Windows has shipped with 3 main GUIs (or shells). The first was Windows 1’s (1985) text-based MS-DOS Executive. This was replaced in Windows 3 (1990) by the icon-based Program Manager. Later, Windows 95 (1995) debuted Explorer, which included the famous Start Menu & Taskbar. 💪
Plates were UI elements tested for Windows 95 (1995). Aimed to make it easier to manage open apps, they were superseded by the Taskbar. 95 team member Kent Sullivan said: “We hoped [managing apps] would be solved by giving minimised apps a large, distinctive look. We were wrong!”
Microsoft spent $250m marketing Windows XP (2001), including launch events in 63 cities across the world. The UK launch took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London. It was hosted by Microsoft’s then-CEO Steve Ballmer, who prophesised that XP would be “the Windows to beat”.
👻 Svghost.exe - sorry, Svchost.exe 🙄 - is a Windows system process introduced in Windows 2000 (1999). It acts as a host for various so-called “services”. These are apps and/or tasks that run in the background, such as search indexing or automatic update checking/installing.
Tree, The Four Seasons In Spring is the default wallpaper in builds 4083-4093 of Windows Codename Longhorn - which released as Windows Vista in 2006. By photographer Andre Gallant, the image is 1 of 4 shots of the same tree in spring, summer, winter & of course, autumn: 🍁🍂🥮
Through the early 1980s, Microsoft co-founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates brainstormed ideas for a new product: a graphical “operating environment” that would run on top of their command-based MS-DOS operating system. After many delays, it would release as Windows 1 in 1985. ✨
Windows Home Server (2007) was a version of Windows designed for use on so-called “stay-at-home” servers. These were touted as a home backup solution for consumers. A children's book - “Mommy, Why Is There A Server In The House?” - was released to promote the operating system. 📖
Windows 10 Mobile (2016) was Microsoft’s final mobile operating system. Branded & marketed as an edition of Windows 10 (2015), it was actually a version of Windows Phone. In 2017 its development ceased, owing to lack of support from app developers. Support ended in January 2020.
Windows Vista had the longest development process in Windows history. Starting before the release of its predecessor - Windows XP - in 2001, it was thwarted by instabilities & a general lack of direction. Development began afresh in 2004 & Vista finally released in late 2006. ⏳
Windows has shipped with 3 main GUIs (or shells). The first was Windows 1’s (1985) text-based MS-DOS Executive. This was replaced in Windows 3 (1990) by the icon-based Program Manager. Later, Windows 95 (1995) debuted Explorer, which included the famous Start Menu & Taskbar. 💪
Windows XP’s (2001) branding wallpaper (simply called “Windows XP”) shows the Windows wordmark on a coloured background of a 3D rendered Windows logo. Designed by studio REZN8, the colour was edition-dependent & included a variant for XP’s server counterpart, Windows Server 2003.
Windows 9x was a line of operating systems made up of Windows 95 (1995), 98 (1998), 98 Second Edition (1999) & Millennium Edition (or ME) (2000). Still dependent on MS-DOS, 9x debuted a hybrid 16/32-bit kernel that let consumers run 32-bit apps out of the box for the 1st time. 👨🏻💻
Some technicalities: 32-bit app support actually debuted in Windows NT 3.1 (1993), but this line of Windows was only marketed at businesses - not consumers. Also, Windows 3.1 (1992) could support some 32-bit apps via Win32s (1993), using code ported from NT 3.1.