Microsoft Windows History & XP Flavours

Introduction

As mentioned in the news item, Microsoft Windows XP used to come in two, and now three flavours. For detailed information about these, see the Microsoft web site. This article outlines just the key differences and also gives a bit of a history lesson, on the foregoing releases of Windows.

Brief History of Windows Releases

The first "Windows" appeared around 1985 and was like an application in that you launched it ontop of the DOS operating system to provide a graphical interface. It was not taken really seriously by many and in fact due to the limited amount of memory available on most systems at the time, actually took up memory for no good reason. Still, the stage was set. Users who could not remember a command line started using it.

Microsoft and IBM joined forces in the 80's to produce an alternative operating system called OS/2. This was driven by technological changes and business needs, however it never really gained the necessary foothold in the market to remain successfull. Wher it was taken up, it was only in business. Having said that I did know of one workmate who ran it at home! Eventually Microsoft and IBM parted company over this operating system and IBM continued to develop it for a time.

About 1992 Windows reached version 3.1, which was the first one to be taken really seriously by many. This was the start of the concept of a home versus a business operating system in Windows. 3.1 was the basic offering, but then there was an alternate offering of Windows for Workgroups to business. WfW contained networking and was thus useful to business implementing early LANs (Local Area Networks).

WfW was the first introduction of TCP/IP into Windows, with an optional loadable TCP/IP Stack driver.

Windows NT 3.1 first appeared in a Beta form around 1992. Microsoft even joked at the conference that, based on earlier experience of Windows not being really successful until the thrid release, they had decided to make the first release version 3! I still recall going home from the conference with a small box of 3.5" diskettes, and a Windows NT lapel badge which I still have today. Windows NT 3.51 succeeded this version. These were mostly used as a Server operating system, with WfW Version 3.11 being the main business desktop (Workstation) operating system.

With the advent of Windows '95 operating system, Windows appeared as if it was a true operating system, but still relied heavily on the underlying DOS code. Networking was included and thus the separation between business and home vanished for a time. About this time Microsoft decided to write a specific business operating system and thus Windows 3.51 came into being. It was written from the ground up to avoid the legacy DOS issues inherent in Windows '95.

Thus started two parallel streams of development; one for home use (Windows '95 / '98) and one for business (NT 3.51). One of the greatest differences between the two was that NT did not allow user applications to access the hardware of the computer. Thus all access to display, sound, and serial / parallel input / output had to be accomplished through operating system API (Application Programming Interface) calls. The API interface was available in Windows '95, but often did not provide the performance sought by game writers or some things were easier for the application author to achieve by making direct access to the computer peripherals. This created a fundamental branch, where many games and some other errant applications simply did not work on NT. The other major difference was the introduction of 32 bit computing in NT, while Windows '95 remained 16 bit kernel with a Win32 API for backward compatibility reasons.

Just as an interesting note: Windows '95 actually had two distinct versions released. The first one was updated with a "Service Pack 1",identified in the industry as version "a", which was the first time we had heard that term. Microsoft followed that with the release of what became known in the industry as the "OSR2" or (b) version which was never available as a retail release, but only to be loaded on a new computer by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or computer store. This latter version had substantial changes embodied, to the extent that you could not upgrade from the (a) series. A later release of the OSR release was the first to include early USB support. Many people corrupted their operating system by borrowing a copy of the "new update" from a friend with a new computer and loading it over the top of the (a) series. The result was an unstable operating system that severely misbehaved. The only solution was to format the hard disk and start again.

Microsoft felt that it would be more efficient to have just one operating system, and wrestled for many years to achieve this end. About this time, PC hardware was undergoing a major architectural change. The introduction of 32 bit computing to replace the hitherto standard 16 bit computing, first introduced in the Windows 95 and NT3.1 operating systems. To bridge the gap, these operating systems had to be able to run applications written for either 16 or 32 bit hardware.

It was the failure to deliver this single operating system objective that led to the release of the Windows '98 Second Edition and then Windows ME operating systems still as dedicated home versions and still stuck with the 16bit kernel as well as vestiges of DOS. Windows ME was really just a set of cosmetic changes to fill in time while they continued the effort to combine the features of the two streams of development. It is fair to say that a fair passage of time was also necessary for people to forsake the errant application programs and replace them with new versions or alternatives which obeyed the rules of the new business operating systems, and would thus run under them. NT 3.51 had the look and feel of Windows 3.1 and did not seem to have a very long life before the release of NT 4 which was the Microsoft business operating system of choice for many companies for a long time and sported the Windows 95 lookand feel.

