MS-DOS

MS-DOS ( /msds/ EM-es-DOSS; short for Microsoft Disk Operating System) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of theDOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering a graphical user interface (GUI), in particular by various generations of the Microsoft Windows operating system. MS-DOS grew from a 1981 request by IBM for an operating system for its IBM PC range of personal computers. Microsoft quickly bought the rights to QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), also known as 86-DOS, from Seattle Computer Products, and began work on modifying it to meet IBM's specification. The first edition, MS-DOS 1.0, was launched in 1982. The version shipped with IBM's PCs was called PC DOS. Although MS-DOS and PC DOS were initially developed in parallel by Microsoft and IBM, the two products eventually went their separate ways. During its life, several competing products were released for the x86 platform, and MS-DOS itself would go through eight versions, until development ceased in 2000. Ultimately it was the key product in Microsoft's growth from a programming languages company to a diverse software development firm, providing the company with essential revenue and marketing resources. It was also the underlying basic operating system on which early versions of Windows ran as a GUI. History MS-DOS was a renamed form of 86-DOS informally known as the Quick-and-Dirty Operating System or Q-DOS owned by Seattle Computer Products, written by Tim Paterson. Microsoft needed an operating system for the then-new Intel 8086 but it had none available, so it bought 86DOS for $75,000 and licensed it as its own then released a version of it as MS-DOS 1.0.Development started in 1981, and MS-DOS 1.0 was released with the IBM PC in 1982.(86DOS, in turn, was a clone of Digital Research's CP/M (for 8080/Z80 processors), ported to run on 8086 processors and with two notable differences compared to CP/M, an improved disk sector buffering logic and the introduction of FAT12 instead of the CP/M filesystem. This became possible because of the increased availability of RAM compared to what was typically available when CP/M was designed originally.) Originally MS-DOS was designed to be an operating system that could run on any 8086-family computer. Each computer would have its own distinct hardware and its own version of MS-DOS, similar to the situation that existed for CP/M, and with MS-DOS emulating the same solution as CP/M to adapt for different hardware platforms. To this end, MS-DOS was designed with a modular structure with internal device drivers, minimally for primary disk drives and the console, integrated with the kernel and loaded by the boot loader, and installable device drivers for other devices loaded and integrated at boot time. The OEM would use a development kit

Windows 1.0

Microsoft Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft Corporation and released on November 20, 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows launched. It was succeeded by Windows 2.0 and support was discontinued on December 31, 2001. Windows 1.01 was first released on November 20, 1985. Version 1.02, released in May 1986, was an international release. Version 1.03, released in August 1986 included enhancements that made it consistent with the international release. It included drivers for European keyboards and additional screen and printer drivers. Version 1.04, released in April 1987, added support for the new IBM PS/2 computers, although no support for PS/2 mice or new VGA graphics modes was provided. At the same time, Microsoft and IBMannounced the introduction of OS/2 and its graphical OS/2 Presentation Manager, which were supposed to ultimately replace both MS-DOS and Windows. In November 1987, Windows 1.0 was succeeded by Windows 2.0. Microsoft supported Windows 1.0 for sixteen years, the longest out of all versions of Windows, until December 31, 2001.

Windows 2.0

Windows 2.0 is a 16-bit Microsoft Windows GUI-based operating environment that was released on December 9, 1987 and is the successor to Windows 1.0. With Windows 2.1x in 1988, Windows 2.0 was supplemented

by Windows/286 and Windows/386. Windows 2.0, Windows/286 and Windows/386 were superseded by Windows 3.0 in May 1990, but supported by Microsoft for fourteen years until December 31, 2001.

