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  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Nov 10, 1983

    Announcment

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Nov 10, 1983

    Microsoft Windows was announced by Bill Gates on November 10, 1983.




  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1985

    The first version of Windows

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1985

    The first versions of Windows (1.0 through to 3.11) were graphical shells that ran from MS-DOS. Later on, Windows 95, though still being based on MS-DOS, was its own operating system, using a 16-bit DOS-based kernel and 32-bit userspace. Windows 95 introduced many features that have been part of the product ever since, including the Start menu, the taskbar, and Windows Explorer (renamed File Explorer in Windows 8).




  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1990s

    Microsoft introduced Windows

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1990s

    Microsoft introduced Windows as a graphical user interface for MS-DOS, which had been introduced a couple of years earlier. In the 1990s, the product line evolved from an operating environment into a fully complete, modern operating system over two lines of development, each with its own separate codebase.




  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1993

    Windows NT 3.1

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1993

    In 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT 3.1, the first version of the newly-developed Windows NT operating system. Unlike the Windows 9x series of operating systems, it is a fully 32-bit operating system. NT 3.1 introduced NTFS, a file system designed to replace the older File Allocation Table (FAT) which was used by DOS and the DOS-based Windows operating systems.




  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1997

    Internet Explorer 4

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    1997

    In 1997, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 4 which included the (at the time) controversial Windows Desktop Update. It aimed to integrate Internet Explorer and the web into the user interface and also brought many new features into Windows, such as the ability to display JPEG images as the desktop wallpaper and single window navigation in Windows Explorer.




  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    1998

    Windows 98

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    1998

    In 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98, which also included the Windows Desktop Update and Internet Explorer 4 by default. The inclusion of Internet Explorer 4 and the Desktop Update led to an anti-trust case in the United States. Windows 98 also includes plug and play, which allows devices to work when plugged in without requiring a system reboot or manual configuration, and USB support out of the box.




  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    2000

    Windows Me

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    2000

    Windows Me, the last DOS-based version of Windows, was aimed at consumers and released in 2000. It introduced System Restore, Help and Support Center, updated versions of the Disk Defragmenter and other system tools.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Thursday Oct 25, 2001

    Windows XP

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Thursday Oct 25, 2001

    The next major version of Windows NT, Windows XP, was released on October 25, 2001. The introduction of Windows XP aimed to unify the consumer-oriented Windows 9x series with the architecture introduced by Windows NT, a change that Microsoft promised would provide better performance over its DOS-based predecessors. Windows XP would also introduce a redesigned user interface (including an updated Start menu and a "task-oriented" Windows Explorer), streamlined multimedia and networking features, Internet Explorer 6, integration with Microsoft's .NET Passport services, modes to help provide compatibility with software designed for previous versions of Windows, and Remote Assistance functionality.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Thursday Nov 30, 2006

    Windows Vista

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Thursday Nov 30, 2006

    After a lengthy development process, Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006, for volume licensing and January 30, 2007, for consumers. It contained a number of new features, from a redesigned shell and user interface to significant technical changes, with a particular focus on security features. It was available in a number of different editions and has been subject to some criticism, such as a drop of performance, longer boot time, criticism of new UAC, and stricter license agreement. Vista's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 was released in early 2008.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Apr 14, 2009

    XP support end

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Apr 14, 2009

    Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009. Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.


  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Wednesday Jul 22, 2009

    Windows 7

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Wednesday Jul 22, 2009

    On July 22, 2009, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were released as RTM (release to manufacturing) while the former was released to the public 3 months later on October 22, 2009. Unlike its predecessor, 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. Windows 7 has multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with an updated taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements.


  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 26, 2012

    Windows 8

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 26, 2012

    Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7, was released generally on October 26, 2012. A number of significant changes were made on Windows 8, including the introduction of a user interface based around Microsoft's Metro design language with optimizations for touch-based devices such as tablets and all-in-one PCs. These changes include the Start screen, which uses large tiles that are more convenient for touch interactions and allow for the display of continually updated information, and a new class of apps that are designed primarily for use on touch-based devices. The new Windows version required a minimum resolution of 1024×768 pixels, effectively making it unfit for netbooks with 800x600-pixel screens.


  • Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Tuesday Sep 30, 2014

    Windows 10

    Redmond, Washington, U.S.
    Tuesday Sep 30, 2014

    On September 30, 2014, Microsoft announced Windows 10 as the successor to Windows 8.1. It was released on July 29, 2015, and addresses shortcomings in the user interface first introduced with Windows 8. Changes on PC include the return of the Start Menu, a virtual desktop system, and the ability to run Windows Store apps within windows on the desktop rather than in full-screen mode. Windows 10 is said to be available to update from qualified Windows 7 with SP1, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices from the Get Windows 10 Application.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Feb, 2017

    Migration of its Windows source code

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Feb, 2017

    In February 2017, Microsoft announced the migration of its Windows source code repository from Perforce to Git. This migration involved 3.5 million separate files in a 300-gigabyte repository. By May 2017, 90 percent of its engineering team was using Git, in about 8500 commits and 1760 Windows builds per day.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Apr 11, 2017

    Windows Vista Support

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Apr 11, 2017

    On April 11, 2017, the support for Windows Vista ended.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Dec, 2019

    Market Share

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Dec, 2019

    It was recorded in December 2019 that Windows's market share in the OS segment was 34.2%.


  • Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Jan 14, 2020

    Windows 7 support

    Redmond, Washington, United States
    Tuesday Jan 14, 2020

    on January 14, 2020, The support for Windows 7 ended.


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