Versions of Microsoft Windows

Version Chart / Overview

This is a brief chart of the versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that Microsoft Corp. has produced for desktop computers. See below for some more information.

Version	Year	Notes
Windows 1.0	1985	For stand-alone IBM Personal Computers and compatibles; one of several products on the market at the time that enabled running multiple standard PC programs simultaneously.
Windows 2.0 / 2.1	1987	With these versions, programs written specifically to run under Windows started to appear.
Windows 3.0	1991	First commercially-successful version of Windows. It introduced the Program Manager, with separate windows for program groups that had shortcut icons for your programs, and other things like the Control Panel.
Windows 3.1	1992	Although it looked very much like Windows 3.0, version 3.1 blew away the prior version with its commercial success. In time, this version established Windows as the standard computer operating environment for home and office computers, which remains today. Any networking (such as file and printer sharing) in Windows at this point relied on additional systems and software; Windows 3.1 was extended in 1994 to natively support networking (called Windows for Workgroups). It was superseded by Windows 95.
Windows NT	1993	The first version for secure systems. Its interface looked just like Windows 3.1, but the underlying program architecture was completely different due to its security focus, requiring more advanced hardware. It was not marketed heavily or widely used commercially, because Microsoft considered it to be still in a kind of final testing stage, and because there were very few applications that would run on Window NT.
Windows NT Workstation 3.5	1994	Upgrade to the original Windows NT.
Windows 95	1995	Much-hyped upgrade to Windows 3.1 for home computers and non-secure office systems. Introduced the Start button and the Task Bar, used by all subsequent versions of Windows. Very successful commercially through 1998, when it was superseded by Windows 98.
Windows NT Workstation 4.0	1996	This was an upgrade to Windows NT Workstation 3.5 for secure networks, with many improvements. It enjoyed some commercial success, but did not work with as much hardware and applications as Windows 95.
Windows 98	1998	Upgrade to Windows 95 for home computers and non-secure business networks, offering many useful improvements. This was used widely through 2001.
Windows 2000 Professional	2000	Upgrade to Windows NT Workstation 4.0 for secure networks. While it still lacked support for much of the hardware and applications that were current at the time, it made great progress compared to Windows NT and was more widely used, although it did not replace Windows 98, especially for home computers and small offices. It was replaced by Windows XP in less than two years.
Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)	2000	Upgrade to Windows 98, with new features particularly related to handling cameras and scanners, but very buggy. It was designed specifically for home users. Many people continued using Windows 98.
Windows XP	2001	The most popular version of Windows ever. Adopted quickly as a replacement for all prior versions still in use (Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows Me), both for home use and on secure networks, by providing wide hardware and software support within a secure architecture. Continued selling through 2009.
Windows Vista	2007	This version introduced many fundamental changes to the user interface experience and system security, addressing the many years' experience of Windows XP in dealing with evolving threats. But, it was widely disliked due to numerous problems and a justified perception that it was buggy. Most users kept using Windows XP.
Windows 7	2009	The latest and current version. It's very much like Windows Vista, but with many of the problems fixed. It was released so soon after Windows Vista that a common upgrade path, even today, is from Windows XP to Windows 7.
Windows 8 (codename)	TBD	Currently in development and probably to be released this year, this next version will be geared towards better supporting touch-screen tablet-style computers that have exploded in popularity in the last few years. It will also take advantage of the ubiquity of high-speed Internet links (even with mobile devices), and the fact that so many people have multiple computers and phones, to save your information on central servers on the Internet so it's all easily accessible from any of your devices.

Updates

Windows Updates are small programs intended to fix functional bugs and security flaws, but often add new features and/or support for new hardware. Sometimes they are referred to as hotfixes or patches. A roll-up of several updates in one big program file, which can take significant time to install, is called a Service Pack. These are are available to download for free on Microsoft's website. In the past, once a Service Pack has been made available by Microsoft, the Service Pack will be included in subsequent shipments of the Windows retail package. For example, "Windows XP with Service Pack 2" and "Windows Vista with Service Pack 1" were available at retail for quite a while. With Windows 7, however, the first Service Pack is a small-scale update, and has not been integrated into the DVDs you will find on store shelves.

Editions

The word Edition has been used sporadically and inconsistently by Microsoft. In 1999, Microsoft released an update to Windows 98, called Windows 98 Second Edition, which had new features and bug fixes, but was essentially the same operating system as Windows 98. When Windows Millennium Edition was released later that year, the word Edition was incorporated into the primary name of the operating system.

Since the release of Windows XP, including Windows Vista and Windows 7, numerous editions were released at the same time for each version, such as Home, Home Premium, Professional, Media Center, Enterprise, and Ultimate. For these operating systems, the edition affects high-level features and applications that are included. The lower-priced editions are missing some features. For example, Home editions cannot fully participate in a centrally-managed corporate network, and may not fully support file encryption or multiple-drive storage arrays.

Workstation vs. Server

A workstation is a computer with a screen, keyboard, and mouse, where users sit down, run programs, check e-mail, browse the web, and pound the keys to get their work done. It also includes laptops. A server is a computer on the network that controls network communications, stores data that users save across the network, manages shared applications and printers, and determines who has permission to access what. It is usually not on anyone’s desk, but in a closet or server room. Only the network administrator can log on to the server, and he does so only to configure network settings and manage data, and shouldn’t do anything else like browse the web. Click here to read more about versions of Microsoft Windows server operating systems.

Non-Secure vs. Secure Networks

A non-secure system or network means that, while the server might require a password for you to access shared files over the network, there are no restrictions over who can access the data stored on the workstations. For example, if you had a Novell NetWare server or a Microsoft Windows NT Server on the network, the files were secure when stored on the server. But if you had Windows 98 on your workstation, and you copied any of these files to your workstation’s hard drive, anyone could get on your workstation and get those files, so the network was not considered secure. But, if your workstation is running a properly-configured secure operating system (such as Windows NT, Windows 2000, or any version since Windows XP), then a user cannot log on and use your workstation unless an account and password has been registered for him in the system. And, even when he logs on, he cannot open a file stored on the workstation unless the network administrator or the owner of the file gives him permission.

A network cannot be considered completely secure unless all workstations run secure operating systems. The last non-secure version of Windows was superseded in 2001, so most every computer network today has only secure workstations.

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