Application support
The first Windows versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel ran on Windows 2.0. Third-party developer support for Windows increased substantially with this version (some shipped the Windows Runtime software with their applications, for customers who had not purchased the full version of Windows). However, most developers still maintained DOSversions of their applications, as Windows users were still a distinct minority of their market. There were some applications that shipped with Windows 2.0. They are:

CALC.EXE CALENDAR.EXE CARDFILE.EXE CLIPBRD.EXE CLOCK.EXE CONTROL.EXE CVTPAINT.EXE MSDOS.EXE NOTEPAD.EXE PAINT.EXE PIFEDIT.EXE REVERSI.EXE SPOOLER.EXE TERMINAL.EXE WRITE.EXE

Legal conflict with Apple

On March 17, 1988, Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, accusing them of violating copyrights Apple held on the Macintosh System Software . Apple claimed the "look and feel" of the Macintosh operating system, taken as a whole, was protected by copyright and that Windows 2.0 violated this copyright by having the same icons.

Windows 2.1x
Windows/286 takes advantage of the HMA to increase the memory available to Windows programs. It introduced the HIMEM.SYS DOS driver for this purpose. It also includes support for several EMS boards, although this support is not related to the 80286 processor. The segmented nature of Windows programs is quite suited to the usage of EMS, as portions of code and data can be made visible in the first megabyte of memory accessible to real-mode programs only when the program using them is given control. Microsoft encouraged users to configure their computers with only 256KB of main memory, leaving the address space from 256-640KB available for dynamic mapping of EMS memory.

Windows/286
Despite its name, Windows/286 was fully operational on an 8088 or 8086 processor. Windows/286 would simply not use the high memory area since none exist on an 8086-class processor; however, EMS could still be used, if present. A few PC vendors shipped Windows/286 with 8086 hardware; an example was IBM's PS/2 Model 25, which had an option to ship with a "DOS 4.00 and Windows kit" for educational markets, which included word processing and presentation software useful for students, which resulted in some confusion when purchasers of this system received a box labeled Windows/286 with a machine that was definitely less than an 80286.

Windows/386
Windows/386 was much more advanced than its predecessor. It introduced a protected mode kernel, above which the GUI and applications run as a virtual 8086 mode task. It allowed several MS-DOS programs to run in parallel in "virtual 8086" CPU mode, rather than always suspending background applications. (Windows applications could already run in parallel through cooperative multitasking) Each DOS application could use as much low memory as is available before Windows is started, minus a few kilobytes of overhead. Windows/386 also provided EMS emulation, using the memory management features of the 80386 to make RAM beyond 640k behave like the banked memory previously only supplied by add-in cards and used by popular DOS applications. (By overwriting the WIN200.BIN file with COMMAND.COM, it is possible to use the EMS emulation in DOS without starting the Windows GUI.) There was no support for disk-based virtual memory, so multiple DOS programs had to fit inside the available physical memory; therefore, Microsoft suggested buying additional memory and cards if necessary. Neither of these versions worked with DOS memory managers like CEMM or QEMM or with DOS extenders, which have their own extended memory management and run in protected mode as well. This was remedied in version 3.0, which is compatible with Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI) in "standard mode" and with DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) in "386 enhanced" mode (all versions of Windows from 3.0 to 98 exploit a loophole in EMM386 to set up protected mode) Windows 3.0 also had the capability of using the DWEMM Direct Write Enhanced Memory Module. This is what enables the far faster and sleek graphical user interface, as well as true extended memory support.

Windows 3
Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on May 22, 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front. It was followed by Windows 3.1. Windows 3.0 originated in 1989 when a group of Microsoft programmers independently decided to develop a protected mode Windows as an experiment. They cobbled together a rough prototype and presented it to company executives, who were impressed enough to approve it as an official project. Windows 3.0 succeeded Windows 2.1x and included a significantly revamped user interface as well as technical improvements to make better use of the memory managementcapabilities of Intel's 80286 and 80386 processors. Textmode programs written for MS-DOS could be run within a window (a feature previously available in a more limited form with Windows/386 2.1), making the system usable as a crude multitasking base for legacy programs. However, this was of limited use for the home market, where most games and entertainment programs continued to require raw DOS access. The MS-DOS Executive file manager/program launcher was replaced with the icon-based Program Manager and the listbased File Manager, thereby simplifying the launching of applications. The MS-DOS Executive is also included as an alternative to these. The Control Panel, previously available as a standard-looking applet, was re-modeled after the one in Mac OS. It centralized system settings, including limited control over the color scheme of the interface. A number of simple applications were included, such as the text editor Notepad and the word processor Write (both inherited from earlier versions of Windows), a macro recorder (new; later dropped), the paint

