List of Microsoft Windows versions
This is a listing of the versions of the operating systems offered by Microsoft as Windows.
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Current versions
- Windows CE for embedded systems including Consumer Electronics products (note: CE is a different operating system from DOS and Windows NT/2000/XP, and Microsoft makes the source code available)
- Windows Mobile for smart phones and PDAs (a version of Windows CE)
- Portable Media Center for Digital Media Players
- Windows XP for desktops and laptops (notebooks)
- Windows XP Starter Edition, for new computer users in developing countries
- Windows XP Home Edition, for home desktops and laptops
- Windows XP Home Edition N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
- Windows XP Professional Edition, for business and power users
- Windows XP Professional Edition N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, for PCs with 64-bit processors (based on Windows Server 2003)
- Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for notebooks with a touch screen or a pen-sensitive screen
- Windows XP Media Center Edition for desktops and notebooks with an emphasis on audio, video, and PVR capability
- Windows Server 2003 for servers
- Small Business Server for first server installations (up to 2 processors)
- Web Edition for basic web serving (up to 2 processors)
- Standard Edition for smaller server applications that don't require clustering (up to 4 processors)
- Enterprise Edition for larger server applications, and clustering (up to 8 processors)
- Datacenter Edition for mainframe like servers (up to 128 processors)
- Storage Server for Network Attached Storage Devices
- Windows XP Embedded for embedded systems
- Windows Vista (also still known as Longhorn) in beta stage
- Windows Blackcomb Development started in 1999. Supposed to be successor to XP, but Microsoft introduced Windows Vista (a.k.a. Longhorn) to ease pressure on the development of this entirely new system.
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Past versions
- DOS-Based
- 1985 November - Windows 1.0
- 1987 December 9 - Windows 2.0
- 1990 May 22 - Windows 3.0
- 1992 August - Windows 3.1
- 1992 October - Windows for Workgroups 3.1
- 1993 November - Windows for Workgroups 3.11
- 1995 August 24 - Windows 95 (Version number: 4.00.950)
- 1998 June 25 - Windows 98 (Version number: 4.1.1998)
- 1999 May 5 - Windows 98 Second Edition (Version number: 4.1.2222)
- 2000 June 19 - Windows Me (Version number: 4.9.3000)
- NT Kernel-Based
- 1993 August - Windows NT 3.1
- 1994 September - Windows NT 3.5
- 1995 June - Windows NT 3.51 (Version number: NT 3.5.1057)
- 1996 July 29 - Windows NT 4.0 - the last version which ran on RISC architectures like DEC Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC. Later versions concentrated on x86-based hardware and - mainly as server OSs - the IA-64 line of CPUs. (Version number: NT 4.0.1381)
- 2000 February 17 - Windows 2000 (Version number: NT 5.0.2195)
- 2001 October 25 - Windows XP 64-bit Edition - A version of Windows XP roughly analogous to Windows XP Professional for Intel's IA-64 (Itanium) line of CPUs. It was discontinued in early 2005 after manufacturers stopped shipping Itanium systems marketed as 'workstations'.
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Cancelled versions
- 1991-1998 - Cairo (a "true object-oriented OS") planned after Windows NT
- 1996 May 3 - Windows Nashville (windows 96) (cancelled) (Became windows 95B.)
- 1999 December - Windows Neptune was sent out to beta testers but was never released. Should have been a consumer version (i.e. home edition) of Windows 2000.
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Future versions
- 2006 - Windows Vista (previously known by its codename Longhorn) is scheduled to be released.
- 2007 - Longhorn Server (probably Windows Server 2007; announced to continue the year-based naming scheme and estimated for 2007)
- 2011 - Windows codename "Blackcomb" (estimate only, no release target officially announced)
- Windows Eiger - is in early development, designed for old machines.