Windows 3
Windows 3.0
Windows 1.0, 2.0, 286/2.1 and
386/2.1 were released in really early days of the PC evolution,
much before the internet. Yes…..long time ago. Windows 3.0 and 3.0a (with
multimedia) were Microsoft’s first commercial successes. Microsoft Windows 3
was released on May 22nd 1990, which was finally a direct
competition to Apple’s OS. With a new GUI and proper support for Intel’s all
new (at the time) 80286 and 80386 CPUs, Windows 3.0 was pretty good. However, it wasn’t as
successful as the next version .
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.1
This thing was a success. Microsoft 3.1 was the first really commercially successful
version of Windows. It was the first to use Windows Registry and Minesweeper
was added as a bundled game. Earlier version of Windows came with Reversi.
Those computers which ran Windows 3 couldn’t be upgraded to Windows 3.1.
Windows 3.1 needed 286 CPU and 1 MB of RAM before it would install. Because
of this many users had to buy a new hardware. And because of this the
popularity of computers skyrocketed. Windows 3.1 was so popular that it sold 1
million copies in two months.
Windows 95
Start Me Up!
Even though Windows 95 sold 1
million copies in just 4 days, it was not that successful. The reason
being it was very buggy. It sold like hot cakes as it benefitted from Windows
3.1 success. There was also marketing campaign before launching Windows 95 (
Microsoft spent $300 million for advertising ). It was also the first OS to
come with start button. It was actually the next OS which pushed Microsoft
forward.
Windows 98/ 98 SE
Windows 98
The change from Windows 95 to
Windows 98 was really mind blowing. The ability to theme, one click-launch,
active desktop, enhanced USB support, thumbnails, and a huge improvement in
hardware support (drivers) made Windows 98 a global success. Windows 98
SE also brought with it IE 5.0, ICS and DirectX 6.1. It was here that gaming on
PC took off ( Wolfenstein 3D anyone?) as well as multimedia viewing.
Windows ME
Windows ME
Sure, Windows 2000 was released few
months before Windows ME, but it was targeted for business. Windows ME
was the consumer version. Even though, it failed. It did bring
personalized menus and faster boot times than 98, and introduced Windows Movie
Maker, but it was a buggy OS. It seemed that it was released unfinished. Given
that people were really happy with Windows 98, there seemed to be absolutely no
reason to upgrade to ME. It was the next OS which brought in a new era.
Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is certainly the most successful
among the Microsoft Operating Systems. XP was short form for eXPerience and
it was a hell of a experience! Windows XP gave Graphical User Interface (GUI) a
whole new meaning. The start menu seemed more intuitive, with new programs
being highlighted, themes started popping up everywhere, and desktop design
competitions were kicked off everywhere. From the bundled DirectX 8.1, all the
way to DirectX 9.0c (the final DX version for XP), games took on new meanings
of fun and visual effects for XP users. The search got better, drivers could be
uninstalled and downgraded for once. Most people still use it.
Windows Vista
Here Comes The Aero!
Windows Vista………….(yawn). It
was a flop, much like Windows 8. I don’t want to write much about Windows
Vista because I haven’t used it, because I hated it, much like I hate Windows 8
which I am not going to use it either. The less said the better.
Windows 7
Windows 7
It seems that Win 7 was what
actually Microsoft had in mind when they built Windows Vista. Like Windows XP,
Windows 7 was also successful. There was more stability, hardware was
used better, the User Account Control (UAC) was less of an irritant and boot
times fell. Virtualization was better, and that crap Windows Sidebar was
removed. If I had nothing to write about Windows 8, I have so much to write
about Win 7. Most notable added features include support for virtual hard
drives, handwriting recognition and much more.
Windows 8
Windows 8 did to Microsoft what
Windows 95 did it earlier. The change from Win 3.1 to Win 95 was significant.
Win 95 marked the beginning of a new era or to say new idea.
The Start menus, for example, was
something new, and DOS (16-bit computing) was still limiting everything. Hardware
also had to play some catch up, and more and more manufacturers meant more
drivers were needed. It was the newness of the ideas that led to Windows 95
being a little buggy. It took Microsoft 3 more years of working on them to
perfect them in Windows 98.
The same goes for Windows ME, it was
the initial newness of the idea that didn’t fly ( shift to NTFS). Then came
Windows XP and the rest is history.
Then came Vista, with all its high
needs – wanting GBs of RAM to run, needing a GPU to even run Aero (which was
the only reason you wanted to upgrade), which everyone hated it.
Soon we all wanted dual-core and
quad-core CPUs, a GPU for HD video and gaming, and not just on a desktop, but
on laptops as well. Vista was forgotten, and Windows 7 was just assumed to be
the logical upgrade from XP.
And we come to Windows 8. It seems that
Microsoft perhaps themselves expect every alternate OS to fail, or at the
very least, suffer criticism at our hands. Perhaps they know that we’re
resistant to change, and need a little time to want to upgrade. Perhaps there
is a storm cooking for Windows 9, and Windows 8 was just the survey form (much
like Windows Vista was) – put out an OS that’s sort of there, but wait for
feedback and failure before perfecting it.
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