The Windows family tree.

Microsoft has taken two parallel routes in its operating systems. One route has been for the home user and the other has been for the professional IT user. The dual routes have generally led to home versions having greater multimedia support and less functionality in networking and security, and professional versions having inferior multimedia support and better networking and security.[citation needed]

The first version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released in November 1985, lacked a degree of functionality and achieved little popularity, and was to compete with Apple’s own operating system.[citation needed] Windows 1.0 is not a complete operating system; rather, it extends MS-DOS. Microsoft Windows version 2.0 was released in November, 1987 and was slightly more popular than its predecessor. Windows 2.03 (release date January 1988) had changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led to Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights.
A Windows for Workgroups 3.11 desktop.

Microsoft Windows version 3.0, released in 1990, was the first Microsoft Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months. It featured improvements to the user interface and to multitasking capabilities. It received a facelift in Windows 3.1, made generally available on March 1, 1992. Windows 3.1 support ended on December 31, 2001.

In July 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT based on a new kernel. NT was considered to be the professional OS and was the first Windows version to utilize preemptive multitasking.[citation needed]. Windows NT would later be retooled to also function as a home operating system, with Windows XP.

On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new, and major, consumer version that made further changes to the user interface, and also used preemptive multitasking. Windows 95 was designed to replace not only Windows 3.1, but also Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS. It was also the first Windows operating system to use Plug and Play capabilities. The changes Windows 95 brought to the desktop were revolutionary, as opposed to evolutionary, such as those in Windows 98 and Windows Me. Mainstream support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2000 and extended support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2001.

The next in the consumer line was Microsoft Windows 98 released on June 25, 1998. It was substantially criticized for its slowness and for its unreliability compared with Windows 95, but many of its basic problems were later rectified with the release of Windows 98 Second Edition in 1999.[citation needed] Mainstream support for Windows 98 ended on June 30, 2002 and extended support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006.

As part of its "professional" line, Microsoft released Windows 2000 in February 2000. The consumer version following Windows 98 was Windows Me (Windows Millennium Edition). Released in September 2000, Windows Me implemented a number of new technologies for Microsoft: most notably publicized was "Universal Plug and Play."

In October 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP, a version built on the Windows NT kernel that also retained the consumer-oriented usability of Windows 95 and its successors. This new version was widely praised in computer magazines. It shipped in two distinct editions, "Home" and "Professional", the former lacking many of the superior security and networking features of the Professional edition. Additionally, the first "Media Center" edition was released in 2002, with an emphasis on support for DVD and TV functionality including program recording and a remote control. Mainstream support for Windows XP will continue until April 14, 2009 and extended support will continue until April 8, 2014.

In April 2003, Windows Server 2003 was introduced, replacing the Windows 2000 line of server products with a number of new features and a strong focus on security; this was followed in December 2005 by Windows Server 2003 R2.

On January 30, 2007 Microsoft released Windows Vista. It contains a number of new features, from a redesigned shell and user interface to significant technical changes, with a particular focus on security features. It is available in a number of different editions, and has been subject to some criticism.[citation needed]

Read More......

The box art of Windows 1.0, the first version that Microsoft released to the public.

The term Windows collectively describes any or all of several generations of Microsoft (MS) operating system (OS) products. These products are generally categorized as follows:

16-bit operating environments

The early versions of Windows were often thought of as just graphical user interfaces, mostly because they ran on top of MS-DOS and used it for file system services. However, even the earliest 16-bit Windows versions already assumed many typical operating system functions, notably, having their own executable file format and providing their own device drivers (timer, graphics, printer, mouse, keyboard and sound) for applications. Unlike MS-DOS, Windows allowed users to execute multiple graphical applications at the same time, through cooperative multitasking. Finally, Windows implemented an elaborate, segment-based, software virtual memory scheme, which allowed it to run applications larger than available memory: code segments and resources were swapped in and thrown away when memory became scarce, and data segments moved in memory when a given application had relinquished processor control, typically waiting for user input.[citation needed] 16-bit Windows versions include Windows 1.0 (1985), Windows 2.0 (1987) and its close relatives, Windows/286-Windows/386.