program Paintbrush (inherited but substantially improved), and a calculator (also inherited). Also, the earlier Reversi game was complemented with the card game Solitaire. The Windows icons and graphics support a full 16 colors in EGA and VGA mode while Windows 2.x only had colored menus and window boxes with in-application graphics being monochrome. 256 color VGA mode was supported for the first time. Windows 3.0 includes a Protected/Enhanced mode which allows Windows applications to use more memory in a more painless manner than their DOS counterparts could. It can run in any of Real, Standard, or 386 Enhanced modes, and is compatible with any Intel processor from the 8086/8088 up to 80286 and 80386. Windows 3.0 tries to auto detect which mode to run in, although it can be forced to run in a specific mode using the switches: /r (real mode), /s ("standard" 286 protected mode) and /3 (386 enhanced protected mode) respectively. Since Windows 3.0 (and later Windows 3.1) runs in 16-bit 286 protected mode and not 32-bit 386 protected mode, applications must still work with 64k memory segments like in DOS although 32-bit instructions may be contained in the code (Ami Pro was the first Windows application to require a 386). Because of this, Windows 3.0 can only access 16MB total of RAM even on 386 CPUs which have the theoretical capability of utilizing 4GB.

Windows NT 3.1
Windows NT 3.1 is the first release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server and business desktop operating systems, and was released to manufacturing on July 27, 1993. The version number was chosen to match the one of Windows 3.1, the then-latest operating environment from Microsoft, on account of the similar visual appearance of the user interface. Two editions of NT 3.1 were made available, Windows NT 3.1 and Windows NT Advanced Server. It was succeeded by Windows NT 3.5 in September 1994. It could run on Intel x86, DEC Alpha, and MIPS R4000 CPUs. The basic OS kernel introduced in NT 3.1 remains in use today for the 32-bit version of Windows 7 and (in an extended form) the 64-bit version, as well as the NTFS file system

Development
Development of Windows NT started in November 1988, after Microsoft hired a group of developers from Digital Equipment Corporation led by Dave Cutler. Many elements of the design reflect earlier DEC experience with VMS and RSX-11. The operating system was designed to run on multiple instruction set architectures and multiple hardware platforms within each architecture. The platform dependencies are largely hidden from the rest of the system by a kernel mode module called the HAL. Windows NT was originally intended to be OS/2 3.0, the third version of the operating system developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. When Windows 3.0 was released in May 1990, it was so successful that Microsoft decided to change the primary application programming interface for the still-unreleased NT OS/2 (as it was then known) from an extended OS/2 API to an extended Windows API. This decision caused tension between Microsoft and IBM, and the collaboration ultimately fell apart. IBM continued OS/2 development alone, while Microsoft continued work on the newly-renamed Windows NT. The first public demonstration of Windows NT, at the time called "Windows Advanced Server for LAN Manager", was at a developer conference in August 1991, and the product was formally announced at the Spring

1993 COMDEX in Atlanta, Georgia. Application programming interfaces in Windows NT are implemented as subsystems atop the undocumented Native API; it was this that allowed the late adoption of the Windows API. Windows NT was the first operating system by Microsoft to use UCS-2 internally. Windows NT introduced the Win32 API, a 32-bit implementation of the 16-bit Windows API. Most 16-bit Windows applications could be ported to the new system with minimal changes and a recompile. Win32 also provided native API support for many new features, such as networking and multithreading.

