The Start menu (called Start screen in Windows 8 , 8.1 and Server 2012 ) is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 , providing a means of opening programs and performing other functions in the Windows shell . The Start menu, and the Taskbar on which it appears, were created and named in 1993 by Daniel Oran, a program manager at Microsoft who had previously collaborated on great ape language research with the behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner at Harvard .
169-513: The Start menu was renamed Start screen in Windows 8 , before returning to its original name with Windows 10 . It has been co-opted by some operating systems (like ReactOS ) and Linux desktop environments for providing a more Windows-like experience, and as such is, for example, present in KDE , with the name of Kickoff Application Launcher, and on Xfce with the name of Whisker Menu . Traditionally,
338-461: A Microsoft account , which can be used to access services and synchronize applications and settings between multiple devices. A client app for Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service allows apps to save files directly to SkyDrive. However, a SkyDrive client for the desktop and File Explorer is not included in Windows 8, and must be downloaded separately. Bundled multimedia apps are provided under
507-455: A context menu . This menu in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 is called the Quick Link menu and grants access to several frequently used features of Windows, such as accessing desktop or File Explorer . Users may add Start menu entries by creating folders and shortcuts in the associated "Start Menu" folder, located on the operating system operating media. These appear in a separated section at
676-509: A home network ; and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker . Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the .NET Framework , allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs . There are major architectural overhauls to audio, display, network, and print sub-systems; deployment, installation, servicing, and startup procedures are also revised. It is the first release of Windows built on Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative and emphasized security with
845-454: A release to manufacturing (RTM) build is the final version of code shipped to retailers and other distributors, the purpose of a pre-RTM build is to eliminate any last "show-stopper" bugs that may prevent the code from responsibly being shipped to customers, as well as anything else that consumers may find troublesome. Thus, it is unlikely that any major new features would be introduced; instead, work would focus on Vista's fit and finish. In just
1014-511: A ribbon in place of the command bar. File operation dialog boxes have been updated to provide more detailed statistics, the ability to pause file transfers, and improvements in the ability to manage conflicts when copying files. A new "File History" function allows incremental revisions of files to be backed up to and restored from a secondary storage device, while Storage Spaces allows users to combine different sized hard disks into virtual drives and specify mirroring, parity, or no redundancy on
1183-468: A sandboxed environment , and require permissions to use certain other functionalities, such as accessing the Internet or a camera. Retail variants of Windows 8 are only able to install these apps through Windows Store – a namesake distribution platform that offers both apps, and listings for desktop programs certified for comparability with Windows 8. A method to sideload apps from outside Windows Store
1352-690: A "General Availability Cumulative Update" (which included fixes to improve performance, compatibility, and battery life) was released on Tuesday , October 9, 2012. Microsoft stated that due to improvements to its testing infrastructure, general improvements of this nature were to be released more frequently through Windows Update instead of being relegated to OEMs and service packs only. Microsoft began an advertising campaign centered around Windows 8 and its Surface tablet in October 2012, starting with its first television advertisement premiering on October 14, 2012. The advertising budget of US$ 1.5–1.8 billion
1521-537: A 64-bit install media can acquire this media through the Windows Vista Alternate Media program. The Ultimate edition includes both 32-bit and 64-bit media. The digitally downloaded version of Ultimate includes only one version, either 32-bit or 64-bit, from Windows Marketplace. The maximum amount of RAM that Windows Vista supports varies by edition and processor architecture, as shown in the table. All editions except Windows Vista Starter support both
1690-552: A 720p webcam and higher quality speakers and microphones, while all certified devices that support Wi-Fi must support Bluetooth as well. As of 2015, all certified devices must contain Trusted Platform Module 2.0 chips. Windows 8 is available in three different editions, of which only the base edition, branded simply as Windows 8 , and Windows 8 Pro , were sold at retail in most countries, and as pre-loaded software on new computers. Each edition of Windows 8 includes all of
1859-461: A Control Panel applet called "Windows 7 File Recovery". Shadow Copy , a component of Windows Explorer that once saved previous versions of changed files, no longer protects local files and folders. It can only access previous versions of shared files stored on a Windows Server computer. The subsystem on which these components worked, however, is still available for other software to use. Support for older XPDM and VGA display adapter drivers
SECTION 10
