When we talk of operating systems, Windows is the first to come to mind. The OS has dominated the market for decades, with the largest market share, and has even made inroads into regions where PCs are still considered a luxury. That’s primarily because Windows is simple, cost-effective, and easily accessible, compared to other available options, like macOS, ChromeOS, and Linux.
But when did it all start? And how have things progressed since then? I recall using Windows XP, probably around the age of 10, as do most of you. But it didn’t start with Windows XP. The first version of Windows was released almost 15 years before that, in 1985. And since then, it has progressed into a comprehensive OS!
A Brief History of Windows
1. Windows 1.0
Release date: November 20, 1985
Windows 1.0 was Microsoft’s first real attempt to move past text-based DOS. It gave people overlapping windows, menus, and scroll bars, basic now, but revolutionary then. It wasn’t fast, and not many developers supported it, but it opened the door to a future where PCs weren’t just for command-line experts.
Included apps: Calculator, Calendar, Notepad, Paint (as Paintbrush), Reversi, Write, Clock, Cardfile, Control Panel.
2. Windows 2.0
Release date: December 9, 1987
Windows 2.0 refined the idea with overlapping windows and better keyboard shortcuts. It looked sharper, ran faster, and made PCs more useful in offices. More importantly, it set the stage for software giants like Excel and Word, which first ran here and started shifting work away from pure DOS programs.
Included apps: Word for Windows, Excel, Paintbrush, Notepad, Write, Control Panel, Clock, Calculator.
3. Windows 3.0
Release date: May 22, 1990
Here’s where Windows really started to click. The graphical interface felt more polished, memory handling improved, and suddenly, the PC could look friendly. Windows 3.0 wasn’t just a layer over DOS anymore, it was something people wanted to use every day. Sales shot up, and Microsoft began to dominate!
Included apps: Program Manager, File Manager, Notepad, Paintbrush, Recorder, Solitaire, Reversi, Write, Control Panel.
4. Windows 3.1
Release date: April 6, 1992
Windows 3.1 cemented Microsoft’s lead. TrueType fonts made PCs practical for publishing, and networking features began to show up. It felt less like an experiment and more like a finished product. Businesses adopted it quickly, and it became the go-to operating environment for millions worldwide in the early 90s.
Included apps: Minesweeper, TrueType fonts, File Manager, Program Manager, Notepad, Write, Paintbrush, Solitaire, Recorder.
5. Windows 95
Release date: August 24, 1995
This was the cultural moment. Windows 95 introduced the Start menu, taskbar, and long file names, which are still core today. It came bundled with Internet Explorer later, pulling people into the web era. The mix of 32-bit and 16-bit code wasn’t perfect, but users didn’t care because it felt modern.
Included apps: Internet Explorer (added in 1996 via Plus! Pack), Paint, Notepad, WordPad, Calculator, Games (Solitaire, Minesweeper, Hearts).
6. Windows 98
Release date: June 25, 1998
Windows 98 doubled down on the Internet. Internet Explorer 4 was baked in, USB support improved, and multimedia playback got smoother. It wasn’t the most stable OS, but it was the right upgrade for people just getting online and buying new peripherals. It also introduced Windows Update, a big deal.
Included apps: Internet Explorer 4, Outlook Express, Windows Address Book, FrontPage Express, NetMeeting, WebTV for Windows, Paint, Notepad, WordPad.
7. Windows Me (Millennium Edition)
Release date: September 14, 2000
Windows Me was meant to be the last DOS-based Windows for home users. It focused on media with better photo, video, and music tools. The trouble was stability. It crashed often and felt rushed. People still remember it as one of Microsoft’s weakest releases, though its multimedia ideas carried forward.
Included apps: Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Player 7, System Restore, Internet Explorer 5.5, Outlook Express 5.5, Paint, WordPad, Notepad.
8. Windows XP
Release date: October 25, 2001
XP was a turning point. It merged the business-focused NT core with the consumer-friendly look of Windows Me. The result was faster, more stable, and still approachable. Its colorful interface looked fresh, but the real magic was reliability. People kept using XP for more than a decade after its release.
And believe it or not, some still do. According to Statcounter, Windows XP has a 0.38% share in the Windows space, higher than that for Windows 8.1.
Windows XP was truly the game changer!
Included apps: Internet Explorer 6, Windows Media Player 8, Windows Messenger, Movie Maker, Paint, WordPad, Notepad, Solitaire, Pinball.
