How many different versions of the Windows Vista are there?

Answer 1

Answer

Microsoft has taken two parallel routes in Operating Systems. One route has been the home user and the other has been the professional IT user. The dual route has generally led to the home versions with more "eye candy" and less functionality in networking and security and professional versions with less "eye candy" and better networking and security.

The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released in November, 1985, lacked a degree of functionality and achieved little popularity. Windows 1.0 did not provide a complete operating system; rather, it extended MS-DOS. Microsoft Windows version 2.0 was released in November, 1987 and was slightly more popular than its predecessor. Windows 2.03 (release date January 1988) had changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led to Apple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights.

Microsoft Windows version 3.0, released in 1990, was the first Microsoft Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months. It featured improvements to the user interface and to multitasking capabilities. In August 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, which made further changes to the user interface and was the first Windows version to utilize multitasking.

In July 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT based on IBM OS/2 technology (which Microsoft had been co-developing for several years prior). NT was considered to be the professional OS. NT and the Windows non-professional line would later be fused together to create Windows XP.

The next in line was Microsoft Windows 98 released in June, 1998. Substantially criticized for its slowness compared with Windows 95, many of its basic problems were later rectified with the release of Windows 98 Second Edition in 1999.

As part of its professional line, Microsoft released Windows 2000 in February 2000. The consumer version following Windows 98 was Windows Me (Windows Millennium Edition). Released in September, 2000, Windows Me attempted to implement a number of new technologies for Microsoft: most notably publicized was "Universal Plug and Play." However, the OS was substantially criticized for its lack of compatibility and stability.

In October 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP, a version built on the Windows NT kernel that also retained the consumer-oriented usability of Windows 95 and its successors. It shipped in two distinct editions, "Home" and "Professional", the former lacking many of the superior security and networking features of the Professional edition. Additionally, the "Media Center" edition was released in 2003, with an emphasis on support for DVD and TV functionality including program recording and a remote control.

In April 2003, Windows Server 2003 was introduced, replacing the Windows 2000 line of server products with a number of new features and a strong focus on security; this was followed in December 2005 by Windows Server 2003 R2.

Windows Server "Longhorn" is the successor of Windows Server 2003 is currently under development but Windows Vista had replaced Windows XP in January 31,2007 even though some reviewers recommend NOT to use Vista until end of 2007 for its Windows Vista SP1 release as well as certain compatibility issues (Yes, Games also a problem in Vista).Worse, when Vista requires a recommended RAM of 1GB, some of them even predicted that this is as good as " commit suicide" because more people wanted to quit Windows. Also, Bill Gates had announced to make a release of Windows Vienna, that may replace Vista on 2009 to 2012 (Dates are not clear at the point of 2007 April) For Windows Vista, there are Home Basic (With the least function in all Vista edition only some of the security features without Aero Interface), Home Premium (Most Function for Home User, Like Media Centre Edition with Aero Interface, Nice.), Business (I think home user cannot get it unless buying a laptop that is preloaded it) and Ultimate (The most function in Vista, Combine the Home Prenium which does not have some Business Features and Business Features, All in one.)

and windows 7 wich is coming out sometime in 2009

Answer 2

Members of the 16-bit Windows familyWindows 1.0

Windows 2.0

Windows/286

Windows/386

Windows 3.0

Windows 3.1

Windows 3.11 for Workgroups

Members of the 16/32-bit Windows familyWindows 95

Windows 98

Windows 98SE

Windows ME

Members of the NT Windows family

Windows NT 3.1

Windows NT 3.5

Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 4

• NT 4 Workstation - Professional desktops / workstations
• NT 4 Server - Servers and datacenters

Windows 2000

• 2000 Professional - Professional desktops / workstations
• 2000 Server - Servers

Windows XP

• XP Home Edition - targeted at home users
• XP Professional Edition - targeted at power users and businesses
• XP Media Center Edition - targeted at set-top boxes and multimedia computers
• XPe - targeted at embedded devices and kiosks
• Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs - made for business partners with older computers