#17328521470452028-706: A Metro-style web browser in the same package as the desktop variant, which has access to functionality unavailable to other apps, such as being able to permanently run in the background, use multiple background processes, and use Windows API code instead of WinRT (allowing for code to be re-used with the desktop variant, while still taking advantage of features available to Windows Store apps, such as charms). Microsoft advertises this exception privilege "New experience enabled" (formerly "Metro-style enabled"). The developers of both Chrome and Firefox committed to developing Metro-style variants of their browsers; while Chrome's "Windows 8 mode" (discontinued on Chrome version 49) uses
2197-553: A Microsoft blog, there are three choices for OpenGL implementation on Vista. An application can use the default implementation, which translates OpenGL calls into the Direct3D API and is frozen at OpenGL version 1.4, or an application can use an Installable Client Driver (ICD), which comes in two flavors: legacy and Vista-compatible. A legacy ICD disables the Desktop Window Manager , a Vista-compatible ICD takes advantage of
2366-463: A September 23, 2005 front-page article in The Wall Street Journal , Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin , who had overall responsibility for the development and delivery of Windows, explained how development of Longhorn had been "crashing into the ground" due in large part to the haphazard methods by which features were introduced and integrated into the core of the operating system, without
2535-487: A blog entry which decried the development process of Windows Vista, stating that "The code is way too complicated, and that the pace of coding has been tremendously slowed down by overbearing process." The same post also described Windows Vista as having approximately 50 million lines of code , with about 2,000 developers working on the product. During a demonstration of the speech recognition feature new to Windows Vista at Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting on July 27, 2006,
2704-481: A boot PIN being required too. A variety of other privilege-restriction techniques are also built into Vista. An example is the concept of "integrity levels" in user processes, whereby a process with a lower integrity level cannot interact with processes of a higher integrity level and cannot perform DLL–injection to processes of a higher integrity level. The security restrictions of Windows services are more fine-grained, so that services (especially those listening on
2873-471: A character known in English-speaking markets as "Allison Brown", whose fictional profile (including personal photos, contacts, and emails) was featured on in-store demo units of Windows 8 devices. In May 2013, Microsoft launched a new television campaign for Windows 8 illustrating the capabilities and pricing of Windows 8 tablets in comparison to the iPad , which featured the voice of Siri remarking on
3042-477: A clear focus on an end-product. Allchin went on to explain how in December 2003, he enlisted the help of two other senior executives, Brian Valentine and Amitabh Srivastava, the former being experienced with shipping software at Microsoft, most notably Windows Server 2003, and the latter having spent his career at Microsoft researching and developing methods of producing high-quality testing systems. Srivastava employed
3211-438: A customizable array of tiles linking to various apps and desktop programs, some of which can display constantly updated information and content through "live tiles". As a form of multi-tasking , apps can be snapped to the side of a screen. Alongside the traditional Control Panel , a new simplified and touch-optimized settings app known as "PC Settings" is used for basic configuration and user settings. It does not include many of
3380-427: A direct effect on its development. This effort has resulted in a number of new security and safety features and an Evaluation Assurance Level rating of 4+. User Account Control , or UAC is perhaps the most significant and visible of these changes. UAC is a security technology that makes it possible for users to use their computer with fewer privileges by default, to stop malware from making unauthorized changes to
3549-473: A few days, developers had managed to drop Vista's bug count from over 2470 on September 22 to just over 1400 by the time RC2 shipped in early October. However, they still had a way to go before Vista was ready to RTM. Microsoft's internal processes required Vista's bug count to drop to 500 or fewer before the product could go into escrow for RTM. For most of the pre-RTM builds, only 32-bit editions were released. On June 14, 2006, Windows developer Philip Su posted
SECTION 20
#17328521470453718-499: A folder-by-folder basis. For easier management of files and folders, Windows 8 introduces the ability to move selected files or folders via drag and drop from a parent folder into a subfolder listed within the breadcrumb hierarchy of the address bar in File Explorer. Task Manager has been redesigned, including a new processes tab with the option to display fewer or more details of running applications and background processes,
3887-566: A full-screen version of the existing desktop interface, Firefox's variant (which was first made available on the "Aurora" release channel in September 2013) uses a touch-optimized interface inspired by the Android variant of Firefox . In October 2013, Chrome's app was changed to mimic the desktop environment used by ChromeOS . Development of the Firefox app for Windows 8 has since been cancelled, citing
4056-531: A grid (similar to many application launchers in Android and iOS), accompanied by a section for "Recommended" applications and files (often equivalent with the user's most recently used files). An "All apps" button is displayed next to the heading for pinned applications. Windows 11 does not support live tiles, with their functionality being moved to the separate "Widgets" area on the taskbar. The Start menu may be launched either by pressing ⊞ Win (the Windows key ) on
