Windows 1.0
In september 1981 Microsoft began the development of the
interface manager, which later became windows. After several changes
to the graphical lay out Windows 1.0 finaly went on sale in November
1985.
Windows 2.0
This was released in 1987 and brought with it great useability
improvements to the Windows software. It brought new icons and the operating windows could overlap.
Windows 386
Became available in the later part of 1987, it had many similarities with Windows 2.0. The major improvement to this version of Windows was that it could run multiple DOS applications at the same time.
Windows 3.0
was released in May 1990. It had a complete overhaul of the Windows enviroment. The user interface became more powerful and software developers began to take notice of it as an important operating system.
Windows 3.01
became available in April 1992 and came with a whole host of great improvements. In the first two months of its release it sold well over 3 million copies. Windows 3.11 did not add any new features but corrected a few small errors and problems.
Windows for work groups 3.1
was the first Windows operating system that came with networking features and was released in October 1992. Peer to peer file sharing and printer sharing were all fully intergrated into the Windows enviroment.
Windows NT 3.1
was developed for use on high end systems and was released in January 1994. Its intended for use in servers, workstations and also software development machines. Windows NT holds alot in common with Windows 3.1 but in the heart of the system there is a brand new kernel operating system.
Windows 95 came onto the scene in August 1995 with alot of new features. A 32-bit system with pre-emptive multitasking, threading, networking and advanced filing system. It also came in with a brand new graphical user interface.
Windows 98
became available in June 1998. A new interface and desktop enabling you to set your desktop as a personal web page with links to web content active on the deesktop, it became known as the active desktop. New hardware features with support for DVD, USB and Firewire.
Windows ME
was released in September 2000, the ME stands for Millenium edition. It was aimed at the home user and came with mostly new and improved multimedia features.
Windows 2000
which was released in the year 2000 came along with a host of impressive features and extras. Better support for Internet, Intranet and Extranet management. The biggest added feature was the support for corporate sized networks.
Windows XP
was officially released in October 2001 and was available in a home edition and a professional version. The OS is unlike any other that Windows have ever released. With a brand new working enviroment it comes with a 32-bit kernel and drivers from NT and Windows 2000. Added support for Internet access and multimedia tasks, this is an impressive addition to the Windows family.
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