Bravo Reference: Microsoft Operating Systems Timeline
First Published: February 1, 2004 Last Updated: November 1, 2007
by Sam C. Chan
Bravo Technology Center
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Bravo Reference: Microsoft Operating Systems Timeline |
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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: February 1, 2004 Last Updated: November 1, 2007 |
by Sam C. Chan
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| Date | Consumer | Business | Advanced (64-bit) |
| August 11, 1981 | PC-DOS 1.0 | ||
| March 1983 | MS-DOS 2.0 | ||
| September 1984 | MS-DOS 3.0 | ||
| November 1984 | MS-DOS 3.1 (Network) | ||
| November 1985 | Windows 1.0 | ||
| April 1986 | MS-DOS 3.2 | ||
| April 1987 | MS-DOS 3.3 | ||
| April 1987 | OS/2 1.0 | ||
| April 1987 | LAN Manager | ||
| 1987 | Windows 2.0 | ||
| July 1988 | MS-DOS 4.0 | ||
| May 1990 | Windows 3.0 | ||
| April 1991 | MS-DOS 5.0 | ||
| October 1992 | Windows for Workgroups 3.1 | ||
| March 1993 | MS-DOS 6.0 | ||
| October 24, 1993 | Windows NT 3.1 Workstation & Server | ||
| December 1993 | Windows for Workgroups 3.11 | ||
| June 1994 | MS-DOS 6.22 | ||
| September 1994 | Windows NT 3.5 Workstation & Server | ||
| May 30, 1995 | Windows NT 3.51 Workstation & Server | ||
| August 24, 1995 | Windows 95 | ||
| July 29, 1996 | Windows NT 4.0 Workstation & Server | ||
| October 22, 1997 | SBS 4.0 | ||
| June 30, 1998 | Windows 98 | ||
| May 24, 1999 | SBS 4.5 | ||
| June 30, 1999 | Windows 98 Second Edition | ||
| March 31, 2000 | Windows 2000 Professional & Server (NT5) | ||
| October 6, 1999 | SBS 2000 | ||
| December 31, 2000 | Windows Millennium Edition | ||
| December 31, 2001 | Windows XP Home & Professional (NT5.1) | ||
| September 8, 2002 | Windows XP SP1 | ||
| October 27, 2002 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 | ||
| February 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 | ||
| October 27, 2003 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 | ||
| December 16, 2003 | SBS 2003 Standard | ||
| December 28, 2003 | SBS 2003 Premium (w/ SQL, ISA) | ||
| August 6, 2004 | Windows XP SP2 | ||
| December 30, 2004 | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 | ||
| April 25, 2005 | Windows XP Professional x64 | ||
| July 25, 2005 | Windows Vista Beta 1 | ||
| March 2006 | Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | ||
| March 5, 2006 (est.) | Windows Server 2003 R2 | Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 | |
| July 29, 2006 | SBS 2003 R2 | SBS 2003 R2 x64 | |
| (Lic.) Nov. 29, 2007 | Windows Vista (NT6) | Windows Vista x64 (included) | |
| (Public) Jan. 30, 2007 | |||
| end of 2007 (est.) | Server 2008 (NT6 Server) | Server 2008 x64 | |
| early 2008 (est.) | SBS 2008 (Cougar) | SBS 2008 x64 (Cougar x64) | |
| early 2008 (est.) | Windows Vista SP1 | ||
| 2011 (est.) | "Vienna" (formerly "Blackcomb") | "Vienna" x64? |
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) |
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 |
| To be announced (formerly Blackcomb) | Vienna | A city in Austria |
| Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | Eiger | A mountain in Switzerland |
| To be announced | Mönch | A mountain in Switzerland |
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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