These top-level Windows families are no longer actively developed: Usage share of operating systems § Market share by category) Like Windows Server, the main competitor of this family is Linux. The latest version is Windows 11 IoT Enterprise. Windows IoT (previously Windows Embedded): For IoT and embedded computers.Windows PE: A lightweight version of its Windows sibling, meant to operate as a live operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers (especially on many computers at once), recovery, or troubleshooting purposes.The main competitor of this family is Linux. Unlike its client sibling, it has adopted a strong naming scheme. The latest version is Windows Server 2022. Windows Server: For a server computer.Of note: 'Windows' refers to both the overall product line and to this sub-family of it.Usage share of operating systems § Market share by category). Its main competitors are macOS by Apple for personal computers and iPadOS and Android for tablets (c.f. Windows (unqualified): For a consumer or corporate workstation or tablet.It grew into a product line of its own and now consists of four sub-families that tend to be released almost simultaneously and share the same kernel. The first version, Windows NT 3.1, was intended for server computing and corporate workstations. Microsoft registered trademarks for various products (families) of the Windows product line - most of which target a specific sector of the computing industry.Īs of 2024, the only active top-level family is Windows NT. Still supported are some editions of Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and later (and exceptionally with paid support down to Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded POSReady 7). Īs of 2024, the most recent version of Windows is Windows 11 for consumer PCs and tablets, Windows 11 Enterprise for corporations, and Windows Server 2022 for servers. However, Windows is not the most used operating system when including both mobile and desktop OSes, due to Android's massive growth. Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with a 70% market share as of March 2023, according to StatCounter. The first version of Windows was released on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Defunct families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded Compact. It is grouped into families and sub-families that cater to particular sectors of the computing industry - Windows (unqualified) for a consumer or corporate workstation, Windows Server for a server and Windows IoT for an embedded system. Microsoft Windows is a product line of proprietary graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. Windows 9x and earlier: Monolithic ( MS-DOS).Windows Embedded Compact/Windows CE: Hybrid.