9. Windows Vista
Release date: January 30, 2007
Vista looked great with the Aero interface, but ran heavy on hardware. Many called it bloated, yet it pushed forward with stronger security and modern drivers. Its User Account Control (UAC) annoyed people, but features like integrated search and new networking tools were important. Vista stumbled, but it laid the groundwork for Windows 7.
Included apps: Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Calendar, Sidebar with Gadgets, Paint, WordPad.
10. Windows 7
Release date: October 22, 2009
Windows 7 was the redemption story. It polished Vista’s rough edges, ran faster, and worked well on laptops. Features like Aero Snap and a refined taskbar made multitasking easy. It quickly became one of Microsoft’s most-loved versions and remained dominant for years, especially in workplaces that skipped over Vista.
Included apps: Internet Explorer 8, Paint (revamped with Ribbon UI), WordPad, Windows Media Center (in some editions), Windows Media Player 12, Sticky Notes, Calculator.
11. Windows 8
Release date: October 26, 2012
Windows 8 took a big gamble with a touch-first design and the new Start screen. On tablets, it felt fresh. On desktops, users hated losing the Start menu. Underneath, it was fast and secure, but the interface clashed with how people actually used PCs. Microsoft had to rethink quickly.
Included apps: Modern UI apps (Mail, People, Messaging, Photos, Music, Video, Calendar), Internet Explorer 10, Paint, WordPad, Notepad.
12. Windows 8.1
Release date: October 17, 2013
Windows 8.1 softened the rough edges. The Start button returned, boot-to-desktop was possible, and apps integrated better with cloud services like OneDrive. It still wasn’t the return to classic Windows people wanted, but it felt less jarring. For many, 8.1 was just a bridge between 8’s missteps and Windows 10.
Included apps: Internet Explorer 11, OneDrive integration, Reading List, Health & Fitness, Food & Drink, Alarms, Calculator, Paint, Notepad, WordPad.
13. Windows 10
Release date: July 29, 2015
Windows 10 struck the balance. The Start menu came back, now blending live tiles with familiar shortcuts. Updates rolled in as a service, which changed how people thought of upgrades. It ran across PCs, tablets, and even Xbox. The design wasn’t perfect, but it quickly became the new standard worldwide.
For over a decade, Windows 10 ruled the space, even for three years after the release of Windows 11. The iteration, in my opinion, is one of the best to date, featuring the perfect blend of performance, user experience, and security.
Included apps: Microsoft Edge (replacing IE), Cortana, Mail, Calendar, Groove Music, Movies & TV, Xbox app, Paint, Notepad, WordPad, Calculator, Photos.
14. Windows 11
Release date: October 5, 2021
Windows 11 refreshed the design with centered taskbar icons, rounded corners, and a cleaner look. It leaned on Teams integration and widgets while refining multitasking with Snap Layouts and introducing a user-friendly File Explorer. Hardware requirements like Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 frustrated some, but the system itself feels smoother and more consistent than Windows 10.
It’s Microsoft’s way of modernizing without alienating!
I have been using Windows 11 since the early days and have always found it an upgrade over the previous iterations. Personally, I like the new UI and performance optimizations.
But I do understand that in a bid to prioritize security, Microsoft rendered a large number of devices ineligible for the upgrade to Windows 11. And no one would want to shell out a thousand dollars to get a Windows 11-compatible PC when their present device running Windows 11 works fine. Their concerns need to be addressed, and that can’t be done through paid updates for another three years. There’s got to be a better way, one where users stand to benefit and not Microsoft!
Included apps: Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), Teams Chat, Photos (revamped), Notepad (revamped), Paint (revamped), Mail, Calendar, Xbox app, Calculator, Media Player.
Difference between MS-DOS and NT-based Windows
| Feature | MS-DOS Based Windows | NT-Based Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Core system | Runs on top of MS-DOS, which means DOS is doing most of the heavy lifting. Windows here is more like a graphical shell than a true OS. | Built on its own kernel (Windows NT). It doesn’t need DOS underneath, so it’s more stable and independent. |
| Performance | Limited memory handling, slower multitasking, and very dependent on hardware limits of the time. | Designed for multitasking, better memory management, and can handle more demanding applications smoothly. |
| Security | Almost no built-in security. Crashes and data loss were common if apps misbehaved. | Proper user accounts, permissions, and later on, strong built-in security tools. Much harder to crash the whole system. |
| Audience | Great for early PC users who just needed a friendly face on top of DOS. Mostly home and small business. | Aimed at both consumers and enterprises. Scales from home laptops to giant servers running global networks. |
| Examples | Windows 1.0, 2.0, 3.x, 95, 98, Me | Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 |
Windows versions that never reached users
1. Windows Neptune
Announced: 1999
Microsoft planned Neptune as the consumer-friendly version of Windows built on the NT core. It was supposed to replace the aging DOS-based line with something more stable and secure for home PCs. Early builds showed off a new login system and activity centers, but the project never gained momentum.