Windows NT 3.5
Windows NT 3.5 is the second release of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. It was released on September 21, 1994. One of the primary goals during Windows NT 3.5's development was to increase the speed of the operating system; as a result, the project was given the codename "Daytona" in reference to the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Windows NT 3.5 was finally succeeded by Windows NT 3.51 in 1995 and by Windows NT 4.0 in 1996. This is the first Windows NT version to adopt the names Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server for its editions. The editions of the previous Windows NT release, Windows NT 3.1, were named Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server. The Workstation edition allowed only 10 concurrent clients to access the file server and no Mac clients. The Server edition included all of the functions and network options. Windows NT 3.5 included integrated Winsock and TCP/IP support. The initial commercially available version of Windows NT, version 3.1, included only a proprietary and quite incomplete implementation of TCP/IP based on the AT&T UNIX System V "Streams" API. The TCP/IP and IPX/SPX stacks in Windows NT 3.5 are rewritten. NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) support as a compatibility layer for TCP/IP was introduced as also the Microsoft DHCP and WINS clients and DHCP and WINS servers. Windows NT 3.5 can share files through FTP and printers through LPR and act as Gopher, Web, and WAIS servers. The Windows NT 3.5 Resource Kit included the first implementation of Microsoft DNS. Windows NT 3.5 included Remote Access Service for remote dial-up modem access to LAN services using either SLIP or PPP protocols. Other new features in Windows NT 3.5 include VFAT (ability to use long file names of up to 255 characters), and support for I/O completion ports. It featured a new startup screen. The interface was updated to be consistent with the Windows for Workgroups 3.xx. It also upgraded Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) support from version 1.0 to version 2.0 and is more efficient - performance is higher and it requires less memory than Windows NT 3.1. Windows NT 3.5 did not support laptop computers as it had no drivers for PCMCIA adapter cards. In July 1995, Windows NT 3.5 with Service Pack 3 was rated by the National Security Agency as complying with TCSEC C2 criteria. Windows NT 3.5 refuses to install on a processor newer than the original Pentium (P5 core). Windows NT 3.51 fixed this. It is however possible to modify files on the install CD which will allow it to install.

Windows NT 3.51
Windows NT 3.51 is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on May 30, 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the PowerPC architecture. The second most significant enhancement offered through the release was that it provides client/server support for interoperating with Windows 95, which was released three months after NT 3.51. Windows NT 4.0 became its successor a year later; Microsoft continued to support 3.51 until 31 December 2001.

Overview
The release of Windows NT 3.51 was dubbed "the PowerPC release" at Microsoft. The original intention was to release a PowerPC edition of NT 3.5, but according to Microsoft's David Thompson, "we basically sat around for 9 months fixing bugs while we waited for IBM to finish the Power PC hardware". Editions of NT 3.51 were also released for thex86, MIPS, and Alpha architectures. New features introduced in Windows NT 3.51 include PCMCIA support, NTFS file compression,

replaceable WinLogon (GINA), 3D support in OpenGL, persistent IP routes when using TCP/IP, automatic display of textual descriptions when the mouse pointer was placed on toolbar buttons ("tooltips") and support for Windows 95 common controls. Despite the significant difference in the kernel base, Windows NT 3.51 is readily able to run a large number of Win32 applications designed for Windows 95. Most recent 32-bit applications will not work as the developers have prevented their application from working with any Windows version earlier than Windows 98, also because some applications do not work properly with the older Windows NT 3.51 interface. Despite this, Microsoft in their application releases muddied the issue, releasing 32-bit versions of Microsoft Officeright up to Office 97 SR2b, but relying upon 16bit versions of Internet Explorer technology. This is probably because 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer 4.0 and later integrated with the Windows 95 desktop, and NT 3.51 still used the Windows 3.1 desktop. Later on, up to IE 5.0, but not later 5.x versions, were offered.

Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products. During development, it was referred to as Windows 4.0 or by the internal codename Chicago. Windows 95 integrated Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products. It featured significant improvements over its predecessor, Windows 3.1, most notably in the graphical user interface (GUI) and in its relatively simplified "plug-n-play" features. There were also major changes made at lower levels of the operating system, such as moving from a mainly 16-bit architecture to a pre-emptively multitasked 32-bit architecture. In the marketplace, Windows 95 was a major success, and within a year or two [not specific enough to verify] of its release had become the most successful operating system ever produced[citation needed]. It also had the effect of driving other major players (including OS/2) out of business [citation needed], something which would later be used in court against Microsoft. Some three years after its introduction, Windows 95 was succeeded by Windows 98.

Development
The initial design and planning of Windows 95 can be traced back to around March 1992, just after the release of Windows 3.1. At this time, Windows for Workgroups 3.1and Windows NT 3.1 were still in development and Microsoft's plan for the future was focused on Cairo. Cairo would be Microsoft's next-generation operating system based on Windows NT and featuring a new user interface and an object-based file system, but it was not planned to be shipped before 1994 (Cairo would eventually partially ship in July 1996 in the form of Windows NT 4.0, but without the object-based file system, which would later evolve into WinFS). Simultaneously with Windows 3.1's release, IBM started shipping OS/2 2.0. Microsoft realized they were in need of an updated version of Windows that could support 32-bit applications and preemptive multitasking, but could still run on low-end hardware (Windows NT did not). So the development of Windows "Chicago" was started and, as it was planned for a late 1993 release, became known as Windows 93. Initially, the decision was made not to include a new user interface, as this was planned for Cairo, and only focus on making installation, configuration, and networking easier. Windows 93 would ship together with MS-DOS 7.0, offering a more integrated experience to the user and making it pointless for other companies to create DOS clones. MS-DOS 7.0 was in development at that time under the code name "Jaguar" and could optionally run on top of a Windows 3.1-based 32-bit protected mode kernel called "Cougar" in order to better compete with DR-DOS.

Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was part of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996. It is a 32-bit Windows system available in both workstation and server editions with a graphical environment similar to that of Windows 95.

Overview
The successor to Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0 introduced the modern user interface of Windows 95 to the Windows NT product line, including the Windows Shell, Windows Explorer (known as Windows NT Explorer), and the use of "My" nomenclature (e.g. My Computer). It also includes most applications introduced with Windows 95. Internally, Windows NT 4.0 was known as the Shell Update Release (SUR). Various administrative tools, notably User Manager for Domains, Server Manager and Domain Name Service Manager have improved graphical user interfaces. The Start Menu in Windows NT 4.0 separated the per-user shortcuts and folders from the All users shortcuts and folders by a separator line. Windows NT 4.0 includes some enhancements from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 such as the 3D Pinball game, font smoothing, full window drag, high color icons and stretching the wallpaper to fit the screen. Windows Desktop Update could also be installed on Windows NT 4.0 to update the shell version and install Task Scheduler. The Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit included the Desktop Themes utility. [8] Windows NT 4.0 is the last major release of Microsoft Windows to support the Alpha, MIPS or PowerPC CPU architectures. It remained in use by businesses for a number of years, despite Microsoft's many efforts to get customers to upgrade to Windows 2000 and newer versions. It was also the last release in the Windows NT line to be branded asWindows NT.

Client
. Windows NT 4.0 Workstation was designed for use as the general business desktop operating system

Servers
Windows NT 4.0 Server, released in 1996, was designed for small-scale business server systems. Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition, released in 1997, is the precursor to the Enterprise line of

the Windows server family (Advanced Server in Windows 2000). Enterprise Server was designed for highdemand, high-traffic networks. Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition includes Service Pack 3.[20] Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, released in 1998, allows the users to log on remotely. The

same functionality was called Terminal Services in Windows 2000 and later server releases, and also powers the Remote Desktop feature that first appeared in Windows XP.

