Windows

This was the first operating system from Microsoft that offered a GUI, this made it a instant success, Even kids could learn how to use windows. To complement this Windows 3.11 was released, otherwise known as Windows for Workgroups, this was the Network version of 3.1. Windows 3.1 could only read a FAT file system, this limited the drive to a very small size.

Windows 95 was born on August 24, 1995. Upon its release, everybody's way of thinking had gone out the window. This new flavor of Windows was 16BIT and supported both FAT and FAT16 file systems, which allowed you to use larger drives. Also a START MENU was added - this was a major selling point of Windows 95. To keep users familar, Explorer was added. This was very similar to the Windows 3.1 Explorer. Another feature included was AUTORUN, this was used for CD-ROMS to allow applications to install/start upon inserting. If you look closly at Windows 95 you will see the beginnings of windows XP - the foundation that Win95 is built on is still used today.

Later on Microsoft released different versions of Windows 95. These added support for the Internet, USB, 32BIT emulation, FAT32 support, DMA and better stabilty.

WIndows 98 added more support, more drivers, MMX support, stabilty, HDD's over 12GB, AGP, native USB, Multi-Monitor and Active Desktop.

Active Desktop Active desktop was the integration of Internet Explorer into the windows shell. This allowed for better graphics. It also meant users could see information about file without needing to use the Properties command - they could see it all from within the folder.

In April 1998. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was highlighting the operating system's ease of use and enhanced support for Plug and Play (PnP). However, when his assistant plugged in a scanner and attempted to install it the operating system crashed, showing a BSOD. "This must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet," he remarked famously.

[edit] Windows 98 SE

Windows 98 Second Edition was basically a series of minor updates that made windows 98 run faster, more stable and sleaker. The biggest update of this was the upgrade from Internet Explorer 4 to 5. This was a much faster version of IE, allowing users to use Windows faster. Although this was classed as a update for windows 98 it was not free - you still needed to buy a copy of Win98SE. An update version was offered, but it was also offered as a stand-alone product.

All in all, Windows 98 was and remains a great operating system.

Windows Me otherwise known as Windows Millennium Edition, this windows like 98 is a TRUE 32bit OS, and also supports 16bit applications, Supporting a new visual theme, also the kernal has been completly revamped, and nolonger has Microsoft DOS running behind ME.

This new move was a brave move, This new view to windows made fixing problems harder, If the GUI was damaged you couldn't fix windows ME without using a recovery disk.

Windows ME was marketed as the home version of Windows 2000, Even though windows 2000 was released quite a few months before ME, Micorosft had added more features, Some of these include Internet Explorer 5.5, Media Player 7, and Windows Movie Maker (Which was not included in 2000) Micorosft windows ME had the shortst life span ever, even windows 98 was supported after Me was. This shows the stabilty of windows ME, becuase it only had REAL_MODE access to MS DOS alot of older programs failed, Mainly Antivirus and Disk Utilities.

Alot of functions that we see today in windows XP were pioneared in windows ME, UPnP Universal Plug n Play, System Restore, transparancy.

Due to windows ME's meny problems it was sometimes refured to as: "Moron Edition," "Mistake Edition," "Miserable Edition," "Mental Edition," "Mostly Errors," "Many Errors," or "Memory Eater"

General

Widnows 2000 was otherwise known as W2K and Win2K, The biggist improvement for 2000 was the support for more than one processor, W2k was released on February 17, 2000, A few months before ME.

Windows 2000 came in 4 diffrent versions when first released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Later 2001 microsoft released Windows 2000 Advanced Server- Limited Edition and was designed to run on 64-bit Intel Processors.

The other advantage of using windows 2000 was it supported upto 4GB of ram and also supported files bigger than 4GB

Professional

Windows 2000 was the business side of Windows ME, It was built on NT, therefore supported NTFS, FAT32\16 and RAW. Ontop of this Professional was more secure, stable, harder to hack and harder to damage.

The advantage that 2000 had over previous windows was the support for new hardware, and the updated interface, It isn't much diffrent to previous version, the icons were cleaner, new icons appeared in control panel and Add-Remove changed are just some of the changes.

Server

products share the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contain additional components for running infrastructure and application software. A significant component of the server products is Active Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based on LDAP. Additionally, Microsoft integrated Kerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticised NTLM authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purely transitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 domains in a forest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalogue, being linked with two-way transitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced a DNS server which allows dynamic registration of IP addresses. (Copyright [1])

Windows XP sets a new standard for performance and reliability. If you demand the most from your operating system, this version of Windows was designed for you,

The letters "XP" stand for experience, First released on October 25, 2001, it is still the most recent operating system from microsoft (Correct at time of typing (2006))

There are three versions of windows XP, these are Home, Professional (32bit & 64bit) and Media Center Edition (MCE)

Windows XP is known for its improved stabilty and efficiency over previous versions of windows, The new GUI is the first time windows has had a over haul since windows 95, even still it hasn't changed that much, Rounder bars, and a glass look. Other than the start menu & the control panel, most items haven't changed.

