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Microsoft Operating Systems Timeline by Sam C. Chan, Bravo Technology Center |
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| This is a color-coded, concise historical chart of all mainstream Microsoft Operating Systems, showing their lineage, codenames and release dates. It provides at-a-glance reference and helps you understand the confusing relationships among different versions and editions. |
First Published: Feb.1,
2004 Last Updated: May 19, 2013 |
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Workstation & Corresponding Server edition sharing codebase |
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| Version | Workstation Edition | Server Edition | "SBS" Edition (bundle) | Windows Home Server |
| 3.1~3.51 | NT Workstation 3.x | NT Server 3.x | Backoffice Suites only | |
| 4.0 | NT Workstation 4.0 | NT Server 4.0 | SBS 4.0 (25), 4.5 (50) | |
| 5.0 | Windows 2000 Professional SP4 | Windows Server 2000 | SBS 2000 (50) | |
| 5.1 | Windows XP Professional/Home SP3 | Windows Server 2003 sp2 | SBS 2003 (75) | |
| 5.2 | Windows XP Professional x64 SP2 | Windows Server 2003 R2 | SBS 2003 R2 (75) | |
| 6.0 | Windows Vista Business/Home/Ultimate SP2 | Windows Server 2008 SP2 | SBS 2008 SP2 (75) Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (300) discontinued March 2010 |
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| 6.1 | Windows 7 Pro/Home/Ultimate SP1 | Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 | SBS 2011 Standard* (75) SBS 2011 Essentials* (25) |
Windows Home Server WHS Premium 2011 (Vail) |
| 6.2 | Windows 8 | Windows Server 2012 | SBS 2012 Essentials (25) | Discontinued |
* Essentials includes Server 2008 R2 SP1, as it was released several months after SBS 2011 Standard (2008 r2 rtm)
Microsoft Operating System Families
| O.S. Lineage | DOS | OS/2 |
16-bit Windows (DOS-based x86) |
32-bit Windows (NT-based x86) |
64-bit Windows (NT-based IA-64 and x64) |
ARM |
| Date | DOS Family | NT Family | 64-bit NT Family | ||
| Aug. 11, 1981 | PC-DOS 1.0 | ||||
| Mar. 1983 | MS-DOS 2.0 | ||||
| Sep. 1984 | MS-DOS 3.0 | ||||
| Nov. 1984 | MS-DOS 3.1 (Network) | ||||
| Nov. 1985 | Windows 1.0 | ||||
| Apr. 1986 | MS-DOS 3.2 | ||||
| Apr. 1987 | MS-DOS 3.3 |
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| 1987 | Windows 2.0 | ||||
| July 1988 | MS-DOS 4.0 | ||||
| May 1990 | Windows 3.0 | ||||
| Apr. 1991 | MS-DOS 5.0 | ||||
| Apr. 1992 |
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| Oct. 1992 | Windows for Workgroups 3.1 | ||||
| Mar. 1993 | MS-DOS 6.0 | ||||
| Oct. 24, 1993 | Windows NT 3.1 Workstation & Server NTLM | ||||
| Dec. 1993 | Windows for Workgroups 3.11 | ||||
| June 1994 | MS-DOS 6.22 |
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| Sep. 1994 | Windows NT 3.5 Workstation & Server | ||||
| May 30, 1995 | Windows NT 3.51 Workstation & Server | ||||
| Aug. 24, 1995 | Windows 95 | ||||
| July 29, 1996 | Windows NT 4.0 Workstation & Server | ||||
| Oct. 22, 1997 | SBS 4.0 | ||||
| June 30, 1998 | Windows 98 | ||||
| May 24, 1999 | SBS 4.5 | ||||
| June 30, 1999 | Windows 98 Second Edition | ||||
| Mar. 31, 2000 | Windows 2000 Server (NT5) NTLMv2 AD Kerberos | ||||
| Mar. 31, 2000 | Windows 2000 Professional (NT5) | ||||
| Dec. 31, 2000 | Windows Millennium Edition | ||||
| Feb.21, 2001 | SBS 2000 | ||||
| Dec. 31, 2001 | Windows XP Home & Professional (NT5.1) | ||||
| Sep. 8, 2002 | Windows XP SP1 | ||||
| Oct. 27, 2002 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 | ||||
| Feb.11, 2003 | Windows XP Tablet PC Edition | ||||
| May 28, 2003 | Windows Server 2003 (NT5.1 Server) | Windows Server 2003 x64 | |||
| June 23, 2003 | Windows 2000 SP4 | ||||
| Oct. 27, 2003 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 | ||||
| Dec. 16, 2003 | SBS 2003 Standard | ||||
| Dec. 28, 2003 | SBS 2003 Premium (w/ SQL, ISA) | ||||
| Aug. 6, 2004 | Windows XP SP2 | ||||
| Dec. 30, 2004 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 | ||||
| Apr. 25, 2005 | Windows XP Professional x64 | ||||
| July 25, 2005 | Windows Vista Beta 1 | ||||
| Mar. 2006 | Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | ||||
| Mar. 5, 2006 | Windows Server 2003 R2 | Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 | |||
| July 29, 2006 | SBS 2003 R2 | SBS 2003 R2 x64 | |||
| Sep. 26, 2006 | PowerShell 1.0 | ||||
| Mar. 13, 2007 | Server 2003 SP2 | Server 2003 x64 SP2 | |||
| Nov. 4, 2007 | Windows Home Server (NT6 Server) | Windows Home Server x64 | |||
| Nov. 29, 2007 | (Retail: Jan. 30, 2008) | Windows Vista (NT6) | Windows Vista x64 | ||
| Feb.4, 2008 | Windows Vista SP1 | Windows Vista SP1 x64 | |||
| Feb.27, 2008 | Server 2008 (NT6 Server) | Server 2008 x64 | |||
| May 6, 2008 | Windows XP SP3 | ||||
| Nov. 12, 2008 | SBS 2008 ("Cougar") | ||||
| Oct. 22, 2008 | Server 2008 R2 (NT6.1) | Server 2008 R2 x64 | |||
| Nov. 12, 2008 | Windows Essential Business Server 2008 ("Centro") | ||||
| May 26, 2009 | Vista SP2 | Vista x64 SP2 | |||
| July 22, 2009 |
Server 2008 SP2 Server 2008 R2 |
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| July 26, 2009 | Hyper-V (Viridian) | ||||
| Aug. 2009 | PowerShell 2.0 | ||||
| Sep., 2009 | SBS 2008 SP2 | ||||
| Oct. 22, 2009 | Windows "7" (NT 6.1, formerly "Vienna, Blackcomb") | Windows "7" x64 | |||
| Dec. 13, 2010 |
SBS 2011 Standard SBS 2011 Essentials (Aurora) |
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| Feb.9, 2011 | Windows 7 SP1 |
Windows 7 x64 SP1 Server 2008 R2 SP1 |
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| Apr. 6, 2011 | Windows Homer Server 2011 | ||||
| May 12, 2011 | Windows 7 SP1-U (Media refresh, incl. KB2534111) | ||||
| Sep. 13, 2011 | "Windows 8" Developer Preview 6.2.8102.0 "Windows Server 8" Developer Preview ReFS |
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| Feb.29, 2012 | "Windows 8" Consumer Preview (beta) | ||||
| Sep. 4, 2012 | Windows Server 2012 | ||||
| Oct. 2012 | Windows Server 2012 Essentials | ||||
| Oct. 26, 2012 | Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro | Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro | |||
| Oct. 26, 2012 | Windows RT | ||||
Microsoft
Operating System Codenames
| Official Product Name | Codename | Meaning/Origin |
| Windows NT 3.5 | Daytona | U.S. City |
| Windows NT 4.0 | Cairo | A City in Egypt |
| Terminal Server | Hydra | A mythological monster with multiple heads |
| Windows 95 | Chicago | U.S. City |
| Windows 98 | Memphis | U.S. City |
| Windows 2000 | *NONE* | Listed to indicate it's not an omission |
| Windows XP | Whistler | A mountain in British Columbia |
| SBS 2003 | Bobcat | A ski-run on Whistler Mountain |
| Windows Vista | Longhorn | A bar in the Whistler-Blackcomb resort |
| SBS 2008 | Cougar | A ski-run on Whistler Mountain |
| (codename changed to Vienna in 2006) | Blackcomb | A mountain in British Columbia |
| Windows "7" | Vienna | A city in Austria |
| Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | Eiger | A mountain in Switzerland |
| To be announced | Mönch | A mountain in Switzerland |
| Windows Essential Business Server | Centro | |
| Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials | Aurora | |
| Windows Home Server Premium 2011 | Vail |
NOTES:
The following non-mainstream O.S. editions were excluded from our roster for brevity reasons:
| Specialized Server Editions (and their 64-bit counterparts)
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When a specific date is given, it's based on the Official General Availability Date. That is, when it was actually available for sale to general public, not the announcement date, release-to-manufacturing date, or advanced access pilot sites roll-out date.
Microsoft ceased further development of the original consumer (so-called 9x) line of O.S. after the Millennium Edition, and merged it into the business (NT) line starting with XP. They created a reduced and simplified version called the Home Edition.
The NT5, NT5.1 and NT6 nomenclature is NOT official. These "aliases" are commonly known and used to signify the equivalent numeric version numbers, had Microsoft not gone to the "model year" naming convention starting at 2000. These are considered the "real version numbers" as they're used internally at Microsoft, and actually listed in the Help | About screens. There was never NT1, NT2 or NT3.0. Microsoft started that line with matching version number with consumer Windows 3.1.
Product names listed in quotes are Microsoft internal codenames used during planning and development. Actual product names will be different and have yet to be determined or announced. Blackcomb recent went through a codename change. Longhorn server will be named differently from Vista, just as Windows 2003 Server was named differently from XP.
See also:
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