Windows 98
Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on May 15, 1998 and to retail on June 25, 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit monolithic product with an MS-DOS based boot loader. Windows 98 was succeeded by Windows 98 Second Edition on May 5, 1999, then by Windows Me (Millennium Edition) on September 14, 2000. Microsoft support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006.

Development of Windows 98 began in the 1990s, initially using the codename "Memphis" to refer to the product. Many builds were released or leaked, starting with build 1351 on December 15, 1996 and ending with Windows 98 Second Edition.
Build Number

Date

Description

Released as

669

in 1995s

First build of codename "Memphis"

1132

June 16, 1996

Very early beta of Windows 98, basically Windows 95 Windows Memphis Prewith small differences Alpha

1387

February 1997

7,

First beta

Windows Memphis Beta

1602

October 3,1997 The first build to be able to upgrade from Windows 3.1x. Windows 98 Beta

1691

February 1998

16,

Expired on 31 December 1998

Windows Candidate

98

Release

1998

May 11, 1998

Final version

Windows 98

Windows 2222 April 23, 1999 Edition

98

Second

Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999 and launched to retail on February 17, 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the final release of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation. It was succeeded by Windows XP for desktop systems in October 2001 and Windows Server 2003 for servers in April 2003. Windows Me was released seven months after Windows 2000 and one year before Windows XP, but Windows Me was not intended to be, nor did it serve as the successor to Windows 2000. Windows Me was designed for home use, while Windows 2000 was designed for business. Four editions of Windows 2000 were released, listed here in increasing ranking: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Microsoft sold Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition, which ran on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors and they were released in 2001.[8] While each edition of Windows 2000 was targeted at a different market, they shared a core set of features, including many system utilities such as theMicrosoft Management Console and standard system administration applications. Support for people with disabilities has been improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies,[9] and Microsoft increased support for different languages[10] and locale information. [11] All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT file system, NTFS 3.0,[12] the Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage.[13] The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, [14] including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources), Distributed File System (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes. Windows 2000 can be installed through either a manual or unattended installation. [15] Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server, by theSystem Preparation Tool.[16]

History
Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever at the time; [17] however, it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda.[18] For ten years after its release, it continued to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month until reaching the end of its lifecycle on July 13, 2010. Windows 2000 is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems, replacing Windows NT 4.0. The original name for the operating system was Windows NT 5.0. Beta 1 of NT 5.0 was released in September 1997, followed by Beta 2 in August 1998. [19] On October 27, 1998, Microsoft announced that the name of the final version of the operating system would be Windows 2000, a name which referred to its projected release date.
[20]

Windows 2000 Beta 3 was released in January 1999. [19] Windows 2000's codenames are NT 5.0 and MemphisNT. During
[24]

Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 was codenamed "Asteroid" [21] and Windows 2000 64-bit was codenamed "Janus." [22]
[23]

development,

there

was

a build

for the Alpha which

was

abandoned

some

time

after

RC1

after Compaq announced they had dropped support for Windows NT on Alpha. From here, Microsoft issued

three release candidates between July and November 1999, and finally released the operating system to partners on December 12, 1999.

Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (pronounced as an abbreviation, "M-E"), is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006. Windows Me was the successor to Windows 98 and was targeted specifically at home PC users. It included Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows Media Player 7, and the newWindows Movie Maker software, which provided basic video editing and was designed to be easy to use for home users. Microsoft also updated the graphical user interface, shellfeatures, and Windows Explorer in Windows Me with some of those first introduced in Windows 2000, which had been released as a business-oriented operating system seven months earlier. Windows Me could be upgraded to Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (but not to SP2 (SV1) or Internet Explorer 7), Outlook Express 6 SP1 and Windows Media Player 9 Series. Microsoft .NET Framework up to and including version 2.0 is supported, however versions 2.0 SP1, 3.x, and greater are not. Office XP was the last version of Microsoft Office to be compatible with Windows Me. Windows Me is a continuation of the Windows 9x model, but with restricted access to real mode MS-DOS in order to speed up system boot time. This was one of the most unpopular changes in Windows Me, because applications that needed real mode DOS to run, such as older disk utilities, did not run under Windows Me (although the system could be booted into real mode DOS using a bootable Windows Me floppy disk). Compared with other releases of Windows, Windows Me had a short shelf-life of just over a year; it was soon replaced by the Windows NT-based Windows XP, which was launched on October 25, 2001.

