History of Computers: Microsoft Windows was designed as an extension of the MS-DOS operating system. Announced in November 1983 it took until November 1985 for Windows to be available. It was a graphical user environment and featured window management capability, that enabled the user to run different applications at the same time. It also offered the capability to transfer data from one application to another.

Version 2.0 was introduced in 1987 and offered significant enhancements in performance as well as memory handling (expanded memory support).

Windows 3.0, introduced in 1990, offered a dramatic increase in performance as well as a reworked appearance. This was probably the breakthrough of Windows. For the first time, Windows was more a multitasking system than a task switcher. The improvements in graphic support and memory handling enabled more complex applications to run under Windows. This was even more the case for Windows 3.1.

Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and 3.11 (launched in 1992 and 1994 respectively) added real Network support and more performance.

Aided by a huge marketing campaign, Windows 95, code-named "Chicago", was a big success. Only two months after it was first available, already 7 million copies had been sold. Windows 95 offered a new graphical environment and real 32-Bit support.

Parallel to this, Microsoft also developed Windows NT. The first version was presented in 1993 and was developed as a platform for Client/Server solutions. As a step toward a broader market, Windows NT was not only available for Intel based computers, but also for computers with a RISC CPU (like the DEC ALPHA).

It can be expected that Windows NT 4.0 (codename 'Cairo') will be the most successful operating system in the near future.