40th B'day Of Microsoft...

Microsoft has turned 40-years-old today, making it among the oldest tech companies in a time when startups are all the rage. One of the biggest brands by market value, Microsoft makes products that are used by billions of people worldwide.

Windows was the breakthrough product for Microsoft, a software that reduced the dominance of the hardware in the computer industry. On Microsoft 40th anniversary, let us take a look at how Windows has changed since it was unveiled in 1985...
1) Windows 1.0: 1985

The first version of Windows was basically a simple layer on top of MS-DOS, the character based operating system that ran most PCs then. It was not widely used.

2) Windows 2.0: 1987

This was the first operating system to run Microsoft Word and Excel. It also caused Apple to file a "look and feel" lawsuit against Microsoft for ripping off some elements of the Macintosh and Lisa. Apple did not win that case.

3) Windows 3.0: 1990

Windows 3.0 did a lot more to hide the underlying MS-DOS guts with graphical icons like the Program Manager. Not surprisingly, it became the first really popular version of Win.

4) Windows 3.1: 1991

This is the version of Windows that really made it the standard on most IBM-compatible PCs back in the early 1990s. It's also the last version that kind of looked like MS-DOS.

5) Windows 95: 1995

Windows 95 was a big break with the past, emphasizing the desktop and introducing icons for almost everything. Internet Explorer, the Recycle Bin, and the Start button were all introduced here. The basic design for Windows hardly changed from this up until Windows 8, which came out in 2012.

6) Windows 98: 1998

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This update looked and worked just like Windows 95, but was more stable and had a few extra features.

7) Windows ME ("Millennium Edition"): 2000

This was basically Windows 98 with a few new consumer features. It didn't sell very well. Most people waited for XP, which was known to be coming soon.

8) Windows XP: 2001

In 2001, we got Windows XP. It was the first big update since Windows 95, and the first consumer version of Windows to break completely from MS-DOS and use the same underlying technology as Windows NT — the more stable and powerful version of Windows that had been used on servers and "workstation" PCs.

9) Windows Vista: 2006

Windows Vista took Microsoft five years to build, and there were a lot of missteps and resets along the way. It was not a hit, and former CEO Steve Ballmer has said that the time and effort the company spent on Vista — instead of pursuing new opportunities in mobile — was one of his biggest regrets.

10) Windows 7: 2009

Fortunately for Microsoft, it was able to recover from the Vista debacle on the desktop. Windows 7, which came out in 2009, was basically a polish-up of Vista, but much more stable. 

It's still very popular in businesses. In fact, one of the big challenges with Windows 10 will be getting enterprises to upgrade from Windows 7.

11) Windows 8: 2012

The iPad came out in 2010, and its early success spooked Microsoft into another misstep. Instead of continuing to adapt on 30 years of of desktop success, Microsoft took a lot of the concepts from the unsuccessful Windows Phone operating system and brought them over to the main version of Windows.

The goal was to make an operating system that functioned equally well on touch-screen tablets, to compete against the iPad and regular PCs. The main interface had no start button, huge colorful boxes instead of icons, and changed how basic tasks were done.

Windows And Windows Phone 8.1: 2014

Last year, Microsoft updated both its PC/tablet and mobile operating systems, and began to bring them closer together. It also used Windows 8.1 to reverse some of the big changes it had made with Windows 8, like returning the Start menu.

Windows 10 is expected to continue in this vein, bringing the PC, tablet, and phone platforms even closer together and making the traditional Windows desktop more easily available if you're using a keyboard and mouse.

Sources: TOI.