Windows Server 2003

Windows Vista

• Business - targeted at businesses and power-users
• Home Basic - targeted at low-end computers and upgraders of older hardware
• Home Premium - mainstream desktops
• Ultimate - targeted at power users
• Starter - targeted at low-end computers in developing countries

Windows Server 2008

Windows 7

• Starter - Aimed primarily at netbooks and small notebooks
• Home Basic - Aimed at low-end computers in developing countries
• Home Premium - Aimed at mainstream consumer desktops
• Professional - Aimed at power users and small businesses
• Enterprise - Aimed at medium to large-scale businesses
• Ultimate - Contains the same features as Enterprise but available for home users

Answer 3

Here is just some information I came up with using Wikipedia and a Google search!!!!!

Most links lead to wikipedia.

Current versions

• Windows Server 2008 for servers.

:* Windows Web Server 2008

• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1)
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Storage Server 2008
• Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Cougar") for small businesses
• Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Centro") for medium-sized businesses[1]
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
• Windows HPC Server 2008 for high Performance supercomputers

• Windows Mobile 6.1 for smartphones and PDAs

• Windows Home Server Announced at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups, and remote access.

• Windows Vista, for home and business desktops and portable computers
  • Windows Vista Starter Much like Windows XP Starter Edition, this edition will be limited to emerging markets such as Colombia, India, Thailand, and Indonesia, mainly to offer a legal alternative to using unauthorized copies. It will not be available in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Australia.
  • Windows Vista Home Basic Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic is intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The Windows Aero theme with translucent effects will not be included with this edition.
  • Windows Vista Home Premium Like Windows XP Media Center Edition, this edition will support more advanced multimedia and entertainment authoring, premium games, mobile and tablet PC support, Network Projector, Windows Aero, Touch Screen, and auxiliary display (via Windows Side Show) support.
  • Windows Vista Business Comparable to Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business Edition is aimed at the business market. Includes all the features of Home Premium with the exception of Windows Media Center and related technologies, Parental Controls, and Windows DVD and Movie Maker HD.
  • Windows Vista Enterprise (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6000.0) This edition is aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and is a superset of the Business edition. Additional features include multilingual user interface support, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application support. This edition will not be available through retail or OEM channels
  • Windows Vista Ultimate This edition combines all the features of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions, a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), and "Ultimate Extras". On January 7, 2007, at CES, Microsoft began to announce what some of these Ultimate Extras will be.

• Windows XP Embedded, for embedded systems requiring parts of the Windows XP infrastructure
• Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a low-end version of Windows XP that is intended to be a thin-client that works with older hardware.
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0, for embedded systems (not based on the Windows NT kernel)

Past versions

• Windows Server 2003 for servers
  • Small Business Server for first server installations (up to 2 processors)
  • Web Edition for basic Web serving (up to 2 processors)
  • Standard Edition for smaller server applications that don't require clustering (up to 4 processors)
  • Enterprise Edition for larger server applications, and clustering (up to 8 processors)
  • Datacenter Edition for mainframe like servers (up to 128 processors)
  • Storage Server for Network Attached Storage Devices

• Windows Mobile 6 for smartphones and PDA
  • Windows Mobile 6 Standard for smartphones
  • Windows Mobile 6 Classic for PDA without GSM
  • Windows Mobile 6 for PDA with GSM

• Windows XP for desktops and laptops (notebooks)
  • Windows XP Starter Edition, for new computer users in developing countries
  • Windows XP Home Edition, for home desktops and laptops
  • Windows XP Home Edition N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
  • Windows XP Professional, for business and power users (Version number: NT 5.1.2600)
  • Windows XP Professional N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, for PCs with x86-64 processors (based on Windows Server 2003)
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for notebooks with a touch screen or a pen-sensitive screen
  • Windows XP Media Center Edition for desktops and notebooks with an emphasis on audio, video, and PVR capability. There are four versions:
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2003
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
  • 2001 October 25 - Windows XP 64-bit Edition - A version of Windows XP roughly analogous to Windows XP Professional for Intel's IA-64 (Itanium) line of CPUs. It was discontinued in early 2005 after manufacturers stopped shipping Itanium systems marketed as 'workstations'.
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for tablet PCs

