The Windows operating system has been around since 1985 when Windows 1.01 was first launched to the public. It has since come a long way and has now evolved into Windows 11 (the current latest Windows OS).
Not only that, but each Windows also had sub-variations of these versions, which were introduced with major bi-annual feature updates. Microsoft has now shifted to annual feature releases. For example, Windows 10 has versions 21H2, 21H1, and many others, while Windows 11 has 21H2, 22H2, and 23H2.
This post lists the complete timeline and highlights the significant details of each Windows version released from the beginning of time.
Table of Contents
Windows Timeline
The image below is an illustration of the different Windows versions and their release point in time.
Windows History
The table below briefly describes the important aspects of each of the Windows operating systems along with some other useful information.Name Codename Release year Version Editions Currently Supported Details Windows 1.01 Interface Manager 1985 1.01 – No The first client Windows OS introduced the MS-DOS Executive Windows 1.02 – 1986 1.02 – No – Windows 1.03 – 1986 1.03 – No 2 moderately-different versions exist with a difference in the USER.EXE file Windows 1.04 – 1987 1.04 – No Additional support for IBM drivers Windows 2.01 – 1987 2.01 No Introduced overlapping, resizable windows and could run multiple DOS applications simultaneously Windows 2.03 – 1987 2.03 – No Introduced 386 enhanced mode, which allows Windows to use memory beyond 640k Windows 2.1 – 1988 2.1 – No Required hard disk drives to take advantage of some Intel processors Windows 2.11 – 1989 2.11 – No AppleTalk support and faster printing with updated printer drivers Windows 3.0 – 1990 3.0 – No A new, colorful user interface introduced Windows 3.1 – 1992 3.1 – No More stable and faster Windows 3.1 Winball / Sparta 1992 3.1 Windows for Workgroups No Includes native networking support and introduced the Hearts card game Windows NT 3.1 Razzle 1993 NT 3.1 – No The first OS with 32-bit architecture Windows 3.11 – 1993 3.11 – No Mostly containing bug fixes and improvements; no major new features Windows 3.11 Snowball 1993 3.11 Windows for Workgroups No Mostly focused on 32-bit networking: 32-bit file access and 32-bit full network redirectors Windows 3.2 – 1993 3.2 – No Focused on Simplified Chinese language Windows NT 3.5 Daytona 1994 NT 3.5 Windows NT 3.5 Workstation No Included Winsock and TCP/IP support Windows NT 3.51 Daytona 1995 NT 3.51 Windows NT 3.51 Workstation No Provides client/server support for interoperating with Windows 95 Windows 95 Chicago 1995 4.00 – No Drastically improved GUI and plug-and-play capabilities Windows NT 4.0 Shell Update Release 1996 NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Workstation No Introduced the concept of system policies Windows 98 Memphis 1998 4.10 – No Major cosmetic UI upgrades, highly web integrated Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) – 1999 4.10 – No Mostly included bug fixes and minor improvements. IE 4.0 was replaced with IE 5.0 Windows 2000 Windows NT 5.0 2000 NT 5.0 Windows 2000 Professional No Introduced NTFS 3.0, Encrypting File System, basic and dynamic disk storage Windows ME Millennium 2000 4.90 – No Initially included IE 5.5, Windows Movie Maker. Designed for home users Windows XP Whistler 2001 NT 5.1 Starter, Home, professional, 64-Bit Edition No Increased performance and stability, intuitive UI, improved hardware support, expanded multimedia capabilities Windows XP Freestyle 2002 NT 5.1 Media Center Edition No Inclusion of the Windows Media Center Windows XP Harmony 2003 NT 5.1 Media Center Edition 2004 No Windows XP Service Pack 2 upgrades earlier versions of MCE to this one Windows XP Symphony 2004 NT 5.1 Media Center Edition 2005 No Includes support for Media Center Extenders, and CD/DVD-Video burning support Windows XP Emerald 2005 NT 5.1 Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 No Adds support for the Xbox 360 as a media center extender, DVB-T broadcasts, and two ATSC tuner cards Windows XP Anvil 2005 NT 5.2 Professional x64 Edition No – Windows Vista Longhorn 2007 NT 6.0 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate No Updated GUI, Windows Search, redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems Windows 7 – 2009 NT 6.1 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate No Touch and handwriting recognition improvements, support for virtual hard disks, improved multi-core processor performance, improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements Windows 8 – 2012 NT 6.2 Professional, Enterprise No Major changes to the UI, optimized