Computer operating systems
Operating system
Windows Logo as of October 2021
Developer Microsoft Source model Initial release November 20, 1985; 39 years ago (1985-11-20 ) Latest release 24H2 (10.0.26100.4351) (June 11, 2025; 15 days ago (2025-06-11 ) [ 1] ) [±] Latest preview Release Preview Channel : 24H2 (10.0.26100.4482) (June 19, 2025; 7 days ago (2025-06-19 ) [ 2] [ 3] ) [±] Beta Channel : 24H2 (10.0.26120.4452) (June 23, 2025; 3 days ago (2025-06-23 ) [ 4] ) [±] Dev Channel : 24H2 (10.0.26200.5661) (June 23, 2025; 3 days ago (2025-06-23 ) [ 5] ) [±] Canary Channel : 10.0.27881.1000 (June 19, 2025; 7 days ago (2025-06-19 ) [ 6] ) [±] Marketing target Personal computing Available in 110 languages Update method Package manager Windows Installer (.msi, .msp),[ 7] App Installer (.msix,.[ 8] msixbundle[ 9] [ 10] ), Microsoft Store (.appx , .appxbundle),[ 11] Windows Package Manager Platforms IA-32 , x86-64 , ARM , ARM64
Previously: 16-bit x86 , DEC Alpha , MIPS , PowerPC , Itanium Kernel typeDefault user interface Windows shell License Proprietary commercial software Official website windows.com
Windows is a product line of proprietary graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft . It is grouped into families and subfamilies 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 . Windows is sold as either a consumer retail product or licensed to third-party hardware manufacturers who sell products bundled with Windows.[citation needed ]
The first version of Windows, Windows 1.0 , 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).[ 12] The name "Windows" is a reference to the windowing system in GUIs.[ 13] The 1990 release of Windows 3.0 catapulted its market success and led to various other product families, including the now-defunct Windows 9x , Windows Mobile , Windows Phone , and Windows CE/Embedded Compact . Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with a 70% market share as of March 2023[update] , according to StatCounter ;[ 14] however when including mobile operating systems , it is in second place, behind Android .[ 15]
The most recent version of Windows is Windows 11 for consumer PCs and tablets , Windows 11 Enterprise for corporations, and Windows Server 2025 for servers. Still supported are some editions of Windows 10 , Windows Server 2016 or later (and exceptionally with paid support down to Windows Server 2008 ).[ 16] [ 17]
^ "June 11, 2025—KB5063060 (OS Build 26100.4351) Out-of-band" . Microsoft Support . Microsoft .
^ "Releasing Windows 11 Build 26100.4482 to the Release Preview Channel" . Windows Insider Blog . June 19, 2025.
^ "June 11, 2025—KB5063060 (OS Build 26100.4351) Out-of-band" . Microsoft Support . Microsoft .
^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452 (Beta Channel)" . Windows Insider Blog . June 23, 2025.
^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5661 (Dev Channel)" . Windows Insider Blog . June 23, 2025.
^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27881 (Canary Channel)" . Windows Insider Blog . June 19, 2025.
^ Su, Christy; Xu, Simonx (November 25, 2021). "FAQ about the Windows Installer .msp files - Dynamics GP" . Microsoft Learn . Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023 .
^ dianmsft; Jenks, Alma; Coulter, David; Schofield, McLean; Vintzel, John; Satran, Michael; Donthini, Chaitanya; Kinsman, Mike (December 30, 2021). "What is MSIX?" . Microsoft Learn . Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023 .
^ Jahiu, Dhurata; Jenks, Alma; v-chmccl; Power, Cory; Coulter, David; Schofield, McLean; Donthini, Chaitanya; Satran, Michael (April 13, 2022). "How to bundle MSIX packages" . Microsoft Learn . Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023 .
^ Vera (June 26, 2023) [April 14, 2023]. "How to Install MSIXBundle on Windows 10/11? 2 Ways to Try!" . MiniTool . Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023 .
^ "App packages and deployment (Windows Store apps) (Windows)" . Microsoft Learn . October 19, 2021 [October 6, 2015]. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2014 .
^ Bellis, Mary (October 4, 2019). "The Unusual History of Microsoft Windows" . Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2023 .
^ Cite error: The named reference :1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ "Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide" . StatCounter Global Stats . Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2023 .
^ Keizer, Gregg (July 14, 2014). "Microsoft gets real, admits its device share is just 14%" . Computerworld . IDG . Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. [Microsoft's chief operating officer] Turner's 14% came from a new forecast released last week by Gartner, which estimated Windows' share of the shipped device market last year was 14%, and would decrease slightly to 13.7% in 2014. Android will dominate, Gartner said, with a 48% share this year
^ "Windows Server Premium Assurance SQL Server Premium Assurance" (PDF) . Licensing School . Retrieved April 27, 2025 .
^ Mackie, Kurt (July 13, 2018). "Microsoft Replacing 'Premiere Assurance' Support with New Security Plan" . Redmond Channel Partner . 1105 Media. Retrieved April 27, 2025 .