History
In 1998, Microsoft stated that there would be no version of Windows 9x after Windows 98. In May 1999, however, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, and then announced a new version of Windows 9x which was later revealed to be codenamed Millennium. In 2000, this was released as Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). At least 3 betas of Windows Me were available during its development phase. On September 24, 1999, Microsoft announced that Windows Millennium Beta 1 was released. Windows Millennium Beta 2 was released on November 24, 1999, and added a couple of new features such as System File Protection and Game Options Control Panel. Several interim builds were released between Beta 1 and 2, and added features such as automatic updates and personalized menus. Beta 3 was released on April 11, 2000. The general availability date was December 31, 2000. Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows Millennium Edition on December 31, 2003. Extended support ended on July 11, 2006. Windows 98 Extended support ended the same day. [8] Windows Me also contained the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, which caused it and Windows 98 to be pulled from the Microsoft Developer Network at the end of 2003.[9] At launch time, Microsoft announced a time-limited promotion [10] from September 2000January 2001 which entitled Windows 95 or Windows 98 users to upgrade to Windows Me for $59.95 instead of the regular retail upgrade price of $109.[10] Shortly after Windows Me was released, Microsoft launched a campaign-initiative to promote Windows Me in the U.S., which they dubbed the Meet Me Tour. A national partnered promotional program featured Windows Me, OEMs and other partners in an interactive multimedia attraction in 25 cities across the U.S.[11]

Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base. The name "XP" is short for "eXPerience", highlighting the enhanced user experience. Windows XP, the successor to Windows 2000 and Windows Me, was the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel. Windows XP was released worldwide for retail sale on October 25, 2001, and over 400 million copies were in use in January 2006. [8] It was succeeded by Windows Vista in January 2007. Direct OEM and retail sales of Windows XP ceased on June 30, 2008. Microsoft continued to sell Windows XP through their System Builders (smaller OEMs who sell assembled computers) program until January 31, 2009.[9][10] On April 10, 2012, Microsoft reaffirmed that extended support for Windows XP and Office 2003 would end on April 8, 2014 and suggested that administrators begin preparing to migrate to a newer OS.
[11] [12] [13]

The NT-based versions of Windows, which are programmed in C, C++, and assembly,[14] are known for their improved stability and efficiency over the 9x versions of Microsoft Windows.[15][16] Windows XP presented a significantly redesigned graphical user interface, a change Microsoft promoted as more user-friendly than previous versions of Windows. A new software management facility called Side-by-Side Assembly was introduced to ameliorate the "DLL hell" that plagued 9x versions of Windows. [17][18] It is also the first version of Windows to use product activation to combat illegal copying. During Windows XP's development, the project was codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.[19] According to web analytics data generated by W3Schools, from September 2003 to July 2011, Windows XP was the most widely used operating system for accessing the w3schools website, which they claim is consistent with statistics from other websites. As of June 2012, Windows XP market share is at 26.2% after having peaked at 76.1% in January 2007.

History
Windows XP featured a new task-based GUI (Graphical user interface). The Start menu and Taskbar were updated and many visual effects were added, including: A translucent blue selection rectangle in Windows Explorer Drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop Task-based sidebars in Explorer windows ("common tasks") The ability to group the taskbar buttons of the windows of one application into one button The ability to lock the taskbar and other toolbars to prevent accidental changes The highlighting of recently added programs on the Start menu Shadows under menus (Windows 2000 had shadows under mouse pointers, but not menus)

Windows XP analyzes the performance impact of visual effects and uses this to determine whether to enable them, so as to prevent the new functionality from consuming excessive additional processing overhead. Users can further customize these settings.[20] Some effects, such as alpha compositing (transparency and fading), are handled entirely by many newer video cards. However, if the video card is not capable of hardware alpha blending, performance can be substantially degraded, and Microsoft recommends the feature should be turned off manually.

