Section 1.1. A Brief History of Time, Re: MS Windows

1.1. A Brief History of Time, Re: MS Windows

As time progresses, the lineage of Windows becomes less linear. Windows XP, despite its name, is not the direct successor to Windows Me, nor is Windows 2000 the direct successor to Windows 98 and Windows 95. Instead, Windows XP is the latest installment to the historically less-consumer-oriented Windows NT line of operating systems, developed in parallel to the Windows 9x/Me line.

So why the distinction between these two product lines? The first release of Windows NT, arbitrarily assigned the 3.1 version number, was released in the middle of 1993. At the time, Microsoft's marketing department asserted that NT was an acronym for New Technology, which was actually quite an accurate description. The NT kernel, or underlying code upon which the interface (Explorer) runs, was completely new and did not rely on DOS,^[1] despite the fact that it shared the same shell (interface) as Windows 3.1. This resulted (theoretically) in a more stable environment, much better security, and the ability to be easily ported to work on other processors (such as Compaq's Alpha chip).

^[1] DOS, or "Disk Operating System," was the first operating system available for the IBM PC (released in 1981). The first versions of Microsoft Windows (Versions 1.x-3.x) were simply applications that ran on top of DOS. Windows 9x and Me are no different, although Microsoft went to great lengths to hide the dependence on DOS. Historical trivia: Microsoft purchased the code for DOS 1.0 for $50,000 and used it as the basis for their operating systems for more than twenty years.

Over the years, this "portability" has become much less emphasized. More recently, the NT line (Windows NT 4.0 in 1996 and Windows 2000 in 2000) has been improved and remarketed as a web, intranet, and network server; a challenger to Unix; and now, with Windows XP, a viable home-office operating system.

One of the problems with earlier releases of NT (from NT 3.1, which nobody liked, to NT 4.0, most commonly used as a web server, to Windows 2000, which made inroads among businesses and power users) was that they offered the enhanced features of the NT kernel without most of the perks and polish prized by the average consumer. What had plagued NT most, however, was the abysmal industry support for the platform. Given the overwhelming majority of Windows 9x users, a sizeable percentage of the hardware and software available for the PCeven released as recently as the time of this writingwas simply not supported in Windows NT/2000. The result was a platform that was really inappropriate for most users.

Windows XP changed all that way back in 2001. Among other things, Windows XP known internally as Windows NT 5.1 (Windows 2000 is version 5.0) replaces Windows Me completely and marks the end of the DOS-based Windows 9x/Me line. Not that we're sorry to see it go.

XP finally puts the stability and security of NT into the hands of all Windows users, while giving power users such perks as Plug and Play,^[2] good support for games, and most importantly, the industry support that is now possible due to the fact that Windows XP is the sole operating system platform sold by Microsoft (at least at the time of this writing).

^[2] Plug and Play was also included in Windows 2000, but has been improved in Windows XP with improved streamlining and automation, knowledge of far more devices, and much better industry support.