Why it failed? Neptune was merged into another project, codenamed Whistler, which eventually became Windows XP. Microsoft realized it was better to unify business and consumer versions rather than juggle two separate tracks.
2. Windows Odyssey
Announced: 1999 (alongside Neptune)
Odyssey was the enterprise-focused sibling to Neptune, aimed at replacing Windows 2000. It promised a more refined NT system with new features for large networks and businesses. Developers started sketching out the roadmap, but progress was slow, and it overlapped with other internal work.
The project was canceled before a usable build appeared. Microsoft folded Odyssey’s concepts into Whistler too, which again streamlined efforts into what became Windows XP.
3. Windows Nashville
Announced: 1995
Nashville, sometimes called Windows 96, was supposed to be a quick follow-up to Windows 95. The idea was to blend the desktop tightly with the web using Internet Explorer. At the time, Microsoft wanted Windows to feel like the internet itself, not just an operating system running browsers.
It never launched as a full release. Many of its features, including the web-integrated desktop, ended up in Windows 98 instead. Microsoft decided there was no point in a stopgap version that looked too much like 95.
4. Windows Cairo
Announced: 1991 (pre-Windows 95)
Cairo was less of a product and more of a vision. Microsoft described it as the future of operating systems with an object-based file system, smarter search, and better networking. People expected it to be the next leap after Windows NT.
But Cairo never materialized as a single release. Instead, its promised features trickled into later Windows versions, like Active Directory in Windows 2000 and the indexing system in Vista.
5. Windows 10X
Announced: October 2019
10X was introduced as a lightweight version of Windows designed for foldable and dual-screen devices. It featured a stripped-down interface, faster updates, and a container system for apps. Microsoft wanted it to compete with ChromeOS and show off new hardware form factors.
The timing wasn’t right. With the pandemic and changing market needs, dual-screen devices fizzled out. Microsoft shelved 10X in 2021, and some of its features were absorbed into Windows 11.
The road ahead for Windows
Microsoft’s Windows 11 roadmap shows multiple feature improvements in progress: updates to the Start menu, better file sharing, and tweaks to how battery info is shown. They’re also pushing AI deeper into the operating system, especially on the new Copilot+ PCs.
Here’s the thing: talk of a Windows 12 release is floating around, too. Rumors suggest it could appear sometime around 2025, though Microsoft hasn’t confirmed anything. If it does land, expect smoother updates, stronger security requirements, and tighter integration with AI tools.
The bigger picture is that Microsoft seems focused on turning Windows into more of a constantly evolving platform rather than a product that ships once every few years. That means the line between Windows 11, Windows 12, or whatever comes next may end up feeling much thinner than it used to.
Frequently Asked Questions
The name came from the way the graphical interface displayed content. Instead of one full screen of text like DOS, users could open multiple rectangular boxes, “windows,” to run programs and view files side by side. The name stuck and became the brand.
That would be Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, released in 2005. It was built on the Windows Server 2003 codebase, not the standard XP core. It supported more memory and 64-bit processors, but lacked strong driver support, so adoption was limited.
Yes. While home editions stayed one-time purchases, Microsoft experimented with subscriptions in enterprise setups. Windows 10 Enterprise E3 and E5 were available as monthly subscriptions through partners. This hinted at the current trend, where Windows increasingly feels like a service that evolves over time.
That sums it up. What started as a simple OS back in 1985 has evolved into a user-oriented operating system with AI integration in 2025, with the highest market share in the PC segment. As for the future, I hope Windows 12, or whatever they plan to call it, brings upgrades to the built-in tools and doesn’t just boast of a higher AI integration.
What’s your favorite version/iteration of Windows? Share with our readers in the comments section!
With over five years of experience in the tech industry, Kazim excels at simplifying complex topics, making them accessible to tech enthusiasts and general readers alike. He has contributed to several renowned publications worldwide, including WindowsReport and Allthings.how, bringing insightful coverage of key developments in the field.
Kazim has extensively covered the Windows ecosystem, from the early days of Windows 7 to Windows 11. Unlike many in the field, he’s optimistic about Windows 11, calling it the most user-oriented iteration to date.
When he’s not writing, you’ll find Kazim planning weekend getaways or diving into tech verticals beyond his expertise.
