[ENG VER] These are the History and Developments of Microsoft Windows through the Ages (From Windows 1.0 to 11)

It's been 36 Years that the Windows operating system has been around the world. Since its presence in 1985, as many as a dozen versions have been released by Microsoft, starting from Windows 1 to the most recently announced Windows 11.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen officially founded Microsoft on Friday, 4 April 1975 (22 Rabi' al-Awal 1395 H). But in 1983, Allen resigned from Microsoft after he suffered from an illness. But even so Allen remains a member of the Microsoft board.

Prior to his retirement, Allen and Gates reinvented Q-DOS as MS-DOS and sold it as an Operating System to IBM. It was the first OS from Microsoft before Windows 1.

On 10 November 1983 (5 Safar 1404 H) at the Plaza Hotel New York City, Bill Gates officially announced and introduced Windows as a graphical user interface (GUI) for MS-DOS, which had been introduced several years earlier.

After that, Windows began and continues to dominate as the most widely used Operating System by computer users in the world. it is recorded that more than 90 Percent of computer users in the world use Windows as their operating system while the rest use Linux and MacOS operating systems.

Initially Microsoft only provided a Client version of Windows for personal use. but in 1993 the company launched Windows Server. Not only that, Microsoft also continues to innovate and spawn other versions by following the times.

Windows NT 3.5 was released on 21 September 1994 (15 Rabi' al-Akhir 1415 H) and is the Second Version of Windows NT. One of the main goals during the development of Windows NT 3.5 was to improve the performance of the operating system.

Windows NT 3.5 comes with integrated Winsock and TCP/IP support. Of course this is different from its predecessors, where Windows NT 3.1, only includes an incomplete TCP/IP implementation based on the AT&T UNIX System V API "STREAMS".) The stacks in TCP/IP and IPX/SPX in Windows NT 3.5 were rewritten.

Meanwhile, Windows NT 3.51 was released on 30 May 1995 (30 Dhu al-Hijjah 1415 H) which is the third version of the Microsoft Windows NT Operating System, 9 Months after the release of Windows NT 3.5, and 3 Months before the release of Windows 95.

Additionally, NT Edition 3.51 was also released for x86, MIPS, and Alpha Architectures. This release provides 2 important feature enhancements, namely The first NT 3.51 became the first of Microsoft's short-lived outing of Windows on the PowerPC architecture.

The second most significant improvement offered in this version is that Windows NT 3.51 provides client/server support for inter-operation with Windows 95, which was released three months after NT 3.51.

Windows 95 took a major leap forward over Windows 3.1 and started putting demands on system requirements including a 386 or 486 processor and 4 to 8 MB of RAM.

According to Microsoft, the minimum system requirements for Windows 95 are :

Windows 98 was the first OS to integrate with Internet Explorer. Windows 98 came with support for new technologies like DVD, USB, FAT32, etc.

Windows 98 comes as a development of Windows 95. In this version of Windows, Internet Explorer comes with the latest version, namely Internet Explorer 4.0. Windows 98 can be used on computer devices starting from its release date which is 25 June 1998 (1 Rabi' al-Awal 1419 H), until the Last Support until 11 July 2006 (15 Jumada al-Akhir 1427 H).

Overall Windows 98 is a version that was deliberately designed to please consumers by adding 3D Border Effects, quick launch toolbars, and gradient colors in the title bar as well as hardware and drivers that can be upgraded.

Not only that, in this operating system Microsoft Moves the mouse on a program or feature to allow users to see a "Help Tip" which displays a brief help description. Microsoft then released Windows 98 SE with some bug fixes.

Meanwhile, Windows 98 Second Edition (often shortened to Windows 98 SE and sometimes to Win98 SE) is the latest release of Windows 98 which was released on 5 May 1999 (19 Muharram 1420 H).

Windows 98 SE includes many fixes such as bug fixes from previous versions, improved Audio and WDM Modem support, improved USB support, replacement of Internet Explorer 4.0 with Internet Explorer 5.0, Web Folders (WebDAV namespace extension for Windows Explorer), related shell updates and others. other.

According to Microsoft, the minimum system requirements for Windows 98 and 98SE are :

UITS recommends, however, that you start with a Pentium or Pentium-class processor and motherboard running at 200MHz or higher, with at least 32MB of RAM as a minimum configuration.

Keep in mind that running Windows 98 or 98SE with less than 32MB of RAM will cause a lot of disk swapping, and the more applications you want to run at one time, the more memory you'll need. Windows 98 and 98SE both use 8 to 16MB of RAM, while one typical 32-bit application needs several MB to run properly.

Often abbreviated as "W2K," this operating system is an OS for business desktops and laptops and is used to run software, connect to the Internet and Intranet Sites, and access files, printers, and network resources. In addition, Windows 2000 also brings the important feature of hyperlinks with the new Internet Explorer 5.0. Microsoft automatic updates played an important role in Windows 2000 and became the first Windows to support Hibernation.