• 2000 February 17 - Windows 2000 (Version number: NT 5.0.2195)
  • Windows 2000 Professional
  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
• 2000 June 19 - Windows Me (Version number: 4.90.3000 (Security Version 4.90.3000A))
• Windows 98
  • 1999 May 5 - Windows 98 Second Edition (Version number: 4.10.2222 or 4.10.2222A (Security Version 4.10.2222C))
  • 1998 June 25 - Windows 98 (Version number: 4.10.1998 (Security Version 4.10.1998A))
• 1996 July 29 - Windows NT 4.0 - the last version which ran on RISC architectures like DEC Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC. Later versions concentrated on x86-based hardware and - mainly as server OSs - the IA-64 line of CPUs. (Version number: NT 4.0.1381)
• Windows 95
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 OSR2.5 (Version number: 4.00.1214 (also listed as 4.0.950C))
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 OSR2.1 (Version number: 4.00.1212 (also listed as 4.0.950B))
  • 1996 August 24 - Windows 95 OSR2 (Version number: 4.00.1111 (also listed as 4.0.950B))
  • 1995 December 31 - Windows 95 SP1 (Version number: 4.00.950A)
  • 1995 August 24 - Windows 95 (Version number: 4.00.950)
• 1995 June - Windows NT 3.51 (Version number: NT 3.51.1057)
• 1994 September - Windows NT 3.5
• 1993 November - Windows for Workgroups 3.11
• 1993 October - Windows 3.2 This Version of Windows was only released in simplified Chinese.
• 1993 August - Windows NT 3.1
• 1992 October - Windows for Workgroups 3.1
• 1992 August - Windows 3.1
• 1990 May 22 - Windows 3.0
• 1989 March 13 - Windows 2.11
• 1988 May 27 - Windows 2.10
• 1987 December 9 - Windows 2.03
• 1987 April - Windows 1.04
• 1986 August - Windows 1.03
• 1986 May - Windows 1.02
• 1985 November 20 - Windows 1.01

• CE-based
  • 2008 Windows Mobile 6.1, based on Windows CE 5.2.19202
  • 2006 Windows CE 6.0
  • 2005 Windows CE 5.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 5.0
  • 2004 Windows CE 4.2, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 2003 SE
  • 2003 Windows CE 4.1, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2003
  • 2002 Windows CE 4.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2002
  • 2000 July - Windows CE 3.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2000
  • 1999 August - Windows CE 2.12
  • 1998 October - Windows CE 2.11
  • 1998 July - Windows CE 2.1
  • 1997 November - Windows CE 2.0
  • 1996 November - Windows CE 1.0

Future versions

• Windows 7, slated to be Windows Vista's successor
• Windows Server 2008 R2, slated to be Windows Server 2008's successor

Cancelled versions

• 1999 December - Windows Neptune was sent out to beta testers but was never released. Would have been a consumer version (i.e. home edition) of Windows 2000.
• 1996 May 3 - Windows Nashville (Windows 96) (cancelled) (Became Windows 95B.)
• 1991-1998 - Cairo (a "true object-oriented OS") planned after Windows NT

Answer 4

If you count all the service packs and sub versions there has probably been around 150 releases of windows

These include

Current versions (being used widely now)

