Windows NT is a family of operating systems developed by Microsoft that featured multi-processing capabilities, processor independence and multi-user support. The first version was released in as Windows NT 3. Windows NT was the predecessor to Windows There were actually two versions of Windows NT: the first one was Windows NT Server, which was the first purely bit OS developed by Microsoft, and the second one was the consumer-oriented Windows NT Workstation, which was available in both and bit versions.
The main design feature of Windows NT was software and hardware portability, with various versions being released for specific processor architectures. The main goal was to have a common code base that sported a hardware abstraction layer HAL made for each platform. Own an iPhone, Android, laptop or desktop system? Windows 11 FAQ: Our upgrade guide and everything else you need to know.
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You also agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge the data collection and usage practices outlined in our Privacy Policy. Read this. Internet Explorer also made its debut on Windows 95, but was not installed by default requiring the Windows 95 Plus! Windows 98 introduced the back and forward navigation buttons and the address bar in Windows Explorer, among other things.
One of the biggest changes was the introduction of the Windows Driver Model for computer components and accessories — one driver to support all future versions of Windows. Released in September , it was the consumer-aimed operating system twined with Windows aimed at the enterprise market. It introduced some important concepts to consumers, including more automated system recovery tools.
Autocomplete also appeared in Windows Explorer, but the operating system was notorious for being buggy, failing to install properly and being generally poor.
The Start menu and task bar got a visual overhaul, bringing the familiar green Start button, blue task bar and vista wallpaper, along with various shadow and other visual effects. ClearType, which was designed to make text easier to read on LCD screens, was introduced, as were built-in CD burning, autoplay from CDs and other media, plus various automated update and recovery tools, that unlike Windows ME actually worked.
Windows XP was the longest running Microsoft operating system, seeing three major updates and support up until April — 13 years from its original release date. Windows XP was still used on an estimated m PCs when it was discontinued. Its biggest problem was security: though it had a firewall built in, it was turned off by default. Windows XP stayed the course for close to six years before being replaced by Windows Vista in January Vista updated the look and feel of Windows with more focus on transparent elements, search and security.
MS-DOS uses interrupts to call operating system services. This was made necessary by the segment-based addressing of the Intel based processor which essentially adds a 4-bit extension to the bit addressing of the Intel DOS was also written to suit the needs of a single user, with minimal security.
A user with Windows 95 who does not type in a proper password still can access the local resources, if not the network. A program must do operations quickly and then give control back to Windows, which can then give messages to other tasks. If a program fails to do so, it will stop all other processes on the machine, rendering it inoperable, and this often happened on Win16 machines. The Intel was not a very powerful processor, but the and had features which could support an true multitasking environment.
Win32 replaces the earlier memory allocation scheme with true bit pointers, permitting a 4 gigabyte address space with 2 gigabytes for application code exceeded on actual machines only by the s. Operating system calls are made with conventional subroutine calls, and a sophisticated system manages users and privileges to meet corporate and defence standards. If the administrator loses the login password, the system must be rebuilt. Windows NT supports preemptive multitasking and threading like most large scale systems.
The kernel can stop any task and start others without help from the application programmer. NT also manages virtual memory like a time sharing computer and supports networking and remote terminals.
Since NT has become the base technology for workstations, it nearly completely dominates desktop and laptop workstations with Apple a distant second and Linux yet fewer. When Windows 3. This decision caused tension between Microsoft and IBM and the collaboration ultimately fell apart.
The operating system was designed to run on multiple instruction set architectures and multiple hardware platforms within each architecture. The platform dependencies are largely hidden from the rest of the system by a kernel mode module called the HAL.
Windows NT's kernel mode code further distinguishes between the 'kernel' whose primary purpose is to implement processor and architecture dependent functions and the 'executive'.
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