The Evolution of Microsoft Windows

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
I'm currently working on a paper for my IT class on the Evolution of Windows. I'd like to add some personal opinions on the OS's that have come out over the years. So I thought I'd come to people that know computers best :)

In your replies, could you please list the OS you are describing (Anything from MS-DOS to Windows 7) and some of your personal pros and cons to the operating system, and how you think the newer version is better than the older one (ie. windows XP better than Windows 2000 because......)

Like I said, I'm just looking for some personal opinions. I already have some factual sources that can get me started.

Thanks guys! You'll really be helping me! :)

**EDIT**

Probably should have put this in the OS forum, but oh well. Too late.
 
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well I use windows vista and I have to say that I love it. Its got a beautiful gui, interesting and useful performance optimizing features, automatically detects and installs all necessary drivers when you need them, and now has dx11!! on the downside it sometimes can be a memory hog, though it has gotten quite better. I upgraded from xp to this and boy what a refresh. Vista definitely improved the aesthetic value of Windows and gave me that eye candy that windows used to lack.
 
this question has been brought up before. I have my opinions that was posted long ago. Bill gates when he started. I forgot his partner that sold out. I was involved pretty much such the beginning. On operating system just dos. SOL terminal, TRS 80 model 1. Only dos and no operating system. No such thing as the internet. They had dial up bulletin boards.

I remember Bill Gates and his partner , damn i wish i remembered his name. Norton created the undelete function in dos. that was his foot in the door with Microsoft .

windows 3.1 i had. EVERY SINGLE DRIVER had to be installed manually. printers out of the question. i had something that printed on paper about 4" wide only. Nothing like the stuff out today.


Windows OSR2 was a step up. Detected more and quicker.

Windows 98 2nd edition was the best. Thats the time the internet come out. still had to deal with drivers. worked well and stable.

just goes on and on. next was XP pro then stepped up to windows 7 pro.
High speed internet and life is good.

No such thing as a hd. $1200 in a kit for trs 80 (z80 processor) and 4k of memory. In a kit. you bought a motherboard all the parts were in a bag. You soldered all the parts. they did not have smt tech. no such thing as 3-1/2 disc. 8" disc at 1st. got a 5-1/4" disc drive. Eventually stepped up to an Exatron stringy floppy. Green screen, only, no mouse, dos only. everything was written in mach lang.
very fast and not sloppy like today. they use compilers but the computers have lots of memory and fast.

had to rethink it. long time ago.
sorry my fault. forgot or what ever. i think it was CPM that was not upgraded often enough with IBM. Bill gates got involved and created the operating system called DOS for IBM and kept it up to date. CPM was not giving enough support and updating. later Microsoft evolved. it was a long time ago. i think this was it though. sorry....i corrected it else where here i think. have to go. cant make all the corrections now. you will figure it out.

his partner was Paul Allen. writing in Basic.
 
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I think that Windows 7 is a major improvement over Vista, in terms of overall performance and visuals. I was able to increase fps in gaming and i can run DX11, something i cant with Vista. I also noticed that the boot-up time was shorter, but not by a whole lot.

It looks good, performs great and consists of several options that vista does not include... I love it ^^
 
Windows 95-> Windows 98:
Pros:WDM, Regedit, Msconfig, First version of windows to have DirectX at launch, Plug and Play
Cons:More space requirements than 95, Higher processor usage

Windows 98-> Windows 98SE:
Pros: DVD Support, Far better USB Support,
Cons:Had to pay to upgrade from windows 98, Wasnt really worthwhile to spend money on doing so

Windows 98SE-> Windows ME:
Pros:...None really
Cons:Was one of the most useless "upgrades" ever done by microsoft, the only real "advantage" over windows 98 SE was system restore. All the other features of ME could easily be downloaded as power tools and utilized in windows 98 SE.

Windows ME-> Windows XP:
Pros:Large step from ME, replaced classic windows interface with Luna, Introduced DirectX8.0, CD burning without extra software,Fast, Stable
Cons:Many computers at the time didnt have the specs required to run XP, wasnt the greatest OS until SP1 or even SP2.

Windows XP-> Windows Vista
Pros: Directx10, New GUI,
Cons:Multiple Versions that limited usability, Was well known for its "bloat" and heavy system requirements, UAC was an annoying feature, Was one of microsoft's "Flops" when it came to OS's

Windows Vista-> Windows 7
Pros: Revised GUI, Much more effecient than Vista, More Stable, Multiple Levels of UAC, Native ISO burning,
Cons: Again, too many versions, Price


Thats really all i can remember, with a bit of my personal experiences with each OS thrown in as well.

Also....directX11 requires a supported video card, not to mention vista supports DX11 as well.
 
windows 95-98 were epicly awesome.. so simple to use.. windows 7 easly networked and also easy to use... but i must say windows 95-98 were my favoute
 
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