History of the Windows Operating System

Origins and frameworkMicrosoft founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975

They realized that there was a huge potential market for home computers for the everyday user

Almost all computers of the time were not simple to use and had a high learning curve

The Dawn of MS-DOSMicroSoft Disk Operating SystemMS-DOS was the basis from what Windows was later built uponCreated in collaboration with Steve Ballmer, a friend of Gates and Allen who would later become CEOBridged the gap between hardware and programs into a single interface

Windows 1.0MS-DOS, while useful, was still lacking especially in the interface and usability for the common userMicrosoft releases Windows 1.0 on November 20, 1985Was revolutionary for its timeIntroduced the windows concept different screens you could click between instead of typing commands through MS-DOSComes with many built in programs, such as Notepad, Paint, a Calender, Clock, and Games

Windows 2.0 and 3.0Improved on the shortcomings from 1.0, and refined and cleaned up the user interfaceIntroduced the concept of desktop icons for quickly launching programsOptimized the operating system so that it ran faster and smootherImproved visual graphics and support for 16 colorsBoth OSes were a huge success Microsoft becomes the largest PC software company in the worldWindows begins its domination of the OS market, and becomes the most used OS in the world

Windows 95Released on August 24th, 1995With 7 million copies sold in the first month, it becomes an instant successAdds many new features to Windows, and was a huge improvement in almost every wayWith the increasing growth of the internet, support and dial-up networking drivers are built in32-bit operation allows the OS and programs to run more efficientlyMost revolutionary features are the new Start Menu, Min/Maximize/Close buttons on each window, and the TaskbarSet the standard for all future releases to come

Windows 98 and Windows MEWindows ME Millennium EditionReleased September 14th, 2000Highly controversialVery buggy and prone to crashesAdded a few new features, but didnt convince many to upgradeQuickly fell out of favor upon the release of XPWindows 98 was released on June 25th 1998General improvements over 95Streamlined OSAdded increased driver support and networking improvements

Windows XPReleased October 25th, 2001Huge success the most popular OS of all time, with over 1 billion copies sold Still used by some consumers to this dayHad some criticism over security issues at first, but fears were alleviated with the releases of Service Packs over the course of the lifetimeVery lightweight OS Ran smoothly and efficiently, with minimal bloatUser interface greatly improved and cleaned upResonated with users who were unfamiliar with PCs due to its ease of useBundled with programs such as IE 6, Outlook, Messenger, and MSNIE6 was highly controversial due to its poor security

Windows XP continuedReleased in several different version to appeal to different consumer basesWindows Home Edition for the general userMost basic version, has features such as Media Player, Movie Maker, etcWindows Professional for the business environmentFeatures tailored for business use Remote Desktop, File Encryption, Improved NetworkingWindows XP 64 Bit64 Bit enabled PCs to run faster and more efficiently Great for users who create movies or animations

Windows VistaReleased November 8th, 2006Another highly controversial OSIntroduced a very clean new look known as Aero, with transparent window framesMicrosofts main focus was to create a very secure OSDespite being a new OS, it ran many programs slower than XP on the same hardwareMany drivers and hardware components wouldnt work properlyMicrosofts over emphasis on security led to a very bloated OSGames ran worse, programs ran slower, file copying and moving took longerMS responds with releases of Service Packs, which help slightly, but many users continue to stick with XP

Windows 7Released October 22nd 2009Praised greatly by critics Huge success the most used operating system todayReinvented the taskbar and cleaned the general interfaceAll the blunders of Vista had been fixed or removedUser Account Control was less obtrusivePerformance greatly increasedFaster bootup time

Windows 8Released October 26th, 2012Another controversial OSControversy rose from the new Tablet-like interface, which many saw as inferior or unnecessary for a desktop OSAside from the new interface, many of the improvements were praisedEnhanced security, improved task manager, faster performance, and rapid boot-up timeDespite controversy, it became a success, selling more than Windows 7 in the same time period

Works Cited"A History of Windows - Microsoft Windows." Windows.microsoft.com. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. ."Microsoft Windows History." Microsoft Windows History. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. ."The History of Microsoft Operating Systems." The History of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. .