Also, there are 4 (Four) Editions released in this version, Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server the last one was released to the manufactures and was released a few months after the other editions. Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure version of Windows ever existed at the time.

To run Windows 2000, Microsoft recommends :

Note : Windows 2000 Professional supports single and dual CPU systems.

While these are Microsoft's recommended minimums, UITS recommends the following :

Furthermore, Windows Millennium Edition or better known as Windows Me is here to replace Windows 98. This version of Windows is designed for home users and can support 16-32 bit programs. Windows Me was officially released on 14 September 2000 (15 Jumada al-Akhir 1421 H).

There are several key features available in WIN ME, such as the new Media Player with customizable skins and more support for file systems as well as the system icons being upgraded with a new high color.

Apart from those mentioned above, there are not many other improvements in Windows Me except the System Restore feature. And also, Windows Me is also predicted to be the worst version of Windows. Because if we use Windows Me, sometimes it crashes and the quality is bad, so Microsoft doesn't provide support for Windows Me for too long, which is only until 11 July 2006 (15 Jumada al-Akhir 1427 H).

The basic System Requirements for Windows Me are :

• 28.8 Kbs modem or faster with current Internet connection
• CD-ROM drive
• Sound card
• Speakers or headphones
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
• VGA or higher resolution monitor
• Pentium 150MHz processor or better
• 32MB of RAM or better
• Minimum 320MB free hard-disk space

If you want to use the new Windows Media Player 7, Microsoft recommends (apart from the requirements listed above) :

• SVGA Monitor
• Pentium II 166MHz processor or better
• 64MB of RAM
• 1GB free hard-disk space

If you want to use the new Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft recommends (apart from the requirements listed at the top) :

Windows XP was released on 25 October 2001 (8 Sha'ban 1422 H) and comes in 2 (two) versions, namely Home and Professional which are built on the Windows 2000 kernel.

In Windows XP, the Start Button is now green. Windows logo was overhauled to be more modern. In the Taskbar, which previously carried the color Gray, it has now also been changed to Blue. For the first time, Windows XP also supports the built-in feature for Burning CDs.

The biggest problem is security. Even though it has a built-in Firewall, Microsoft disables it by default. The immense popularity of Windows XP tempts hackers to exploit its vulnerabilities, especially in Internet Explorer.

Windows XP is Microsoft's longest operating system on the market, ie for 13 Years. Windows XP was just retired on 8 April 2014 (8 Jumada al-Akhir 1435 H).

In addition, there is also another version/edition of Windows XP, namely Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, released on 25 April 2005 (16 Rabi' al-Awal 1426 H), is an edition of Windows XP for x86-64 personal computers. This operating system (OS) is designed to use the extended 64-bit memory address provided by the x86-64 Architecture.

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition uses the same kernel and code tree as Windows Server 2003 and is served by the same service pack.

But for features, Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition has the first version of Windows XP client features such as System Restore, Windows Messenger, Fast User Switching, Welcome Screen, Security Center and games, which Windows Server 2003 does not have.

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Home Edition are :

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Professional include :

The system requirements for Windows 8 and 8.1 are the same, i.e. :

In my opinion, Windows 10 Initial Release Version (Or RTM Version) are different from the current version of Windows 10. Starting from the Buttons, Icons, Appearance and also the layout is a bit different. Because Windows 10 will update continuously. And at that time, Microsoft has stated that Windows 10 was the "Last Version" of the Windows Operating System before the presence of Windows 11.

Microsoft put in place an AI-powered Widget Panel, displaying various information that can be personalized. Also introduced Snap Layout. This new feature allows users to choose the layout when the app is run to suit their needs. Just like Windows 10, in Windows 11 you can also set the theme to Dark and Light.

The overhaul starts from a fresher and cleaner Interface Design (UI), updates to the task window management feature, performance improvements, to Android app support. In the interface, the most obvious changes are seen in the taskbar and start menu sections. The menus are no longer on the left, Microsoft has shifted them to the middle like in the MacOS interface.

Microsoft has also slightly changed the appearance of the task window, which now has slightly rounded corners, instead of being sharp like the old Windows. Windows 11 UI theme is more transparent and looks fresh. Microsoft has also introduced Snap Layout, Snap Group, and Desktop which it says will make it easier for users to organize more windows and access them faster, while multitasking.

And here, the system requirements for Windows 11 are as follows :

Here's an Infographic about the evolution of each Version of Windows from time to time :

If now I'm using Windows 10, whereas in the past I was still using Windows 7 and Windows XP.

Thank you 😄😊👌👍 :)

Wassalamu‘alaikum wr. wb.