Microsoft Windows commonly known as Windows, was introduced by Microsoft on 20 November, 1985. Windows is proprietary and closed source operating system. Windows uses Graphical User Interface (GUI) to interact with users. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft and Windows operating system. Windows is supported on almost every computer platform ARM, ARM-64, x86-64, IA-32 as it is most widely used operating system and captures 90% of total share in personal computer (PC) market. Journey of Microsoft Windows from first version to latest version :
- Windows 1.0 – In Nov 1985
- Windows 2.0 – In Dec 1987
- Windows 3.0 – In May 1990
- Windows 95 – In Aug 1995
- Windows 98 – In June 1998
- Windows ME – In Sep 2000
- Windows XP – In Oct 2001
- Windows Vista – In Nov 2006
- Windows 7 – In July 2009
- Windows 8.0 – In Oct 2012
- Windows 8.1 – In Oct 2013
- Windows 10 – In July 2015
Here are some facts about Windows that may amaze you :
- Study of latest data shows that there are almost 1.36 billion active Windows users and that’s nearly one and half times, the sum of people living in North and South America.
- Since 2009, sales of Windows 7 and Windows 8 units is more than the whole population of Europe.
- Initially, Bill Gates was planning to name Windows as ‘Interface Manager’.
- According to Bill Gates, Windows 1.0 is ‘a unique software designed for serious PC user’. Windows 1.0 includes Paint, Calculator, Notepad and Word processor.
- Windows 1.0 is less than 1 MB in size and had 16-bit colour interface.
- In order to make users familiar with odd input system of Windows, Microsoft included games, Reversi that depend on mouse button click instead of keyboard.
- In 1988, Microsoft became the world’s largest PC software company on the basis of sales.
- Windows NT was known as ‘Portable System’as it was designed for normal users as well as business related purpose.
- There is significant advancement in Windows 95 as it provides Start Menu, Taskbar and Close buttons.
- On October 25, 2001, Microsoft launched Windows XP, which became the best selling product of Microsoft in their software development history.
- ‘Windows Nashville’, ‘Windows Cairo’ and ‘Windows Neptune’, these are the three unreleased versions of Windows.
- With the success of Windows 7, Microsoft beats Apple in terms of customer satisfaction.
- In 2015, Microsoft released Windows 10 along with a digital personal assistant, ‘CORTANA’.
- Windows 98 was the last windows operating system based on MS-DOS.
- Microsoft mouse, launched in 1983, was the first hardware product made by Microsoft.