• Windows 8, is the next version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, servers, and media center PCs.
• • Windows To Go, windows mode/version to run from a USB flash drive and USB external Hard Drive.
• Windows 7, for home and business desktops and portable computers
• • Windows 7 Starter A variant for developing countries and netbooks, in which the Aero theme is not included, nor 64-bit compatibility. This edition is be available pre-installed on computers through system integrators or computer manufacturers.
  • Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Basic is available in emerging markets such as Brazil, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. It will not be available in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Some Aero options are excluded along with several new features.
  • Windows 7 Home Premium This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Aero and touch-screen controls.
  • Windows 7 Professional This edition is targeted toward enthusiasts and small business users. It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain. Additional features include operating as a Remote Desktop server, location aware printing, Encrypting File System, Presentation Mode and Windows XP Mode.
  • Windows 7 Enterprise (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7600) This edition targets the enterprise segment of the market and is sold through volume licensing to companies which have Software Assurance contract with Microsoft. Additional features include support for Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packages, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application-support. Not available through retail or OEM channels, this edition is distributed through Microsoft Software Assurance (SA). As a result it includes several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing the running of multiple virtual machines, and activation via VLK.
  • Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate contains the same features as Windows 7 Enterprise, but unlike that edition it will be available to home users on an individual license basis. Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional users are able to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for a fee using Windows Anytime Upgrade if they wish to do so. Unlike Windows Vista Ultimate, the Windows 7 Ultimate edition will not include the Windows Ultimate Extras feature or any exclusive features. (6.1.7600) Observe the existence of versions that is locked out from activation in some countries.
  • Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601.17514)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 for servers.

• Windows Web Server 2008 R2
• Windows Storage Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
• Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 for high Performance supercomputers
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601.17514)

• Windows Mobile 6.5 for smartphones
• Windows Phone 7 for smartphones
• Windows Home Server Announced at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups, and remote access.
• Windows XP Embedded, for embedded systems requiring parts of the Windows XP infrastructure
• Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a low-end version of Windows XP that is intended to be a thin-client that works with older hardware.
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0, for embedded systems (not based on the Windows NT kernel)

