Windows IoT (previously Windows Embedded): Initially, Microsoft developed Windows CE as a general-purpose operating system for every device that was too resource-limited to be called a full-fledged computer.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.Usage share of operating systems § Market share by category) 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: The operating system for server computers.Usage share of operating systems § Market share by category). The main competitor of this family is macOS by Apple for personal computers and iPadOS and Android for tablets (c.f. Windows: The operating system for mainstream personal computers and tablets.

It now consists of three operating system subfamilies that are released almost at the same time and share the same kernel:

Windows NT: Started as a family of operating systems with Windows NT 3.1, an operating system for server computers and workstations.

As of 2014, the following Windows families were being actively developed: Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks, each of which denotes a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. Īs of September 2022, 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 75% market share as of April 2022, 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 Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for servers, and Windows IoT for embedded systems.

Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft.

Windows 9x and earlier: Monolithic ( MS-DOS).

Windows Embedded Compact/Windows CE: Hybrid.

Windows 12 microsoft