CompTIA A_ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition - Michael Meyers [38]
Figure 4-1 Lots of Windows!
This section outlines the history of Microsoft Windows and then takes an in-depth look at the differences among the many versions of Microsoft’s flagship operating system. That way you can sort out the essentials for today’s techs from the many varieties you’ll hear about.
Microsoft entered the operating system game in the early 1980s with a command-line OS called Microsoft Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS. With a command-line OS, you interacted with the computer to run programs and save files and all the other computing functions by typing and then pressing the ENTER key on your keyboard. This whole typing thing worked for people who could memorize commands and such, but alternative operating systems, such as the Apple Macintosh, offered a visual interface, where you could interact with the computer by clicking on pictures. The time came for Microsoft to step up its game and produce a graphical user interface (GUI) where users could use a mouse to point and click.
Early Windows
The earliest version of Windows, Microsoft Windows 1.0, dates from 1985 and was little more than a graphical overlay of the DOS command-line operating system. This overlay version of Windows went through a number of updates, ending with the first truly popular version of Windows, Windows for Workgroups version 3.1 (Figure 4-2).
Figure 4-2 Windows for Workgroups
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NOTE Microsoft released several versions of Windows 3.1, with minor differences in name. Techs call the versions collectively Windows 3.x.
In 1989, Microsoft offered a completely separate version of Windows called Windows NT. Windows NT was a true graphical operating system and was dramatically more powerful then the Windows overlay versions. Windows NT also cost more than other versions of Windows, however, and saw little adoption outside of servers and systems where users needed a lot of power. Windows NT went through a number of versions, culminating with Windows NT 4.0 in 1996 (Figure 4-3).
Figure 4-3 Windows NT 4.0
Comparing Windows NT to the old overlay versions of Windows is akin to comparing the first computer game you ever played to the games we play today: technically the same thing (a game), but that’s about it. Windows NT had so many features that showing them all could take days, but one is important. NT came with a new way to organize hard drives and files, called the NT File System (NTFS). Before NTFS, all versions of Windows used an ancient file system called the file allocation table (FAT). FAT was great when first invented in the late 1970s, but by the mid-80s it was showing its age. NTFS took care of a number of problems, the biggest of which was security. FAT had no security. There was no way to control what people did with your files. NTFS was built from the ground up with security in mind. We’ll cover both FAT and NTFS later in the book, but for now appreciate that only Windows NT had NTFS.
It wasn’t until 1995 that Microsoft dumped the overlay concept and introduced Windows 95, the first version of Windows for the standard user that was also a full-blown operating system (Figure 4-4). Windows 95 offered many improvements over Windows 3.x, and eventually Microsoft released several upgraded versions as well, such as Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me. The upgraded versions continued to use the FAT file system. Over the years, Windows has gone through massive changes and a large number of improved versions. The later versions have nothing in common with earlier versions other than the name “Windows.”
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NOTE When we describe Windows 95, 98, 98 SE, and Me from a historical standpoint, we lump them all together, using the term “Windows 9x.”
Figure 4-4 Windows 95—The Windows of your forefathers
Modern Windows
The vast majority of computers in the field today run one of the three modern families of Windows, so the CompTIA A+ certification focuses on those as well: Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows