Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0
Version of the Windows NT operating system
A screenshot of Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP6a, showing the Start menu and Windows Explorer
DeveloperMicrosoft
Source modelClosed source
Released to
manufacturing
July 31, 1996 (1996-07-31)[1]
General
availability
August 24, 1996 (1996-08-24) (Workstation)
September 1996 (1996-09) (Server)[2]
Latest release4.0 SP6a with Post SP6a Security Rollup (Build 1381) / July 26, 2001 (2001-07-26)[3]
Marketing targetBusiness and Server
PlatformsIA-32, Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC
Kernel typeHybrid
UserlandWindows API, NTVDM, OS/2 1.x, POSIX.1, SFU (SP3+)
LicenseCommercial proprietary software
Preceded byWindows NT 3.51 (1995)
Succeeded byWindows 2000 (1999)
Official websiteweb.archive.org/web/20061216033317/http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/default.asp (archived December 2006)
Support status
EmbeddedMainstream support ended on June 30, 2003[4]
Extended support ended on July 11, 2006[4]
ServerMainstream support ended on December 31, 2002[5]
Extended support ended on December 31, 2004[5]
WorkstationMainstream support ended on June 30, 2002[6]
Extended support ended on June 30, 2004[6]
Extended Security Updates (ESU) SupportAll editions were eligible for a paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. It allowed users to purchase security updates on a pay-per-incident plan. Security updates were available until December 31, 2006[7]

Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, and was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996,[1] and then to retail in August 24, 1996, with the Server versions released to retail in September 1996.[2]

Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptively multitasked,[8] 32-bit operating system that is designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was Microsoft's primary business-oriented operating system until the introduction of Windows 2000. Workstation, server and embedded editions were sold, and all editions feature a graphical user interface similar to that of Windows 95. Windows NT 4.0 was the last public release of Windows for the Alpha, MIPS, and PowerPC architectures.

Mainstream support for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation ended on June 30, 2002, following by extended support ending on June 30, 2004. Windows NT 4.0 Server mainstream support ended on December 31, 2002, with extended support ending on December 31, 2004. Windows NT 4.0 Embedded mainstream support ended on June 30, 2003, followed by extended support on July 11, 2006, with Windows 98 and Windows Me ending support on that date as well. These editions were succeeded by Windows 2000 Professional, the Windows 2000 Server Family and Windows XP Embedded, respectively.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ a b "Microsoft Announces the Release of Windows NT Workstation 4.0". News Center. Redmond, WA: Microsoft. July 31, 1996. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Microsoft sets support cutoff dates for Windows NT Server 4.0". Computerworld. December 10, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "Post-Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a Security Rollup Package (SRP)". Support. Microsoft. June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows NT Embedded 4.0". Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows NT 4.0 Server". Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation". Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  7. ^ Brandl, Dennis (December 1, 2006). "Goodbye Windows NT". Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Donald McLaughlin and Partha Dasgupta (August 4, 1998). "Distributed Preemptive Scheduling on Windows NT". 2nd USENIX Windows NT Symposium. USENIX. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  9. ^ "Q&A: Support for Windows NT Server 4.0 Nears End; Exchange Server 5.5 to Follow in One Year". Stories. December 3, 2004. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  10. ^ "Windows NT 4.0 Support Ends Tomorrow". www.serverwatch.com. December 30, 2004. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Leyden, John (July 27, 2003). "Almost dead: Win NT 4 support". www.theregister.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

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