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 (sometimes referred to as Win2K3) is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, released on April 24, 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on December 6, 2005. Its successor, Windows Server 2008, was released on February 4, 2008. According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 is more scalable and delivers better performance than its predecessor, Windows 2000.

Service Pack 1
On March 30, 2005, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2003. Among the improvements are many of the same updates that were provided to Windows XP users with Service Pack 2. Features that are added with Service Pack 1 include: Security Configuration Wizard: A tool that allows administrators to more easily research, and make Hot Patching: This feature is set to extend Windows Server 2003's ability to take DLL, Driver, and nonIIS 6.0 Metabase Auditing: Allowing the tracking of metabase edits.[18] Windows Firewall: Brings many of the improvements from Windows XP Service Pack 2 to Windows

changes to, security policies.[17] kernel patches without a reboot.

Server 2003; also with the Security Configuration Wizard, it allows administrators to more easily manage the incoming open ports, as it will automatically detect and select default roles. Other networking improvements include support for Wireless Provisioning Services, better IPv6 support, Post-Setup Security Updates: A default mode that is turned on when a Service Pack 1 server is first booted and new protections against SYN flood TCP attacks.[19] up after installation. It configures the firewall to block all incoming connections, and directs the user to install updates. Data Execution Prevention (DEP): Support for the No Execute (NX) bit which helps to prevent buffer Windows Media Player version 10 Internet Explorer 6 SV1[21] (e.g. 'IE6 SP2') Support for fixed disks bearing data organized using the GUID Partition Table system[22] overflow exploits that are often the attack vector of Windows Server exploits. [20]

A full list of updates is available in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.[23]

Windows Server 2003 R2

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. Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition was not released for Itanium.[24]

Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename "Longhorn". Development was completed on November 8, 2006, and over the following three months, it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide and was made available for purchase and download from Microsoft's website. The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems. It was succeeded byWindows 7, which was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and released worldwide for retail on October 22, 2009. Windows Vista contained many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Aero, a redesigned search function, multimedia tools including Windows DVD Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista aimed to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices. Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs. Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista was to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system. One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors was their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gatesannounced in early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computing initiative," which aimed to incorporate security into every aspect of software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion. Even though Windows Vista's security flaws were fixed, hackers made an array of new viruses that bypassed its security features.[8]

Development
Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename Longhorn, in May 2001,[16] five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP andWindows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it had revised its plans. The original Longhorn, based on the Windows XP source code, was scrapped, and Longhorn's development started anew, building on the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called theSecurity Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and Assembly.[17][18]

Windows 7
Windows 7 is the current release of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and businessdesktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and reached general retail availability worldwide on October 22, 2009,[8] less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. Unlike Windows Vista, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista was already compatible. [9] Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, [10] and performance improvements. Some standard applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7;[11][12] most are instead offered separately at no charge as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.[13] Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual
[17]

hard

disks,

improved

performance

on multi-core processors, [14][15][16]

improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using

multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center,[18] a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPSEssentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities includingProgrammer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion for length, weight, temperature, and several others. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display. [19] Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer. ReadyBoost on 32-bit editions now supports up to 256 gigabytes of extra allocation. The default setting for User Account Control in Windows 7 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges without a prompt by exploiting a trusted application. [20] Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that malware can also compromise a system when users agree to a prompt.[21] Windows 7 also supports images in RAW image format through the addition of Windows Imaging Component-enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Media Center.[22] The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with the ability to pin applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks. [23] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. [24] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger. [25] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to the top of the screen.