Microsoft Windows Essays - Computer Architecture, Computing

Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows (or simply Windows ) is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft . It consists of several families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry with the OS typically associated with IBM PC compatible architecture. Active Windows families include Windows NT , Windows Embedded and Windows Phone ; these may encompass subfamilies, e.g. Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE) or Windows Server . Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x ; Windows 10 Mobile is an active product, unrelated to the defunct amily Windows Mobile . Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). ] 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. Apple came to see Windows as an unfair encroachment on their innovation in GUI development as implemented on products such as the Lisa and Macintosh (eventually settled in court in Microsoft's favor in 1993). On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system. However, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android , [5] because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones . In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold were less than 25% of Android devices sold. This comparisons, however, may not be fully relevant as the two operating systems traditionally targeted different platforms. As of September 2016, the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets , smartphones and embedded devices is Windows 10 . The most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2016 . A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game console . Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows OS,computeroperating system(OS) developed by Microsoft Corporationto runpersonal computers(PCs). Featuring the first HYPERLINK "https://www.britannica.com/technology/graphical-user-interface" graphical user interface(GUI) forIBM-compatible PCs, the Windows OS soon dominated the PC market. Approximately 90 percent of PCs run some version of Windows. The first version of Windows, released in 1985, was simply a GUI offered as an extension of Microsoft's existing disk operating system, or HYPERLINK "https://www.britannica.com/technology/MS-DOS" MS-DOS. Based in part on licensed concepts thatApple Inc.had used for its Macintosh System Software, Windows for the first time allowed DOS users to visually navigate a virtual desktop, opening graphical "windows" displaying the contents of electronic folders and files with the click of a mousebutton, rather than typing commands and directory paths at a text prompt. Subsequent versions introduced greater functionality, including native Windows File Manager, Program Manager, and Print Manager programs, and a more dynamicinterface. Microsoft also developed specialized Windows packages, including the networkable Windows for Workgroups and the high-powered Windows NT, aimed at businesses. The 1995 consumer release Windows 95 fully integrated Windows and DOS and offered built-inInternetsupport, including theWorld Wide Webbrowser Internet Explorer. With the 2001 release of HYPERLINK "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Windows-XP" Windows XP, Microsoft united its various Windows packages under a single banner, offering multiple editions for consumers, businesses, multimedia developers, and others. Windows XP abandoned the long-used Windows 95 kernel (core software code) for a more powerful code base and offered a more practical interface and improved application and memory management. The highly successful XP standard was succeeded in late 2006 byWindows Vista, which experienced a troubled rollout and met with considerable marketplace resistance, quickly acquiring a reputation for being a large, slow, and resource-consuming system. Responding to Vista's disappointing adoption rate, Microsoft developed HYPERLINK "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Windows-7" Windows 7, an OS whose interface was similar to that of Vista but was met with enthusiasm for its noticeable speed improvement and its modest system requirements. Ref: https://www.britannica.com/technology/Windows-OS