Windows History

Generation I (1985-1989):

1985 Windows 1.01

1986 Windows 1.02

1986 Windows 1.03

1987 Windows 1.04

1987 Windows 2.03

1988 Windows 2.10

1989 Windows 2.11

Generation II (1990-1995):

1990 Windows 3.0

1991 Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions

1992 Windows 3.1

1992 Windows for Workgroups 3.1

1993 Windows NT 3.1

1993 Windows for Workgroups 3.11

1993 Windows 3.11

1994 Windows 3.2 (I called it "Windows Simplified Chinese")

1994 Windows NT 3.5

1995 Windows NT 3.51

Generation III (1995-2009):

1995 Windows 95

1996 Windows 95 OSR1

1996 Windows NT 4.0

1996 Windows 95 OSR2

1997 Windows 95 OSR2.5

1998 Windows 98

1999 Windows 98 SE

2000 Windows 2000

2000 Windows ME

2001 Windows XP

2003 Windows XP 64-bit Edition

2003 Windows Server 2003 (Also known as Windows 2003)

2005 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

2006 Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

2007 Windows Home Server

2009 Windows Embedded Standard 2009

Generation IV (2007-2011):

2007 Windows Vista

2008 Windows Server 2008 (Also known as Windows 2008)

2009 Windows 7

2009 Windows Server 2008 R2 (Also known as Windows Server 7 or Windows 2008 R2)

2011 Windows Home Server 2011

Generation V (2012-2014):

2012 Windows Server 2012

2012 Windows 8

2013 Windows 8.1

2013 Windows Server 2012 R2

Generation VI (2015-Present)

2015 Windows 10

2015 Windows 10 Version 1511

2016 Windows 10 Version 1607

Installation Disks by generation:

Generation I Features:

Type win to start Windows

MS-DOS Executive is a file manager, close to exit Windows

Reversi game

Paint.exe drawing application

16-bit Operating System

Paint.exe is monochrome only, save it as MSP format

Generation II Features:

Reversi game (Windows 3.0 only)

Type win to start Windows (but not in Windows NT3.x)

Start with Program Manager, close to exit Windows

File Manager

Paintbrush is a drawing application

Solitaire First Released in Microsoft Windows Family

16-bit Operating System (MS-DOS based)

32-bit Operating System (NT based)

Generation III Features:

Title bar text now at the left

Desktop with Icons and Taskbar

Start Button First Released in Microsoft Windows Family

Start Menu used to Open Programs and Shut Down

Mspaint.exe is a drawing application

Write.exe opened as WordPad

Use My Computer to explore disk and files

DirectX can be installed

Windows Explorer instead of File Manager

Device Manager First Released in Microsoft Windows Family

Visual Effects on Windows and Buttons (Windows XP only)

Generation IV Features:

New cursors

Windows Aero Visual Effect

Gadgets

New Start Button

New generation of Windows Explorer

Transparent Windows of Windows Aero

Flip 3-D

Resource Monitor

New applications such as Windows Contacts, Windows DVD Maker, Windows Media Center and more!

Generation IV os the first generation that supports Blu-Ray Disc and HD-DVD disc

Languages introduced in this generation: English (Malaysia), English (Singapore) and Spanish (United States)

New language codes such as en-US, fr-CA, it-IT, zh-CN, and more

Generation IV is the first generation to have Sound Blaster 16 unsupported

Generation IV is the first generation that game port was incompatible with it

Generation IV is also the first generation to support Tibetan keyboard

Generation IV is also the first generation that 64-bit operating system that can run every new and old programs, except they can't run any 16-bit programs!

Generation IV is also the first generation that cannot upgrade the version of Windows Media Player

Generation V Features:

Metro interface (Full screen Start selection)

Desktop can be opened

Start Menu in Desktop no longers open programs and shut down computer

Windows Explorer use the Ribbon Interface, They are called File Explorer

Title bar text changed back to the centre again (The title bar text is also at the centre prior to Windows 95)

Generation V is the first generation to have USB 3.0 while USB 3.0 drivers is still available for Windows 7, which is not included.

Generation V is also the first generation that cannot upgrade the version of Internet Explorer

Old games (FreeCell, Solitaire) have been removed

DVD playback have been removed

Generation VI Features:

Start menu returns but with metro live tiles

Title bar text changed back to the left like in Windows 95-7

Includes both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer

Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps were first compatible

Resizable metro apps

Generation VI is the first generation features Microsoft Cortana

Some Control Panel options now incorporated on Settings app

Between generations:

1) Windows Help (winhlp32.exe)

Windows Help is a help application that opens HLP format help file. This is exist in the generations from Windows 3.0 (Generation II) until Windows XP (Third generation) and Windows Server 2003 (Generation III server). It is not present in Windows Vista or later (Generation IV) but this update can be installed. It is no longer available for Windows 10.

2) Title bar text

The title bar text move to the left from Generation III until Generation IV. But return to the centre in Generation V. The title bar text is also at the centre prior to Windows 95 (Generation V). This changed back to the left in Windows 10.

3) Apply button

Accept changed settings without closing the properties window. This feature is introduced in Generation III.

4) s button on title bar

On the top left corner of the properties window, you see these 2 buttons:

Click on sand then click on the following you want to get help for. This only exist in Generation III.

5) Scientific calculator

Scientific calculator was introduced in the Generation II of Microsoft Windows. Scientific calculator features:

Three circular measure formats (Degree, Radian, Grad)

Trigonometric system (Sine, Cosine, Tangent)

Indices

Four Numeral systems (Decimal, Hexadecimal, Octal, Binary)

From Windows 7 onwards, they are grouped in 4 calculator types, there are 2 types plus another 2 types: Programmer and Statistics.

Standard calculator: For basic calculations

Scientific calculator: For trigonometric system, indices, etc.

Programmer calculator: For four numeral systems

Statistics calculator: For calculate the numbers store in the statistics with Sum, Average, etc.

6) File Explorer

Generation III

This feature was introduced in third generation as "Windows Explorer". This is used to manage files and disk. From Windows 98 onwards, you see "Back" and "Forward" buttons so that you can go to every directory that you currently visited. You can unlock this feature in Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 when you install Internet Explorer 4.0 with Active Desktop Update.

Generation IV

The new address bar is introduced in fourth generation like this (breadcrumbs):

There is no more "Up" button, so click on the directory on the address bar to go back to the previous directory.

Generation V-VI

The "Windows Explorer" was renamed as "File Explorer", but this generation now uses Ribbon, and the "Up One Level" button returns.

7) Desktop Wallpaper

This feature was introduced in Windows 3.0 and use this feature if you want the desktop to be nice. This can only use BMP formats. When Active Desktop Update is installed, you can now load HTML, JPEG, PNG, etc. files in your wallpaper. The pattern feature was removed in Windows XP. However, from Windows 7 onwards, you can select more than 1 desktop backgrounds as desktop slideshow. This will change into another background depending on the time you set and shuffle to change backgrounds randomly.

Within a generation:

1) CD Player

Generation II: