WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.640 It all started on November 20th 1985 when Microsoft unleashed Windows 1.0 on the world. 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:14.480 But did you know it wasn't even a real operating system? Instead of being a standalone OS, Windows 1.0 was a graphical shell 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:19.120 that ran on top of MS-DOS to make it easier to use than a tedious command line. 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:25.200 Even so though, many reviewers didn't like it as Windows 1.0 was quite demanding on the systems 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:32.160 and it relied so much on a mouse. I mean, those are so uncommon, where am I going to find one? 00:00:32.160 --> 00:00:40.480 Making it difficult to use. Windows 2.0 came on the scene in late 1987 and was quite a bit more polished. 00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:45.200 The Windows themselves could actually overlap for the first time 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:49.600 and you could display a whopping 256 colors on your screen. 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:54.880 Third-party application support was still spotty, but Word and Excel for Windows 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:03.440 both made their debuts on Windows 2.0. The 2.1 variant released the next year was actually the first version of Windows to require a hard 00:01:03.440 --> 00:01:10.400 drive as previous versions could run off of floppy disks. 1990s Windows 3.0 was a major change 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.880 and not just because Microsoft dropped $3 million on the launch event. 00:01:14.880 --> 00:01:20.560 Not only did it look a lot nicer, it also enabled a much more seamless multitasking experience 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:26.640 and featured a GUI based around icons for the first time, making it far easier to use than 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:32.480 previous versions. Windows 3.0 also brought a CD-ROM support and sound playback 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:37.440 and Microsoft even sold some simple games like Minesweeper for Windows 3.0, 00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:42.720 games that became extremely popular and got people thinking about the PC as a gaming platform. 00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:49.520 Windows 3.1 followed in 1992 and introduced drag-and-drop icons as well as true-type fonts, 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:53.840 meaning that what you saw on your screen would end up being what you get when you printed a hard 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:59.360 copy. The next year brought us Windows 3.2, which was just a Chinese version of 3.1, 00:01:59.360 --> 00:02:06.480 as well as Windows NT 3.1. But despite the similar name, NT represented a fundamental 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:11.120 architectural change. Other versions of Windows were still running on top of DOS, 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.920 but NT ran on an entirely separate kernel which allowed more advanced features. 00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.000 In fact, modern versions of Windows are part of that same NT lineage. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.320 But that doesn't mean that Microsoft was ready to ditch DOS-based Windows just yet. 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:32.000 Although we did get NT 3.5 in 1994, 1995 brought us the blockbuster Windows 95. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.280 And although it still ran on top of DOS, it marked the point where Windows really came into its own 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:42.480 as an operating system, with familiar features like the start menu and task bar, 00:02:42.480 --> 00:02:48.480 and support for USB in later updates. The NT series also got an update in 1996 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:53.760 with Windows NT 4.0 using basically the same GUI as Windows 95. 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:00.000 Windows 98, appropriately released in 1998, was a souped-up version of Windows 95 that was supposed 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.160 to integrate better with the internet. But infamously, 98 was quite buggy. In fact, 00:03:06.160 --> 00:03:11.520 the bugs were so prevalent that it prompted Microsoft to release Windows 98 Second Edition 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:19.120 in 1999 alongside another version of NT called Windows 2000, which was much more stable than 98. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:25.520 But also resulted in Microsoft getting egg on its face as it contained a boatload of security flaws 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:29.360 despite Redmond billing it as the most secure Windows ever. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:34.080 Microsoft wouldn't exactly write the ship in the year 2000, as we got an absolute 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:39.280 turd of an operating system called Windows ME. I mean, it did introduce System Restore, 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:44.400 which is admittedly a very useful feature, but the OS was extremely unstable, 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:48.560 leading people to say that ME stood for Mistake Edition. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.240 Following ME's failure, DOS-based Windows was axed permanently, 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:59.120 and in 2001, we got the legendary Windows XP. XP brought Windows NT as well as the 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:03.840 NTFS file system which supported large hard drives to home users for the first time. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:10.800 XP also came in professional and 64-bit editions, as well as a stripped-down version for older 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:17.520 systems. XP's stability, eye-pleasing GUI, and powerful performance made it an extremely popular 00:04:17.520 --> 00:04:23.120 OS, although users weren't thrilled with the anti-piracy scheme product activation, 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:28.640 which made its first appearance in XP. Nevertheless, XP remained very popular all 00:04:28.640 --> 00:04:34.160 the way to 2009, thanks in part to the fact that the release of Windows Vista in 2007 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:40.080 was an unmitigated disaster. Vista attempted to modernize the Windows GUI with Aero glass 00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:46.320 and patched security holes present in XP, but it also featured very onerous DRM schemes and had 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:51.840 lots of hardware compatibility issues. Some people blamed this on just how different Vista was from 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:56.960 its predecessor, while others pointed out that OEMs just didn't update their drivers in time 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:02.880 and mis-marketed low-end systems as technically being ready for Vista, even though the experience 00:05:02.880 --> 00:05:08.960 was not very good. In any event, Microsoft released Windows 7 in 2009, which was visually 00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:14.240 similar to Vista, but significantly more stable, especially since PC hardware had had some time 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:20.000 to catch up to this revamped version of the OS. Windows 7 became so popular that it held its 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.440 own against its successor operating system well into the late 2010s, and some editions of Windows 00:05:25.840 --> 00:05:31.440 7 are actually still supported through 2023. Of course, part of the reason Windows 7 remained 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:36.400 popular was because 2012's Windows 8 was a rather confusing piece of software. I mean, 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:42.160 it wasn't a bad OS in terms of stability or features or performance, it's just that many 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:48.000 users disliked it because Microsoft attempted to take an OS geared towards tablets, like their 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.720 surface lineup that they were pushing hard at the time, and then shoehorn it into a desktop 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:59.440 environment with a new start screen instead of menu, live tiles, and metro apps that just didn't 00:05:59.440 --> 00:06:04.720 have a lot of purpose for existing for keyboard and mouse users. The major criticism from mainstream 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:09.680 users centered around the fact that Microsoft took away the start button and start menu completely, 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.320 prompting the release of Windows 8.1 in 2013, which restored these features 00:06:14.320 --> 00:06:20.160 and added some new ones, like Miracast and support for 3D printers. 8.1 proved to be more popular 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:25.600 than 8, but in 2015, Windows 10 made its grand entrance, which scrapped the start screen, 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:31.120 but has still proven to be usable on desktops and tablets alike. Unlike previous versions of 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.920 Windows, Microsoft has said that Windows 10 will be updated continuously as a service, 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:42.400 making it the last version of Windows ever, and therefore, the point at which today's story ends. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:48.240 But wait, you didn't talk about the server and embedded versions of Windows. You're right, we 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:52.480 didn't. But the name of the channel isn't tech-lengthy, although we're not against doing it in a future 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:57.520 episode, so let us know in the comments if you're interested. So thanks for watching guys, like, 00:06:57.520 --> 00:07:01.440 dislike if you felt that way about it, check out our other videos, leave a comment if you have 00:07:01.440 --> 00:07:05.200 a suggestion for our future one, and don't forget to subscribe.