List of Microsoft Windows versions

This page lists and links to information on the various versions of Microsoft Windows, a major computer operating system developed by Microsoft.

Current versions

• Windows 8, is the next version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, servers, and media center PCs.
  • Windows To Go, windows mode/version to run from a USB flash drive and USB external Hard Drive.
• Windows 7, for home and business desktops and portable computers
  • Windows 7 Starter A variant for developing countries and netbooks, in which the Aero theme is not included, nor 64-bit compatibility. This edition is be available pre-installed on computers through system integrators or computer manufacturers.
  • Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Basic is available in emerging markets such as Brazil, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. It will not be available in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Some Aero options are excluded along with several new features.
  • Windows 7 Home Premium This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Aero and touch-screen controls.
  • Windows 7 Professional This edition is targeted toward enthusiasts and small business users. It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain. Additional features include operating as a Remote Desktop server, location aware printing, Encrypting File System, Presentation Mode and Windows XP Mode.
  • Windows 7 Enterprise (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7600) This edition targets the enterprise segment of the market and is sold through volume licensing to companies which have Software Assurance contract with Microsoft. Additional features include support for Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packages, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application-support. Not available through retail or OEM channels, this edition is distributed through Microsoft Software Assurance (SA). As a result it includes several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing the running of multiple virtual machines, and activation via VLK.
  • Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate contains the same features as Windows 7 Enterprise, but unlike that edition it will be available to home users on an individual license basis. Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional users are able to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for a fee using Windows Anytime Upgrade if they wish to do so. Unlike Windows Vista Ultimate, the Windows 7 Ultimate edition will not include the Windows Ultimate Extras feature or any exclusive features. (6.1.7600) Observe the existence of versions that is locked out from activation in some countries.
  • Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601.17514)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 for servers.

• Windows Web Server 2008 R2
• Windows Storage Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
• Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 for high Performance supercomputers
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601.17514)

• Windows Mobile 6.5 for smartphones
• Windows Phone 7 for smartphones
• Windows Home Server Announced at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups, and remote access.
• Windows XP Embedded, for embedded systems requiring parts of the Windows XP infrastructure
• Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a low-end version of Windows XP that is intended to be a thin-client that works with older hardware.
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0, for embedded systems (not based on the Windows NT kernel)