Windows XP Professional offers a number of features unavailable in the Home Edition, including:

• the ability to become part of a Windows Server domain — a group of computers that are remotely managed by one or more central servers (many businesses that use Windows have a Windows Server and a domain)
• the use of a sophisticated access control scheme that allows specific permissions on files to be granted to specific users under normal circumstances. However, users can use tools other than Windows Explorer (like cacls or File Manager), or restart to Safe Mode to modify access control lists.
• the Remote Desktop server, which allows a PC be operated by another Windows XP user over a local area network or the Internet
• offline Files and Folders, which allow the PC to automatically store a copy of files from another networked computer and work with them while disconnected from the network
• the Encrypting File System, which encrypts files stored on the computer's hard drive so they cannot be read by another user, even with physical access to the storage medium
• centralized administration features, including Group Policies, Automatic Software Installation and Maintenance, Roaming User Profiles, and Remote Installation Service (RIS)
• Using multiple processors for symmetric multiprocessing, allowing the PC to divide work between multiple processors (CPUs). Home is limited to one processor and Professional uses up to two physical processors, regardless of the number of CPU cores or Hyper-threading.

Windows Server 2003 is the most productive infrastructure platform for powering connected applications, networks, and Web services from the workgroup to the data center. Easy to deploy, manage, and use, Windows Server 2003 helps you build a secure IT infrastructure that provides a powerful application platform for quickly building connected solutions and an information worker infrastructure for enhanced communication and collaboration anytime and anywhere.

The Windows Server 2003 R2 operating system extends Windows Server 2003, providing a more efficient way to manage and control access to local and remote resources while at the same time integrating easily into an existing Windows Server 2003 environment. Windows Server 2003 R2 provides a scalable, security-enhanced Web platform and enables new scenarios, including simplified branch server management, improved identity and access management, and more efficient storage management. The R2 release builds upon the increased security, reliability, and performance provided by Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

Server 2003 was released on April 23rd 2003, and it is still rated today as the most stable operating system that microsoft have ever released.

Server 2003 comes in sevral versions: (Copyright [2])

Small Business Server

SBS includes Windows Server and additional technologies aimed at providing a small business with a complete technology solution. The technologies are integrated to enable small business with targeted solutions such as the Remote Web Workplace, and offer management benefits such as integrated setup, enhanced monitoring, a unified management console, and remote access.

The Standard Edition of SBS includes Windows SharePoint Services for collaboration, Microsoft Exchange server for e-mail, Fax Server, and the Active Directory for user management. The product also provides a basic firewall, DHCP server and NAT router using either two network cards or one network card in addition to a hardware router.

Web Edition

Windows Server 2003, Web Edition is mainly for building and hosting Web applications, Web pages, and XML Web Services. It is designed to be used primarily as an IIS 6.0 Web server and provides a platform for rapidly developing and deploying XML Web services and applications that use ASP.NET technology, a key part of the .NET Framework. This edition does not require Client Access Licenses and Terminal Server mode is not included on Web Edition. However, Remote Desktop for Administration is available on Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. Only 10 concurrent file-sharing connections are allowed at any moment. It is not possible to install Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange software on this version of Windows, although MSDE and SQL Server 2005 Express are fully supported after service pack 1 is installed. The most important limitation of Web edition is a maximum memory of 2 GB RAM. Additionally, Windows Server 2003, Web Edition cannot act as a domain controller.

Standard Edition

Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition is aimed towards small to medium sized businesses. Flexible and versatile, Standard Edition supports file and printer sharing, offers secure Internet connectivity, and allows centralized desktop application deployment. This edition of Windows will run on up to 4 processors with up to 4 GB RAM. 64-bit versions are also available for the AMD x86-64 architecture

Enterprise Edition

Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition is aimed towards medium to large businesses. It is a full-function server operating system that supports up to eight processors and provides enterprise-class features such as eight-node clustering using Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) software and support for up to 32 GB of memory. Enterprise Edition also comes in 64-bit versions for the AMD x86-64 architecture and the Intel clone of that same architecture, EM64T. The 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition is capable of addressing up to 1 Terabyte (1024 GB) of RAM. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions support Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA).

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