Past versions

• Windows Mobile 6.1 for smartphones and PDAs
• Windows Server 2008 for servers.
• • Windows Web Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2)
  • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
  • Windows Storage Server 2008
  • Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Cougar") for small businesses
  • Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (Codenamed "Centro") for medium-sized businesses
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Windows HPC Server 2008 for high Performance supercomputers
  • Windows Server Foundation 2008
• Windows Vista, for home and business desktops and portable computers
• • Windows Vista Starter Similar to Windows XP Starter Edition, this edition was limited to emerging markets such as Colombia, India, Thailand, and Indonesia, mainly to offer a legal alternative to using unauthorized copies. It was not be available in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Australia.
  • Windows Vista Home Basic Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic was intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The Windows Aero theme with translucent effects was not be included with this edition.
  • Windows Vista Home Premium Like Windows XP Media Center Edition, this edition did support more advanced multimedia and entertainment authoring, premium games, mobile and tablet PC support, Network Projector, Windows Aero, Touch Screen, and auxiliary display (via Windows Side Show) support.
  • Windows Vista Business This edition was aimed at the business market. It includes advanced network and security features, whilst excluding entertainment features.
  • Windows Vista Enterprise (Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6000.0) This edition was aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and is a superset of the Business edition. Additional features include multilingual user interface support, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application support. This edition was not be available through retail or OEM channels
  • Windows Vista Ultimate This edition combines all the features of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions, a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), and "Ultimate Extras".
• Windows Server 2003 for servers
• • Small Business Server for first server installations (up to 2 processors)
  • Web Edition for basic Web serving (up to 2 processors)
  • Standard Edition for smaller server applications that don't require clustering (up to 4 processors)
  • Enterprise Edition for larger server applications, and clustering (up to 8 processors)
  • Datacenter Edition for mainframe like servers (up to 128 processors)
  • Storage Server for Network Attached Storage Devices (5.2.3790)
• Windows Mobile 6 for smartphones and PDA
• • Windows Mobile 6 Standard for smartphones
  • Windows Mobile 6 Classic for PDA without GSM
  • Windows Mobile 6 for PDA with GSM
• Windows XP for desktops and laptops (notebooks)
• • Windows XP Starter Edition, for new computer users in developing countries
  • Windows XP Home Edition, for home desktops and laptops
  • Windows XP Home Edition N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
  • Windows XP Professional, for business and power users (Version number: NT 5.1.2600)
  • Windows XP Professional N, as above, but without a default installation of Windows Media Player, as mandated by an EU ruling
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, for PCs with x86-64 processors (based on Windows Server 2003)
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for notebooks with a touch screen or a pen-sensitive screen
  • Windows XP Media Center Edition for desktops and notebooks with an emphasis on audio, video, and PVR capability. There are four versions:
  • • Windows XP Media Center Edition
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2003
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
  • 2001 October 25 - Windows XP 64-bit Edition - A version of Windows XP roughly analogous to Windows XP Professional for Intel's IA-64 (Itanium) line of CPUs. It was discontinued in early 2005 after manufacturers stopped shipping Itanium systems marketed as 'workstations'.
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, for tablet PCs
• 2000 February 17 - Windows 2000 (Version number: NT 5.0.2195)
• • Windows 2000 Professional
  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
• 2000 June 19 - Windows Me (Version number: 4.90.3000 (Security Version 4.90.3000A))
• Windows 98
• • 1999 May 5 - Windows 98 Second Edition (Version number: 4.10.2222 or 4.10.2222A (Security Version 4.10.2222C))
  • 1998 June 25 - Windows 98 (Version number: 4.10.1998 (Security Version 4.10.1998A))
• Windows 95
• • 1997 November 26 - Windows 95 OSR2.5 (Version number: 4.03.1216 (also listed as 4.00.950C))
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 OSR 2.1 (Version number: 4.03.1214 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1997 August 27 - Windows 95 USB Supplement to OSR2 (Version number: 4.03.1212 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1996 August 24 - Windows 95 OSR2 (Version number: 4.00.1111 (also listed as 4.00.950B))
  • 1996 February 14 - Windows 95 OSR1 (Version number: 4.00.951 (also listed as 4.00.950A)
  • 1995 December 31 - Windows 95 SP1 (Version number: 4.00.951 (also listed as 4.00.950A)
  • 1995 August 24 - Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 (Version number: 4.40.310)
  • 1995 August 24 - Windows 95 (Version number: 4.00.950)
• 1995 June - Windows NT 3.51 (Version number: NT 3.51.1057)
• 1994 September - Windows NT 3.5 (Version number: NT 3.50.807)
• 1993 November - Windows for Workgroups 3.11
• 1993 October - Windows 3.2 This Version of Windows was only released in simplified Chinese.
• 1993 August - Windows NT 3.1 (Version number: NT 3.10.528)
• 1992 October - Windows for Workgroups 3.1
• 1992 August - Windows 3.1 (Version number: 3.10.040)
• 1990 May 22 - Windows 3.0 (Version number: 3.00.73)
• 1989 March 13 - Windows 2.11
• 1988 May 27 - Windows 2.10
• 1987 December 9 - Windows 2.03
• 1987 April - Windows 1.04
• 1986 August - Windows 1.03
• 1986 May - Windows 1.02
• 1985 November 20 - Windows 1.01
• CE-based
• • 2008 Windows Mobile 6.1, based on Windows CE 5.2.19202
  • 2006 Windows CE 6.0
  • 2005 Windows CE 5.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 5.0
  • 2004 Windows CE 4.2, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Windows Mobile 2003 SE
  • 2003 Windows CE 4.1, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2003
  • 2002 Windows CE 4.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2002
  • 2000 July - Windows CE 3.0, with version for smart phones and PDAs sold as Pocket PC 2000
  • 1999 August - Windows CE 2.12
  • 1998 October - Windows CE 2.11
  • 1998 July - Windows CE 2.1
  • 1997 November - Windows CE 2.0
  • 1996 November - Windows CE 1.0

Future versions

• Windows 8, currently being developed as the successor to Windows 7, and scheduled for release in 2012 or later

Answer 5

Lets see, Windows95, Windows98, WindowsME, Windows2000, WindowsNT, WindowsXP, WindowsVista, Windows7. I think that's all of them.

Answer 6

there are 6 if you include vista starter and enterprise.

Answer 7

Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Seven. That's 10 versions.

Answer 8

Microsoft 1997

Microsoft 2000

Microsoft 2003

Microsoft 2007