Past versions

• Windows Mobile 6.1 for smartphones and PDAs
• Windows Server 2008 for servers.
  • Windows Web Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2)
  • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
  • Windows Storage Server 2008
  • Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Cougar") for small businesses
  • Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Centro") for medium-sized businesses^[1]
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Windows HPC Server 2008 for high Performance supercomputers
  • Windows Server Foundation 2008
• Windows Vista, for home and business desktops and portable computers
  • Windows Vista Starter Similar to Windows XP Starter Edition, this edition was limited to emerging markets such as Colombia, India, Thailand, and Indonesia, mainly to offer a legal alternative to using unauthorized copies. It was not be available in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Australia.
  • Windows Vista Home Basic Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic was intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The Windows Aero theme with translucent effects was not be included with this edition.
  • Windows Vista Home Premium Like Windows XP Media Center Edition, this edition did support more advanced multimedia and entertainment authoring, premium games, mobile and tablet PC support, Network Projector, Windows Aero, Touch Screen, and auxiliary display (via Windows Side Show) support.
  • Windows Vista Business This edition was aimed at the business market. It includes advanced network and security features, whilst excluding entertainment features.
  • Windows Vista Enterprise (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6000.0) This edition was aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and is a superset of the Business edition. Additional features include multilingual user interface support, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application support. This edition was not be available through retail or OEM channels
  • Windows Vista Ultimate This edition combines all the features of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions, a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), and "Ultimate Extras".
• 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 (5.2.3790)
• Windows Mobile 6 for smartphones and PDA
  • Windows Mobile 6 Standard for smartphones
  • Windows Mobile 6 Classic for PDA without GSM
  • Windows Mobile 6 for PDA with GSM
• 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, for business and power users (Version number: NT 5.1.2600)
  • Windows XP Professional 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 x86-64 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. There are four versions:
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2003
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
  • 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'.
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for tablet PCs
• 2000 February 17 - Windows 2000 (Version number: NT 5.0.2195)
  • Windows 2000 Professional
  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
• 2000 June 19 - Windows Me (Version number: 4.90.3000 (Security Version 4.90.3000A))
• Windows 98
  • 1999 May 5 - Windows 98 Second Edition (Version number: 4.10.2222 or 4.10.2222A (Security Version 4.10.2222C))
  • 1998 June 25 - Windows 98 (Version number: 4.10.1998 (Security Version 4.10.1998A))
• 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)
• Windows 95
  • 1997 November 26 - Windows 95 OSR2.5 (Version number: 4.03.1216 (also listed as 4.00.950C))
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 OSR 2.1 (Version number: 4.03.1214 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 USB Supplement to OSR2 (Version number: 4.03.1212 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1996 August 24 - Windows 95 OSR2 (Version number: 4.00.1111 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1996 February 14 - Windows 95 OSR1 (Version number: 4.00.951 (also listed as 4.00.950A)
  • 1995 December 31 - Windows 95 SP1 (Version number: 4.00.951 (also listed as 4.00.950A)
  • 1995 August 24 - Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 (Version number: 4.40.310)
  • 1995 August 24 - Windows 95 (Version number: 4.00.950)
• 1995 June - Windows NT 3.51 (Version number: NT 3.51.1057)
• 1994 September - Windows NT 3.5 (Version number: NT 3.50.807)
• 1993 November - Windows for Workgroups 3.11
• 1993 October - Windows 3.2 This Version of Windows was only released in simplified Chinese.
• 1993 August - Windows NT 3.1 (Version number: NT 3.10.528)
• 1992 October - Windows for Workgroups 3.1
• 1992 August - Windows 3.1 (Version number: 3.10.040)
• 1990 May 22 - Windows 3.0 (Version number: 3.00.73)
• 1989 March 13 - Windows 2.11
• 1988 May 27 - Windows 2.10
• 1987 December 9 - Windows 2.03
• 1987 April - Windows 1.04
• 1986 August - Windows 1.03
• 1986 May - Windows 1.02
• 1985 November 20 - Windows 1.01
• CE-based
  • 2008 Windows Mobile 6.1, based on Windows CE 5.2.19202
  • 2006 Windows CE 6.0
  • 2005 Windows CE 5.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 5.0
  • 2004 Windows CE 4.2, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 2003 SE
  • 2003 Windows CE 4.1, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2003
  • 2002 Windows CE 4.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2002
  • 2000 July - Windows CE 3.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2000
  • 1999 August - Windows CE 2.12
  • 1998 October - Windows CE 2.11
  • 1998 July - Windows CE 2.1
  • 1997 November - Windows CE 2.0
  • 1996 November - Windows CE 1.0

Future versions

• Windows 8, currently being developed as the successor to Windows 7, and scheduled for release in 2012 or later.^[2][3]

Cancelled versions

• April 1985 Windows 1.0 Beta was scrapped, but later became the framework of the first version of Windows.
• 1996 February 29– Cairo (a "true object-oriented OS") planned after Windows NT 4.0 and had the same primary and secondary version numbers.
• 1996 May 2 – Windows Nashville (Windows 96)
• 1999 December 27– Windows Neptune, the first planned version of Microsoft Windows NT to have a consumer edition variant, based on the Windows 2000 codebase. A version was sent out to testers but was never released.^[4]
• 2000 January 13– Windows Odyssey, a version intended to be an update to the Microsoft Windows NT 5.x codebase. The teams working on Neptune and Odyssey combined to work on the Whistler project,^[5] later released as Windows XP.
• 2005 February 28 – Windows Longhorn cancelled and became Windows Vista in Fall 2006.

See also

• List of Microsoft software codenames
• Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions

References

1. ^ Announcing Windows Essential Business Server
2. ^ Collins, Barry (November 23, 2009). "Windows 8 set for 2012 release". PC Pro. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/353491/windows-8-set-for-2012-release. 
3. ^ Rosoff, Matt (December 21, 2010). "Windows 8 For Tablets? Too Late (MSFT)". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/12/21/businessinsider-windows-8-for-tablets-too-late-2010-12.DTL. 
4. ^ "Microsoft combines Neptune, Odyssey into Whistler". CNN. January 27, 2000. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/01/27/ms.whistler.idg/index.html. Retrieved January 6, 2010. 
5. ^ "Microsoft consolidates Windows development efforts". ZDNet. January 25, 2000. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,13024681,00.htm. Retrieved January 6, 2010.