Windows was developed by Microsoft to overcome limitations of MS-DOS. Key versions included Windows 3.0, 95, NT, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and the current Windows 10. Microsoft Windows came to dominate the PC market. It provides features like program execution, interfaces, input/output handling, error handling, and memory and process management. Each version built upon the previous and introduced new capabilities.

2. OPERATING SYSTEM

3. HISTORY OF
WINDOWS
Windows was developed by Microsoft to overcome the
limitation of its own MS-DOS operating system
First successful version was Windows 3.0, released in
1990.
Subsequent released versions were Windows 95, Windows
NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 &
8.1, and the final version Windows 10.
Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal
computer(PC) market with over 90% market share,
overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984

4. COMMON
FEATURES OF
WINDOWS
Program execution
Providing interfaces
Handling input/output operations
Error handling
Memory management
Process management

5. WINDOWS FAMILY
• WINDOWS 3.0
• WINDOW NT 3.X
• WINDOWS 95
• WINDOWS 98
• WINDOWS 2000
• WINDOWS XP
• WINDOWS VISTA
• WINDOWS 7
• WINDOWS 8
• WINDOWS 10

6. WINDOWS 3.0
Released in may 1990, it improved capabilities given to native
applications
allowed users to better multitask older MS-DOS based software
compared to Windows/386, thanks to the introduction of virtual
memory.
Its user interface finally resembled a serious competitor to the user
interface of the Macintosh computer
could run in real, standard, or 386 enhanced modes, and was
compatible with any Intel processor from the 8086/8088 up to the
80286 and 80386.
The features listed above and growing market support from application
software developers made Windows 3.0 wildly successful, selling
around 10 million copies in two years

7. WINDOWS 95• IT WAS CODENAMED AS CHICAGO & WAS BUILT AS A NEW CONSUMER ORIENTED OS,
SUCCEEDING WINDOWS 3.X
• IT WAS DESIGNED TO HAVE SUPPORT FOR 32-BIT PREEMPTIVE MULTITASKING LIKE
OS/2 AND WINDOWS NT, ALTHOUGH A 16-BIT KERNEL WOULD REMAIN FOR THE SAKE
OF BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY.
• IT INTRODUCED MANY NEW FEATURES, WHICH ARE ALSO PRESENT IN THE LATEST
VERSION LIKE THE RIGHT BUTTON MENU(WHICH INCLUDED FUNCTIONS LIKE CUT,
COPY, EDIT ETC.), A TASK BAR & A START MENU & WINDOWS EXPLORER TO VIEW ALL
FILES PRESENT IN THE PC.
• IT ADDED SUPPORT OF 32-BIT APPLICATIONS, PRE-EMPTIVE MULTI-TASKING AND
THREADING
• HOWEVER IT HAD A MAJOR FLAW, THE SYSTEM PROTECTION AGAINST BUGGY
APPLICATIONS WAS WEAK AS COMPARED TO OTHER 32-BIT OS SUCH. DUE TO THIS, IF
A WIN16 PROGRAM HANGS, IT CAN TIE UP CRITICAL 16-BIT CODE MODULES LOCATED
IN THE SYSTEM VM AND HALT ALL OTHER PROCESSES.
• TO RECOVER FROM THIS KIND OF SYSTEM CRASH, THE USER HAS TO REBOOT THE PC.

8. WINDOWS 98
• IT WAS RELEASED ON JUNE 25, 1998 AND WAS
CODENAMED AS MEMPHIS
• IT WAS SEEN BY MANY AS THE MOST STABLE
VERSION OF WINDOWS SO FAR
• IT INCLUDED NEW HARDWARE DRIVERS AND THE
FAT32 FILE SYSTEM WHICH SUPPORTS DISK
PARTITIONS THAT ARE LARGER THAN 2 GB
• USB SUPPORT WAS ALSO A VAST IMPROVEMENT
AS COMPARED TO WINDOWS 95
• NOTABLE NEW FEATURES INCLUDED THE
ADDITION OF INTERNET CONNECTION SHARING,
A FORM OF NETWORK ADDRESS TRANSLATION,
ALLOWING SEVERAL MACHINES ON A LAN
(LOCAL AREA NETWORK) TO SHARE A SINGLE
INTERNET CONNECTION

9. WINDOWS
2000
Was released on February 17, 2000
It was successfully deployed both on the server
and the workstation markets.
Most significant new features were Active
Directory, a near-complete replacement of the NT
4.0 Windows Server domain model, which built
on industry-standard technologies like DNS,
LDAP, and Kerberos to connect machines to one
another.
Terminal Services, previously only available as a
separate edition of NT 4, was expanded to all
server versions.
A number of features from Windows 98 were
incorporated also, such as an improved Device
Manager, Windows Media Player, and a revised
DirectX that made it possible for the first time for

