A Study of The Background of The Windows Operating System and The Different Versions

History of Microsoft Windows Operating System and its Versions

Operating system is an essential software component that runs on a computer; it manages other programs and the application in the computer such as the hardware and software resources. Its essential tasks involve allocation of memory to input data, keeping track of disk files and directories, and also acts as an intermediary between the programs and the peripheral devices of the computer. The size of the operating system increases with the scope of its responsibilities and power (Ritchie et al., 57). The operating system is like traffic officer ensuring that execution of tasks and programs are mutually exclusive and also these tasks are allocated time frames to ensure that they execute at the same time without interfering with each other. System users interact with the computer through commands and graphical interfaces that are designed to eliminate based interaction. The commands are accepted and executed by the command line processor in the computer system (Gookin, 57). The various types of operating systems that are common in most computers utilize graphical user interface and include multi-user operating system, multiprocessing operating system, multitasking, and multithreading operating systems.

Origin of Microsoft

Microsoft Company was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates who are said to be childhood friends where Microsoft is a corporation based in Redmond Washington and deals with manufacturing, and licensing computer related products. Paul Allen and Bill Gates have a long history together involving spending much of their time in a computer room rather than being in class. During that time, they happened to hack the schools computers but they were not expelled from the school instead they were offered unlimited computer time in return for boosting the performance of the computers. At their youth age, Paul Allen and Bill Gates ran a small corporation called Traf-O-Data, which specialized in selling computer programs used for counting the city traffic.

Windows Operating System

Microsoft Windows operating systems is a group of operating systems mostly found in the personal computers (Gookin, 17). It accounts for more than 90% of the operating system designed for personal computers and the remaining percentage of operating systems is produced and supplied by the Linux and the Mac operating systems.

History of Windows Operating Systems

1. Microsoft disk operating system
2. Microsoft originally developed this operating system solely for the IBM products. MS-DOS was compatible with the IBM computers where it majorly involve the use of commands prompts. Introduction of other features into MS-DOS led to sophistication of this version of operating system which made it more complicated but with more features such a easy to use user interface that is different from the early version with few commands.
3. Microsoft Windows 1.0-2.0
4. This version of operating system was introduced in 1985, and its name originated from the computing boxes that stood in place of the operating system aspect. Unlike its predecessor this version allowed access commands through pointing and clicking instead of typing the commands. Microsoft introduced Windows 2 two years later which was designed with an Intel 286 processor. Also, the version also had additional features such as graphic support, desktop icons, and keyboard shortcuts.
5. Microsoft Windows 3.0-3.1
6. In 1900, Microsoft released Windows 3.0 operating system into the market. The version had more improved features compared to its predecessor Microsoft Windows 1.0-2. The new added features were; better icons, more advanced graphics, and it performance was better than the previous version of the operating system thus it was able to execute commands and instruction much faster. It came along with games, file, print and program managers. Microsoft Windows 3.1 was released two years later.
7. Microsoft Windows 95
8. Microsoft Windows 95 operating system release was a significant advancement for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It had more advanced features compared to the earlier versions and a more powerful processor. It also had an entirely new user interface as an additional feature which earlier version did not incorporate (Ritchie et al., 36). Its internal composition exhibited tremendous improvements from the previous versions. One significant improvement was the introduction of the 32-bit processor application which as a result meant that the operating system would be much faster than all other previous versions. Windows 95 was compatible with the application of the earlier versions in that is capable of running the predecessor’s application. Another exquisite feature of Windows 95 was that it was able to detect, configure and installed hardware.
9. Microsoft Windows 98
10. On June 1998, Microsoft Windows 98 was released. This version of operating system capable of supporting a large number of new technological advancement such as the use of USB, DVD, and ACPI. It's spectacular feature was the interface that was supported by desktop application which was capable of incorporating the Internet Explorer with the operating system.
11. Microsoft windows millennium edition
12. This versions was developed to get rid of the boot option in the DOS, where it was upgraded from Windows O.S 98 with some features that are present in Windows 2000 operating system.
13. Microsoft Windows NT 3.1-3.4
14. The version of the operating system is a 32-bit processor that supported multitasking capable of running a several task at the same time. It had two versions with it the Windows NT server to act exclusively as a network and the Windows NT workstation.
15. Microsoft Windows 2000
16. The version was released in February 2000. Microsoft released four versions of this operating system that is the professional mainly supportive for business desktop and the server responsible for both web and office server. The advanced server is dealing with business application and the finally the data center server responsible for computer networks.
17. It was released with a whole different look and a better user interface (Ritchie et al., 77). The Microsoft Windows XP version was first introduced in October 2001. It was more stable and reliable version compared to the previous versions of operating system was developed in two versions that is the home and the professional version. It one of the best-selling products of Microsoft Company and utilizes the wireless standard.
18. Microsoft Windows Vista
19. This version of operating system was more advanced in terms of reliability, performance, security and its management as compared to the Windows XP (Gookin, 46). It was released in November 2006 and was capable of detecting hardware problems before their occurrences, provide protection against threats. It was capable of booting faster in addition to low power consumption. It was much reliable for instance centralization of configuration management and minimization of system update costs.
20. Microsoft Windows 7
21. This version of Microsoft Windows operating system was first introduced on October 2009. It is equipped with numerous advanced features including internet explorer 8, multi-touch support, improved start-up time, virtual hard disk space, and improved security. This version of operating system was user-friendly in that it was quite easy to use as everything was graphical thus no need for use of commands.
22. Microsoft Windows 8