Windows/386 introduced a 32-bit protected mode kernel and virtual machine monitor. For the duration of a Windows session, it created one or more virtual 8086 environments and provided device virtualization for the video card, keyboard, mouse, timer and interrupt controller inside each of them. The user-visible consequence was that it became possible to preemptively multitask multiple MS-DOS environments in separate windows, although graphical MS-DOS applications required full screen mode. Also, Windows applications were multi-tasked cooperatively inside one such virtual 8086 environment.

Windows 3.0 (1990) and Windows 3.1 (1992) improved the design, mostly because of virtual memory and loadable virtual device drivers (VxDs) which allowed them to share arbitrary devices between multitasked DOS windows.[citation needed] Also, Windows applications could now run in protected mode (when Windows was running in Standard or 386 Enhanced Mode), which gave them access to several megabytes of memory and removed the obligation to participate in the software virtual memory scheme. They still ran inside the same address space, where the segmented memory provided a degree of protection, and multi-tasked cooperatively. For Windows 3.0, Microsoft also rewrote critical operations from C into assembly, making this release faster and less memory-hungry than its predecessors.[citation needed]


Source ↓ Hitslink ↓ Awio ↓ XiTi ↓ OneStat ↓
Date September 2008 September 2008 August 2008 Mar 2008
All versions 90.29% - 93.61% 95.94%
Windows XP 68.67% 73.04% 71.22% 78.93%
Windows Vista 18.33% 12.30% 18.99% 13.24%
Windows 2000 1.89% 2.24% 1.56% 2.82%
Windows 98 0.34% 0.59% 0.35% 0.58%
Windows 2003 - 0.70% 0.82% -
Windows NT 0.80% - 0.04% -
Windows ME 0.19% 0.23% 0.15% 0.31%
Windows CE 0.06% - 0.04% -
Windows 95 0.01% - 0.01% -
Windows other - - 0.42% -

Hybrid 16/32-bit operating environments

Windows 3.0 (1990) and Windows 3.1 (1992) improved the design, mostly because of virtual memory and loadable virtual device drivers (VxDs) which allowed them to share arbitrary devices between multitasked DOS windows.[citation needed] Also, Windows applications could now run in protected mode (when Windows was running in Standard or 386 Enhanced Mode), which gave them access to several megabytes of memory and removed the obligation to participate in the software virtual memory scheme. They still ran inside the same address space, where the segmented memory provided a degree of protection, and multi-tasked cooperatively. For Windows 3.0, Microsoft also rewrote critical operations from C into assembly, making this release faster and less memory-hungry than its predecessors.[citation needed]
Hybrid 16/32-bit operating systems

With the introduction of the 32-bit Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows was able to stop relying on DOS for file management.[citation needed] Leveraging this, Windows 95 introduced Long File Names, reducing the 8.3 filename DOS environment to the role of a boot loader. MS-DOS was now bundled with Windows; this notably made it (partially) aware of long file names when its utilities were run from within Windows. The most important novelty was the possibility of running 32-bit multi-threaded preemptively multitasked graphical programs. However, the necessity of keeping compatibility with 16-bit programs meant the GUI components were still 16-bit only[citation needed] and not fully reentrant, which resulted in reduced performance and stability.

There were three releases of Windows 95 (the first in 1995, then subsequent bug-fix versions in 1996 and 1997, only released to OEMs, which added extra features such as FAT32 and primitive USB support). Microsoft's next OS was Windows 98; there were two versions of this (the first in 1998 and the second, named "Windows 98 Second Edition", in 1999). In 2000, Microsoft released Windows Me (Me standing for Millennium Edition), which used the same core as Windows 98 but adopted some aspects of Windows 2000 and removed the option boot into DOS mode. It also added a new feature called System Restore, allowing the user to set the computer's settings back to an earlier date.

32-bit operating systems

The NT family of MS Windows systems was fashioned and marketed for higher reliability business use, and was unencumbered by any Microsoft DOS patrimony.[citation needed] The first release was MS Windows NT 3.1 (1993, numbered "3.1" to match the Windows version and to one-up IBM OS/2 2.1,[citation needed] IBM’s flagship OS co-developed by Microsoft which was MS Windows NT’s main competitor at the time), which was followed by MS NT 3.5 (1994), MS NT 3.51 (1995), MS NT 4.0 (1996), and MS Windows 2000 (essentially NT 5.0). NT 4.0 was the first in this line to implement the "Windows 95" user interface (and the first to include Windows 95’s built-in 32-bit runtimes). Microsoft then moved to combine their consumer and business operating systems. MS Windows XP, coming in both home and professional versions (and later niche market versions for tablet PCs and media centers), improved stability and backwards compatibility.[citation needed] Then, MS Windows Server 2003 brought MS Windows Server up to date with MS Windows XP. Since then, a new version, MS Windows Vista was released and MS Windows Server 2008, released on February 27, 2008, brings MS Windows Server up to date with MS Windows Vista.

Windows CE, Microsoft’s offering in the mobile and embedded markets, is also a true 32-bit operating system that offers various services for all sub-operating workstations.

64-bit operating systems

Windows NT included support for several different platforms before the x86-based personal computer became dominant in the professional world. Versions of NT from 3.1 to 4.0 variously supported PowerPC, DEC Alpha and MIPS R4000, some of which were 64-bit processors, although the operating system treated them as 32-bit processors.

With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture, which is referred to as IA-64, Microsoft released new versions of Windows to support it. Itanium versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were released at the same time as their mainstream x86 (32-bit) counterparts. On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and x64 versions of Windows Server 2003 to support the AMD64/Intel64 (or x64 in Microsoft terminology) architecture. Microsoft dropped support for the Itanium version of Windows XP in 2005. Windows Vista is the first end-user version of Windows that Microsoft has released simultaneously in 32-bit and x64 editions. Windows Vista does not support the Itanium architecture. The modern 64-bit Windows family comprises AMD64/Intel64 versions of Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, in both Itanium and x64 editions.

Read More......

Overview

Computer software is often regarded as anything but hardware, meaning that the "hard" are the parts that are tangible (able to hold) while the "soft" part is the intangible objects inside the computer. Software encompasses an extremely wide array of products and technologies developed using different techniques like programming languages, scripting languages etc. The types of software include web pages developed by technologies like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like Microsoft Word, OpenOffice developed by technologies like C, C++, Java, C#, etc. Software usually runs on an underlying operating system (which is a software also) like Microsoft Windows, Linux (running GNOME and KDE), Sun Solaris etc. Software also includes video games like the Super Mario, Grand Theft Auto for personal computers or video game consoles. These games can be created using CGI (computer generated imagery) that can be designed by applications like Maya, 3ds Max etc.

Also a software usually runs on a software platform which can either be provided by the Operating System or by OS independent platforms like Java and .NET. Software written for one platform is usually unable to run on other platforms so that for instance, Microsoft Windows software will not be able to run on Mac OS because of the differences relating to the platforms and their own standards. These applications can work using software porting, interpreters or re-writing the source code for that platform.

Relationship to computer hardware

Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions which change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.

The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1958. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all computer programs. The theory that is the basis for most modern software was first proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem.

Read More......

Homework assignments are the bane of most students I know not to mention their hard-pressed and nescient parents). This is mainly because of the tedious and mind-numbing chores of data mining and composition. Additionally, as knowledge multiplies every 5-10 years, few parents and teachers are able to keep up.

Enter Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium 2009: a productivity suite which includes English and foreign language dictionaries (Spanish, French, German, and Italian); a thesaurus; a quotations and citation library; assignment templates; tutorials; a graphing and equations calculator software; and a Web Companion.

MS Student comes replete with the entire Encarta Premium 2009 encyclopedia and its dynamic atlas and provides online access to the feature-rich MSN Encarta Premium through October 2009. Ink Handwriting Support allows the user to work with Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs and recognizes handwritten math problems.

There is little need to introduce the Encarta Encyclopedia: 62,000 articles; thousands of Web links, vetted by the encyclopedia's editors; videos, sound clips; interactive maps, including geopolitical, climatic, and topographical; 2-D and 3-D tours of historical events; a Dynamic Timeline of thousands of eras and events; and Encarta Kids for children under the age of 12.

Last year, Encarta released only 15 updates (compared to almost 50 the year before). This year started more auspiciously, with 3 updates and 3000 corrected or new articles added to the Encyclopedia in its first two months since its release in June.