for tablets, touch-optimized Windows shell Windows 8.1 Blue 2013 NT 6.3 Professional, Enterprise Yes additional customization options for Start menu, Start button on the desktop restored, ability to snap up to four apps on display, ability to boot directly to desktop Windows 8.1 Blue 2014 NT 6.3 Windows 8.1 with Bing Yes Bing-based unified search system was added Windows 10 v1507 Threshold 2015 NT 10.0 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Significant changes to the UI and OS functionality, offered in various editions Windows 10 v1511 Threshold 2 2015 1511 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Preinstalled Skype, Microsoft Edge synchronization capability, tab previews in Edge Windows 10 v1607 Redstone 1 2016 1607 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Visual and functional improvements Windows 10 v1703 Redstone 2 2017 1703 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Visual and functional improvements Windows 10 v1709 Redstone 3 2017 1709 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Visual and functional improvements Windows 10 v1803 Redstone 4 2018 1803 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Visual and functional improvements Windows 10 v1809 Redstone 5 2018 1809 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Visual and functional improvements Windows 10 v1903 Vanadium 2019 1903 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Light theme introduced, separate Search and Cortana, Windows Sandbox, recommended troubleshooting tips Windows 10 v1909 Vibranium 2019 1909 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Create events from Calendar flyout, improved notification management, OneDrive integration with File Explorer search Windows 10 v2004 Vibranium 2020 2004 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Better Your Phone experience, DirectX 12 Ultimate, WSL 2 Windows 10 v20H2 – 2020 20H2 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No Chromium-based Microsoft Edge, theme-aware Start menu tiles, and other improvements Windows 10 v21H1 – 2021 21H1 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC No News and Interests in taskbar, improvements to Windows Defender (now Windows Security) Windows 10 v21H2 – 2021 21H2 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC Yes (Extended) Support for Wi-Fi 6E, new simplified passwordless deployment modes for Windows Hello for Business Windows 11 v21H2 Sun Valley 2021 21H2 Home, Pro, Education, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, SE Yes Major UI changes, modern look, widgets included, integrated Microsoft Teams, redesigned taskbar, updated backgrounds Windows 10 2022 Update – 2022 22H2 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, S, Enterprise LTSC Yes Changes to servicing schedules, minor UI changes, TLS 1.0 and 1.1 will be disabled by default, ability to consent to receiving urgent notifications when Focus Assist is on Windows 11 2022 Update Sun Valley 2 2022 22H2 Home, Pro, Education, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, SE Yes Spotlight for Desktop, new Media Player, UI improvements, live captions, improved Narrator and Voice Access, Windows Subsystem for Android Windows 11 2023 Update Sun Valley 3 23H2 Home, Pro, Education, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, SE Yes Windows AI Copilot, dynamic lighting, hide the date and time on Taskbar, native support for new formats including 7-zip, RAR, gz, Backup and restore apps, taskbar regrouping, improved volume mixer, improved sharing experience
The table above depicts all the significant changes as well as the release details of individual Windows versions since Microsoft first launched the operating system back in 1985. To learn more about the support for each version, refer to the End of Life page.
Let us now categorize these operating systems so that their hierarchy is easier to understand.
Note: The “X” in the table denotes an empty integer as part of the complete Windows version.Sr. No. DOS-based Windows 9X Windows NT 1 Windows 1.0X Windows 95 NT 3.1 2 Windows 2.0X Windows 98 NT 3.5 3 Windows 1.2X Windows ME NT 3.51 4 Windows 3.0 NT 4.0 5 Windows 3.1X 2000 6 XP 7 Vista 8 Windows 7 9 Windows 8 10 Windows 8.1 11 Windows 10 12 Windows 11
Closing Words
Microsoft has made functional, cosmetic, and infrastructural changes to the Windows operating system since it was first released. They have been working on making it the top OS for consumers, continuously enhancing the user experience through feedback and testing through the Insider program.
That said, we hope that the images and tables above reduce the complication of understanding the Windows hierarchy.
