OS Tree

OS Tree

Here is a list of the operating systems that I worked with from the very beginning of the PC operating system. During my final year of studies, I worked with MS-DOS 1.0. I sold and installed these products during my days with Computer Innovations, Computerland, ADT/Acucom Computers, Wise Software Solutions, and Pantel Computers.

1980 August Microsoft signs a contract with IBM to develop an operating system for IBM's first personal computer. This, in turn, was the beginning for both the Bundling of Microsoft Windows, and Wintelism, as IBM personal computers and Intel were also bundled with each other.

1981 July 27 Microsoft buys the rights for QDOS from Seattle Computer Products (without telling SCP that it had a lucrative contract with IBM). This would later become MS-DOS.

1985 Windows 1.0, which runs on top of MS-DOS 1.0, November 20 Microsoft launches the first version of its Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, which runs on top of MS-DOS and had a primitive GUI.

1987 December 9 Microsoft releases Windows 2.0.

1990 May 22 Microsoft launches Windows 3.0. It gives the user virtual memory, improved graphics, and the ability to multitask.

1992 April 6 Microsoft releases Windows 3.1.

1993 July 27 Microsoft releases Windows NT 3.1, the first version of Windows available only to business users.

1994 September 24 Microsoft releases Windows NT 3.5.

1995 May 30 Microsoft releases Windows NT 3.51, the last version of Windows to not have a Start Menu.

1995 August 24 Microsoft releases Windows 95, which features a new interface with a novel start button. Microsoft also debuted The Microsoft Network, a search engine and web portal for a wide variety of products and services.

1998 June 25 Microsoft releases Windows 98. It includes support for USB devices, back and forward navigation buttons, the address bar in Windows Explorer, and the Windows Driver Model.

2000 September 14 Microsoft releases Windows ME. It has improved support for digital media.

2001 October 25 Microsoft releases Windows XP.

2007 January 30 Microsoft releases Windows Vista to the general public.

2009 October 22 Microsoft launches Windows 7 to the general public.

2012 October 26, Microsoft releases retail version of Windows 8. Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and later to retail on October 26, 2012.

2014 September The Windows Insider program is announced, which allows users to test Windows 10 and provide feedback to Microsoft developers. As of 2015, the program had over 7 million users.

2015 January 21 Microsoft announces that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for customers with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1 (excluding enterprise).

2015 July 29 Products Microsoft releases Windows 10, which acts as a "universal" application architecture across multiple Microsoft product families.

2021 October 5 Microsoft releases Windows 11, the first major release since 2015.