Microsoft _ Windows _.ppt

Microsoft? Windows?–Past, Present, and Future Daniel Ogden SIG Co-Leader Application Developer Issues SIG September 21, 2002 Scope of Presentation A very brief history of Windows Discussion and comparison of the two tracks Microsoft took beginning with Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.1 resulting in two operating system lines and how they have become unified. Only client or desktop versions of Windows will be discussed-no server versions, A very brief overview of future Windows directions Recommendations This is not a “how-to” or demo presentation of various Windows OSes A Very Brief History of Microsoft Windows The idea of a “windowing” operating system was planted in the minds of Bill Gates and Paul Allen (and Steve Jobs as well) when they visited Xerox PARC Labs in the late 1970s Microsoft in 1981 developed a character mode OS (which it bought from another party, Seattle Computer) for IBM’s new PC that became MS-DOS In 1983, Microsoft began work on a new operating environment it called “Windows”. Only much later would Windows become a operating system. A Very Brief History of Microsoft Windows Windows 1.0 was released in 1985. It could only operate in character-mode and its windows were not overlapping. It ran on top of DOS as an operating environment. Windows 2.0 was released in 1987. It featured overlapping windows, but was still character-mode operating environment. Windows 2.11 was released in 1989 in two versions-Windows 286 (for i286 PCs) and Windows 386 (for i386 PCs). It was the first graphical version of Windows but was still an operating environment. A Very Brief History of Microsoft Windows Windows 3.0 was released in 1990 to much fanfare. It was the first real usable version of Windows and had greatly improved graphics and file management. Windows 3.1 was released in 1992 at Spring Comdex in Chicago. It continued to improve on graphics, multimedia, communications and ease of use. Many users still consider Win3.1 to be the “real” version of Windows.