14 June, 2000). "Sysinternals Site Discussion: Volume 2, Number 3". Winternals. http://blogs.technet.com/sysinternals/archive/2000/06/14/452892.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
^ Clark, Quentin (23 June, 2006). "What's in Store: WinFS Update". MSDN Blogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/winfs/archive/2006/06/23/644706.aspx. Retrieved on 200-02-103.
^ Thurrott, Paul. "Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 2000 FAQ". SuperSite for Windows. http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/2000_old.asp. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Explore the features: Games Explorer". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/games-explorer.aspx?tabid=2&catid=1.
^ "Windows Vista: Compare Editions". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx.
^ "Windows Vista Team Blog: Introducing Windows 7". http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/13/introducing-windows-7.aspx.

[edit] External links

[ntvmsrussinovich-0] Russinovich, Mark (December 1998). "Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story". http://www.krsaborio.net/research/1990s/98/12_b.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.

[1] Smith, Mark (27 August, 1999). "The Death of Alpha on NT". Windows IT Pro. http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/7153/the-death-of-alpha-on-nt.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.

[2] Russinovich, Mark (14 June, 2000). "Sysinternals Site Discussion: Volume 2, Number 3". Winternals. http://blogs.technet.com/sysinternals/archive/2000/06/14/452892.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.

[3] Clark, Quentin (23 June, 2006). "What's in Store: WinFS Update". MSDN Blogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/winfs/archive/2006/06/23/644706.aspx. Retrieved on 200-02-103.

[4] Thurrott, Paul. "Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 2000 FAQ". SuperSite for Windows. http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/2000_old.asp. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.

[5] "Explore the features: Games Explorer". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/games-explorer.aspx?tabid=2&catid=1.

[6] "Windows Vista: Compare Editions". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx.

[7] "Windows Vista Team Blog: Introducing Windows 7". http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/13/introducing-windows-7.aspx.

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