History of Windows

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On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced its new revolution in a box, the "Personal Computer" complete with a brand new operating system from Microsoft and a 16-bit computer operating system called MS-DOS 1.0.

Operating System (often abrevieted "OS") ... the foundation software of a machine, of course; that which schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default interface to the user between applications. The facilities an operating system provides and its general design philosophy exert an extremely strong influence on programming style and on the technical cultures that grow up around its host machines. - The Jargon Dictionary

In 1980, IBM first approached Bill Gates and Microsoft, to discuss the state of home computers and Microsoft products. Gates gave IBM a few ideas on what would make a great home computer, among them to have Basic written into the ROM chip. Microsoft had already produced several versions of Basic for different computer system beginning with the Altair, so Gates was more than happy to write a version for IBM.

As for an operating system (OS) for the new computers, since Microsoft had never written an operating system before, Gates had suggested that IBM investigate an OS called CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), written by Gary Kildall of Digital Research. Kindall had his Ph.D. in computers and had written the most successful operating system of the time, selling over 600,000 copies of CP/M, his OS set the standard at that time.

IBM tried to contact Kildall for a meeting, executives met with Mrs. Kildall who refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. IBM soon returned to Bill Gates and gave Microsoft the contract to write the new operating system, one that would eventually wipe Kildall's CP/M out of common use. The "Microsoft Disk Operating System" or MS-DOS was based on QDOS, the "Quick and Dirty Operating System" written by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products, for their prototype Intel 8086 based computer.

QDOS was based on Gary Kildall's CP/M, Paterson had bought a CP/M manual and used it as the basis to write his operating system in six weeks, QDOS was different enough from CP/M to be considered legal. Microsoft bought the rights to QDOS for $50,000, keeping the IBM deal a secret from Seattle Computer Products. Gates then talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the rights, to market MS DOS separate from the IBM PC project, Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS. In 1981, Tim Paterson quit Seattle Computer Products and found employment at Microsoft.

Then Bill Gates, departing from IBM which had built the most commonly used Operating System DOS, decided that users needed a graphical interface (buttons) to improve the usability of the systems. It was going to increase the computer literacy ratio and also the sales. So there started his journey with the mythical Windows 1.0 and went on with success and sometimes failures until the most stable product of Microsoft: Windows XP. Now all users are waiting for the 64 bit supported Longhorn.

The first graphical interface operating system was Windows 1.0 which was released in 1985. It gave great advantages to users including the use of the cursor and the pointing devices. Before, users had to type the commands in the DOS environment. With this improvement, they could simply click on a program and use several different programs at the same time.

The next versions of Windows, namely 2.x and 3.1 were slightly improved using the advantages of the improved processors of Intel (286 and 386). The programmers started talking about extended memory and also about Windows software development kit (SDK) which caused the new releases of Windows to be much more popular. By then everybody was programming Windows based programs and users did not have any other choice but use Windows to access these programs.

The next innovative add-on to this system was the networking support. A superset of Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 added peer-to-peer workgroup and domain networking support. For the first time, Windows based PCs were network-aware and became an integral part of the emerging client/server computing evolution. Confused? Don't worry about it:

Then came the great New Technology of Microsoft: Windows NT. It was the completion of a 10 year project and a completely new operating system which was built from scratch. The most distinguishing aspect of this system was that unlike other windows products, this operating system was 32-bit. It offered solutions for high-end users and also for personal purposes. The following NT versions came with higher security updates for the networks and powerful program support.

In parallel to the developing NT products, Microsoft released also the successors of MS-DOS and Win 3.x products: Windows 95 and 98. These were also 32-bit operating systems which were optimized for multi-media users. Especially the later versions of 98 with the Direct X, Internet features, high hardware capabilities, met the requirements of most of the users. The crash of Windows 98 on TV in front of Bill Gates was already forgotten and the sales of Windows 98 Service Pack 2 satisfied both the company and also the users.

It also spawned a new generation of confused and frustrated newbies. However, the issue of monopolization came up again with the integrated Internet browser of Windows 95 and 98. Most people claimed and argued that this integration was an attempt to monopolize the Internet and it was against the antitrust rules: Antitrust laws prevent monopolies from tying two products together to force customers to take one product when buying another.

Year 2000 was the year of both satisfaction and disappointment. For the new millennium Microsoft released two products: ME and 2000. Millennium Edition was a total disaster for users. It was much less stable than 98 and it was creating so many problems with different hardware installations. The security bugs caused a lot of home users to lose their data and open the doors for viruses and hackers. On the other hand, with the applied technology of NT and improved capabilities Windows 2000 was a great solution for professional users. Its stability reminded many of the users of the older and much slower, 16-bit systems of Microsoft.

Seeing the great success of the new NT based operating system (Windows 2000 professional) and the great disappointment with ME, Microsoft decided to unify the business world with consumers optimizing Windows 2000 for personal use, and adding new features to support the multimedia equipment by doing the last retouches on the general graphics of the OS, Microsoft released its most popular OS in two different editions: XP Home and XP Professional. The "XP" in Windows XP stands for "experience," symbolizing the innovative experiences that Windows can offer to personal computer users. Most of the world is now using XP and none of us can complain much after the security updates and the release of the second service pack.

At this point, Microsoft is working on their new product. Originally called Longhorn, but now officially called Vista, they claim it is going to be their most secure and efficient product, supplying the programmers with improved capabilities to create functions and also serving a much more secure wall of protection for network users.

Overall, Microsoft has been doing their job for over two decades and extending their experience about the operating systems, creating better products with less bugs or security holes. One can say that Bill Gates was the biggest loss a company like IBM could ever have.

One thing is for sure, regardless of the many complaints made about Windows, Bill Gates opened up the world of computing to the average guy. Because without Windows, the massive advantages that computers have made to our world simply would not exist.

The above article was supplied by Joe Robson who owns The Newbie Club, and is widely recognized as the best and most newbie-friendly site on the internet. Free membership and tutorials at ... http://newbieclub.com ... go on, join; for newbies (which every computer user once was, including Bill Gates), Joe Robson offers an excellent site and newsletter. Just remember to come back; I'm waiting for you.