The previous versions of Encarta comprised a host of homework tools. Three years ago, these have evolved into a separate product called Microsoft Student. Since then, it has been gainfully repackaged and very much enhanced. This year, MS Student can only be downloaded from the Web. It is no longer available as a standalone, packaged product.

Among the new or revamped features:

To augment the performance of MS Student 2009, Microsoft offers "Learning Essentials": preformatted report and presentation templates and tutorials designed for Microsoft Office XP and later. MS Student's templates are actually clever adaptations of the popular Office suite of products: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They help the student produce homework plans and schedules, science projects, book reports, presentations, research reports, charts, and analyses of problems in math, physics, and chemistry. Detailed step-by-step tutorials, Quick Starters, and pop-up toolbars (menus) guide the student along the way in a friendly, non-intrusive manner.

The Ace in MS Student's deck is Microsoft Math. It incorporates a step-by-step math solutions calculator, math textbook solutions, Triangle Solver, Equations Library, tutorials, and foreign language help.

Microsoft Math is a seemingly endless anthology of tools, tutorials and instruction sheets on how to grasp mathematical concepts and solve math problems, from the most basic (e.g., fractions) to mid-level difficulty (e.g., trigonometric functions). And if this is not enough, there's free access to HotMath, an online collection of math study aides and problem solvers.

The graphing calculator is a wonder. It has both 2-D and 3-D capabilities and makes use of the full screen. Aided by a library of more than 100 equations and formulas, it does everything except cook: trigonometry, calculus, math, charting, geometry, physics, and chemistry. And everything in full color! Triangles get special treatment in the Triangle Solver. The most vexing trilateral relationships and rules are rendered simple through the use of enhanced graphics. A Unit Conversion Tool converts units of measure including length, area, volume, weight, temperature, pressure, energy, power, velocity, and time.

MS Student comes with a powerful English-Spanish-French-German-Italian dictionary. It helps the student to translate and conjugate verbs. The synergy between this product and the impressive foreign language capabilities of MS Word creates an effective language laboratory which allows the user to study the languages up to the point of completing assignments using specialized foreign-language templates.

For the student keen on the liberal arts and the humanities, Student 2009 provides detailed Book Summaries of more than 1000 classic works. Besides plot synopses, the student gets acquainted with the author's life, themes and characters in the tomes, and ideas for book reports.

Similar to the Encarta, MS Student's Web Companion obtains search results from all the major search engines without launching any additional applications (such as a browser). Content from both the Encyclopedia and the Web is presented side by side. This augmentation explicitly adopts the Internet and incorporates it as an important source of reference - as 80% of students have already done.

I am not sure how Microsoft solves the weighty and interesting issues of intellectual property that the Web Companion raises, though. Copyright-holders of Web content may feel that they have the right to be compensated by Microsoft for the use it makes of their wares in its commercial products.

MS Student would do well to also integrate with desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. Students will benefit from seamless access to content from all over - their desktop, their encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive interface.

Microsoft would do well to incorporate collaborative and Web publishing tools in this product. MS Student does not equip and empower the student to collaborate with teachers and classmates on class projects and to seamlessly publish his or her results and work on the Web. Future editions should incorporate a NetMeeting-like module, a wiki interface, and an HTML editor.

All in all, MS Student 2009 is a great contribution to learning. Inevitably, it has a few flaws and glitches.

Start with the price. As productivity suites go, it is reasonably priced had its target population been adult professional users. But, at $50-100 (depending on the country), it is beyond the reach of most poor students and parents: its most immediate market niches.

Fully installed on the hard disk, MS Student 2009, like its predecessors, gobbles up a whopping 3-4 Gb. That's a lot - even in an age of ever cheaper storage. Most homesteads still sport PCs with 40-80 Gb hard disks. This makes MS Student less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops.

The Equation Library is disappointing, as it holds only 100 equations and calculus is sorely neglected throughout.

Finally, there is the question of personal creativity and originality. Luckily, MS Student does not spoon-feed its users. It does not substitute for thinking or for study. On the contrary, by providing structured stimuli, it encourages the student to express his or her ideas. It does not do the homework assignments for the student - it merely helps rid them of time-consuming and machine-like functions. And it opens up to both student and family the wonderful twin universes of knowledge: the Encarta and the Web.

Read More......