Indeed NT 4 was so good that when Microsoft released Windows 2000, with its first attempt at Active Directory, many big businesses just ignored it and continued with NT 4, particularly on the desktop and for the Domain Controllers. The latter avoided the quite steep learning curve of adapting to the new concept of Active Directory, however you could still have Windows 2000 participating in an NT4 Domain.

Windows 2000 was also the move towards Internet standards, which had previously been shunned by Microsoft. While providing a TCP/IP stack as far back as WfW for Internet connectivity, Microsoft badly misjudged the influence on computing that the Internet had on computing during the 90's.

Windows XP Versions

XP started its history by being based on the code from Windows NT and merging the capabilities from the Windows '95/'98 stream. In the Windows 2000 release, the inclusion of DirectX provided the first ability of many applications such as games, to run on the business operating system. XP took this further and refreshed the look and feel of Windows greatly. If you are seeking to update from the no longer supported Windows '98/ME operating systems, the bad news is that in many cases the old computer will not have the memory or hard disk capacity to run XP, even if you can put up with it running painfully slowly.

If upgrading to Windows XP, you should ensure that you have the appropriate capacity hardware. The following table makes some suggestions for general purpose computing. This does not address the needs of high performance grophics or compute intensive applications. The best solution is to get a new PC, since in doing so you also receive a roughly 50% discount on the cost of the new operating system compared to a retail version and in addition, if you need Microsoft Office, a similar level of discount applies if it is purchased pre-installed on a new PC. These two savings together can almost pay for a low end PC.

The versions of Windows XP with their key differences are listed below. You should always ensure that the version meets your needs by reviewing your choice with an IT professional. There are no cross-grade options.

• Windows XP Home Edition

  This release was aimed at the home market, with greater compatibility with the older technology of DOS and Windows as well as leaving some code out that was specifically aimed at business. Key limitations:-

  • No included Backup program.
  • Simplified security model in which all users are either a User or Administrator. It is not unusual to find that all users in an XP Home system are running as "Administrators" and thus there is effectively no security. Even under the "User" model, while it restricts such things as installation nof software, it is very difficult to secure one user's data from another and setting a directory that can have a subset of users share the data while securin git from others is not possible.
  • Experience has shown this edition to be less stable and more problem prone that the "Professional" version. Whether this is a technical limitation or simply a consequence of the typical environment and poor security is a matter of conjecture.

• Windows XP Professional Edition

  This release contained all of the features of XP Home, but also included features specifically needed for business uses. The key business features are:-

  • Full security model including Guest, User, Power User, Administrator.
  • Ability to join a Windows Domain and participate in Domain security.
  • Incluses the Windows Backup program. If you don't use a third party product, this bult-in backup is a very necessary utility for data protection.
  • Ability to connect to the PC over a network using "Remote Desktop".

• Windows XP Media Centre Edition

  A new offering that incorporates Windows XP Professional with a modified interface and additional facilities suited to handling multi-media, TV tuners, serving video to Set Top Boxes and the like in a home environment. The operating system comes complete with a handheld remote control (like for a television or similar) and requires qualified PC hardware to ensure that it will operate fully.

• Windows XP (Fundamentals)

  This is a limited release version only available to customers on paid maintenance to bridge Windows 95/98/ME on old hardware that won't support the full Windows XP. Applications actually run on a Windows Terminal Server and thus it works as a Thin Client.

The Future

Just around the corner, is the forecast release of Microsoft WindowsVista. This operating system will have greater resource requirements than that of Windows XP... More memory, more disk space, heavier on the CPU. Already 512MB of memory, which has long been satisfactory for general computing, is starting to be inadequate, even with Windows XP. It is certain that a new operating system will need at least 1GB of memory to be usefull. This progression to greater resource requirements happen every time. The author has not yet had any experience with the beta releases and thus offers no other comments. I'm sure there's plenty of reviews around the Internet.

Next year, 2007, you will not be able to buy WindowsXP on a new PC.

If you are really keen and technically minded, you may like to experiment with Linux. The new versions of the major distributions are becoming more friendly and more functional with their GUI desktops. This, however does not mean that they are an option for everyone.

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