10. WINDOWS XP
WHISTLER
• IT INTRODUCED REMOTE CONNECT THAT ALLOWED YOU
TO CONNECT TO YOUR WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
COMPUTER FROM ANOTHER WINDOWS MACHINE
• IT CAME IN MANY VERSIONS-
1. HOME EDITION: FOR HOME DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS -
LACKED FEATURES SUCH AS JOINING ACTIVE DIRECTORY
DOMAIN, REMOTE DESKTOP SERVER AND INTERNET
INFORMATION SERVICES SERVER.
2. PROFESSIONAL: FOR BUSINESS AND POWER USERS,
CONTAINED ALL FEATURES IN HOME EDITION.
3. WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL X64 EDITION: RELEASED
ON APRIL 25, 2005 FOR HOME AND WORKSTATION
SYSTEMS UTILIZING 64-BIT PROCESSORS BASED ON THE
X86-64 INSTRUCTION SET
• WINDOWS XP WAS CRITICIZED FOR ITS VULNERABILITIES
DUE TO BUFFER OVERFLOWS AND ITS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO
MALWARE SUCH AS VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, AND

11. WINDOWS VISTA
Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006 to business customers - consumer
versions followed on January 30, 2007.
It had enhanced security by introducing a new restricted user mode called User Account
Control, replacing the "administrator-by-default" philosophy of Windows XP.
It was the target of much criticism and negative press, and in general was not well
regarded, this was seen as leading to the relatively swift release of Windows 7.
Major difference between Vista and earlier versions of Windows, is that the original start
button was replaced with the Windows icon in a circle (called the Start Orb).
Also featured new graphics features, the Windows Aero GUI, new applications (such as
Windows Calendar, Windows DVD Maker and some new games including Chess,
Mahjong, and Purble Place),Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, and a large
number of underlying architectural changes

12. WINDOWS 7• RELEASED TO MANUFACTURING ON JULY 22, 2009, AND
REACHED GENERAL RETAIL AVAILABILITY ON OCTOBER
22, 2009 WITH THE CODENAME VIENNA
• FEATURES OF WINDOWS 7 ARE FASTER BOOTING,
DEVICE STAGE, WINDOWS POWERSHELL, LESS
OBTRUSIVE USER ACCOUNT CONTROL, MULTI-TOUCH,
AND IMPROVED WINDOW MANAGEMENT.
• FEATURES INCLUDED WITH WINDOWS VISTA AND NOT
IN WINDOWS 7 INCLUDE THE SIDEBAR (ALTHOUGH
GADGETS REMAIN) AND SEVERAL PROGRAMS THAT
WERE REMOVED IN FAVOR OF DOWNLOADING THEIR
WINDOWS LIVE COUNTERPARTS
• WINDOWS SNIPPING TOOL – WINDOWS 7 INCLUDED
AN APPLICATION TO CAPTURE, SAVE AND SHARE
“SNIPPED” IMAGES FROM YOUR DESKTOP.
• IT WAS HUGELY POPULAR WITH PEOPLE PLAYING VIDEO
GAMES
• IT WAS CRITICIZED DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU LOST
ALL DATA WHILE UPGRADING TO WINDOWS 7

13. WINDOWS 8
& 8.1
On October 26, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8
to the public.
Features a redesigned user interface, designed to
make it easier for touchscreen users to use Windows.
The interface introduced an updated Start menu
known as the Start screen, and a new full-screen
application platform. The desktop interface is also
present for running windowed applicationsIt also increased boot time as compared to windows 7
& included features like USB 3.0 support, the Windows
Store- A full fledged marketplace to download apps
from.
Major criticism included that the famous start button
in bottom-left corner was removed, major issues &
lags while running on low-end PCs and security
concerns since all your data was stored on Cloud..

14. WINDOWS 10
• THE CURRENT VERSION OF WINDOWS WAS RELEASED ON JULY 29, 2015 AND WAS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT
CHARGE TO WINDOWS 7 & WINDOS 8 USERS
• IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT WINDOWS 10 WILL BE THE LAST MAJOR VERSION OF ITS SERIES OF OPERATING
SYSTEMS TO BE RELEASED. INSTEAD, MICROSOFT WILL RELEASE MAJOR UPDATES TO THE OPERATING SYSTEM
VIA DOWNLOAD OR IN WINDOWS UPDATE.
• UMBER OF NEW FEATURES LIKE CORTANA, THE MICROSOFT EDGE WEB BROWSER, THE ABILITY TO VIEW
WINDOWS STORE APPS AS A WINDOW INSTEAD OF FULL-SCREEN, VIRTUAL DESKTOPS, REVAMPED CORE APPS,
CONTINUUM, AND A UNIFIED SETTINGS APP WERE ALL FEATURES DEBUTED IN WINDOWS 10.
• IT ALSO ADDED SUPPORT FOR DIRECTX 12 FOR APPLICATIONS WITH HIGHER GRAPHICAL REQUIREMENT.