Windows OS Versions for the PC
The initial version of the Windows operating system launched in 1985, introducing users of MS-DOS, the text-based operating system that was then the main Microsoft OS, to graphics and the computer mouse.
Windows 1 and a number of subsequent editions essentially would run on top of MS-DOS and rely on DOS for many features rather than running as true standalone operating systems. Windows 95, one of the most-famous early versions, was released in 1995 amid a huge marketing campaign by Microsoft. It introduced the world to the famous Windows Start Menu. It was also the first version to feature Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s first Web browser.
Windows ME, released in 2000, was the last to run on top of DOS. The next year, Microsoft released Windows XP, which was used at many businesses for over a decade and received praise by both critics and users alike. Subsequent versions included the less-successful Windows Vista, as well as Windows 7, Windows 8, and the current version for home and office PCs known as Windows 10.
Windows 9 does not exist because of the possibility that users and programs, when attempting to determine the software’s version, might confuse it with Windows 95 or Windows 98.
Windows 10, released in 2015, offers support for desktops, laptops and tablets. Rather than rolling out another radically different operating system in the near future, Microsoft has stated publicly that it intends to roll out incremental updates to Windows 10.
Windows OS Versions for Servers
In addition to making software for home and business PC users, Microsoft has long made software, including versions of Windows, for servers, the high-powered machines that power websites and big companies.
In 1993, Microsoft launched what it called Windows NT. It was an operating system designed for servers and high-powered workstations, running code separate from the DOS-based PC versions of Windows available at the time. It was designed to woo corporate users and programmers away from alternative server operating systems like the Unix and VMS families of software. Starting with Windows XP, other versions of Windows would run on code that originated in NT, rather than on top of DOS.
In 2000, a new server product was released called the Windows 2000 Server. Subsequent server-oriented versions of Windows would all have Windows Server in their name, all the way through to today’s version, initially known as Windows Server 2016 and now simply called Windows Server. The server operating systems, which generally support more powerful computers and are designed to be used by multiple users at once, are designed for workloads that run in the background rather than directly interfacing with users.