This version of operating system entirely differs with all other earlier versions and is capable of loading up and start in a matter of just seconds. It has a Metro user interface that is composed of live tiles that are connected to the computer features and application (Gookin, 78). The version is compatible with both the ARM processors and x86 PCs processors.

Apart from the above-mentioned versions of operating system were exclusively designed for the personal computers, Microsoft designed and developed other operating systems that are meant for mobile handset devices and include the following.

Windows servers

The version of operating system was brought into use in March 2003 mainly designed to work with other series of more powerful versions of operating systems that are designed to deal with the network, databases and more so internet hosting.

This version released in January 2007 and was designed in such a way that allows multiple connections of computers. It provides automatic backup services for home computers and also enables file sharing between connected devices (Ritchie et al., 117). With the use of windows media connect it allows sharing of any media as long as the devices are compatible.

The version of Windows operating systems made its first appearance on November 2006. It is designed and developed for small devices such as the personal digital assistant. Its graphic user interface is similar to the Windows 95, which is an added advantage for any person who is acquainted with the operation of Windows 95.

The operating system was designed fro smartphones and was released in April 2000. Also, it was designed for mobile devices that are Microsoft based.

This version was initially initial Microsoft Windows Mobile and released in November 2010 as a successor of Microsoft Windows Mobile with additional features. For example Windows, Mobile 7 came as a replacement for the more traditional operating system; it has the metro design interface. It has a multi-tab mobile web browser a version that is made exclusively for the mobile devices.

With every the increasing dynamicity in information technology, users are always eager to change to the new software upgrades of which new versions of Windows operating system is one of them. There is numerous reason to why Windows operating system should be improved, among the many reasons are the following.

It has been known that most users of Microsoft operating systems will get a one-year free upgrade and this has become a regular practice. This does not necessarily mean right there and then but a one year span, so it is not a waste of time doing such an upgrade.

For example, for people who are using Windows 7 on their PC, installing Windows 8 in addition to the already installed Windows 7 in a single personal computer will cause many damages because the version was meant for touch devices rather the traditional personal computers. In such situation if one upgrades to Windows 10, the version will undo the errors done by the Windows 8.

Microsoft has had a culture of pushing people to the current operating system by cutting its support to its older version of operating systems. It regularly leaves individuals without any options, but this creates a security threat. However, currently there is no need to rush because the security updates are there for many years.

One of the inadequacies of the latest operating systems is that they are not capable of handling older peripheral devices. Microsoft does not always make sure that devices are capable of working with the new operating system consequently some of these peripheral devices will not be compatible with latest versions of the operating systems.

Most individuals are strong supporters of the windows media center used to play video and all sorts of media. However, these services are outdated due to the arrivals if other media services, for instance, the introduction of the Apple music. However, even in such a situation there are still users who are loyal to the earlier versions and are not ready to upgrade.

Irrespective of the level at which the operating system has been tested, it will not certainly mean that all the bugs have been detected and corrected. It would be preferable to have an operating system that has had enough time before you finally decide that you want to upgrade your operating system.

Conclusion

Operating system is that software that allows for communication between the hardware and software components of a computer. Without such operating system software, the computer software programs would be meaningless. Through the years, the same way computers have been developing and progressing the operating systems have also been growing while new improved versions are replacing the old ones.

There are two questions to ask ourselves when choosing an operating system. How secure is the operating system? How the os is securely configured? Windows management system is reliable in the sense that it is much easier to get the basic management functions. Linux management is much trickier, and the organization can lack the necessary skills and tools to manage the Linux workstation. Also, it has limited user rights this is a crucial security alert.