4225-646: A heat map using different colors indicating the level of resource usage, network and disk counters, grouping by process type (e.g. applications, background processes and Windows processes), friendly names for processes and a new option which allows users to search the web to find information about obscure processes. Additionally, the Blue Screen of Death has been updated with a simpler and modern design with less technical information displayed. New security features in Windows 8 include two new authentication methods tailored towards touchscreens ( PINs and picture passwords),
4394-550: A hybrid drive can be spun down when not in use. Another new technology called SuperFetch utilizes machine learning techniques to analyze usage patterns to allow Windows Vista to make intelligent decisions about what content should be present in system memory at any given time. It uses almost all the extra RAM as disk cache . In conjunction with SuperFetch, an automatic built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter makes sure that those applications are strategically positioned on
4563-458: A keyboard and mouse rather than a touchscreen. Despite these shortcomings, 60 million licenses were sold through January 2013, including upgrades and sales to OEMs for new PCs. Windows 8 was succeeded by Windows 8.1 in October 2013, which addressed some aspects of Windows 8 that were criticized by reviewers and early adopters and also incorporated various improvements. Support for RTM editions of Windows 8 ended on January 12, 2016, and with
4732-448: A keyboard or its equivalent on a tablet device , pressing Ctrl + Esc on a keyboard, or by clicking on the visual Start button . With the exception of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 , the Start button can be found on the taskbar . The Start button on Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 is initially moved from the traditional taskbar to "charms", a hidden secondary taskbar located to
4901-446: A lack of user adoption of the beta versions. Windows 8 introduces significant changes to the operating system's user interface, many of which are aimed at improving its experience on tablet computers and other touchscreen devices. The new user interface is based on Microsoft's Metro design language and uses a Start screen similar to that of Windows Phone 7 as the primary means of launching applications. The Start screen displays
5070-424: A large horizontal pane that appeared under the toolbars. A new search interface allowed for filtering of results, searching for Windows help, and natural-language queries that would be used to integrate with WinFS. The animated search characters were also removed. The "view modes" were also replaced with a single slider that would resize the icons in real-time, in the list, thumbnail, or details mode, depending on where
5239-460: A large number of new application programming interfaces. Chief among them is the inclusion of version 3.0 of the .NET Framework , which consists of a class library and Common Language Runtime . Version 3.0 includes four new major components: These technologies are also available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to facilitate their introduction to and usage by developers and end-users. There are also significant new development APIs in
Start menu - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-632: A launch promotion, Microsoft offered Windows 8 Pro upgrades at a discounted price of US$ 39.99 online, or $ 69.99 for a retail box; afterward the Windows 8 price has been $ 119.99 and the Pro price $ 199.99. Those who purchased new PCs pre-loaded with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013, could digitally purchase a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for US$ 14.99. Several PC manufacturers offered rebates and refunds on Windows 8 upgrades obtained through promotions on select models, such as those of Hewlett-Packard (in
5577-530: A limited subset of features planned for Longhorn, in particular fast file searching and integrated graphics and sound processing, but appeared to have impressive reliability and performance compared to contemporary Longhorn builds. Most Longhorn builds had major Windows Explorer system leaks which prevented the OS from performing well, and added more confusion to the development teams in later builds with more and more code being developed which failed to reach stability. In
5746-494: A mobile broadband device is integrated into a tablet or convertible system, then an assisted GPS radio is required. Devices supporting near field communication need to have visual marks to help users locate and use the proximity technology. The new interrupt button combination, to replace Ctrl + Alt + Del , is Windows Key + Power. Updated certification requirements were implemented to coincide with Windows 8.1. As of 2014, all certified devices with integrated displays must contain
5915-922: A new API, and is fully compatible with the Desktop Window Manager. At least two primary vendors, ATI and NVIDIA provided full Vista-compatible ICDs. However, hardware overlay is not supported, because it is considered as an obsolete feature in Vista. ATI and NVIDIA strongly recommend using compositing desktop/ Framebuffer Objects for same functionality. Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system: Some notable Windows XP applications and features have been replaced or removed in Windows Vista, including Active Desktop , MSN Explorer , HyperTerminal , Messenger service NetMeeting , NTBackup , and Windows Messenger . Several multimedia features, networking features, and Shell and Windows Explorer features such as
6084-459: A new application framework for Windows 8 codenamed "Jupiter", which would be used to make "immersive" applications using XAML (similarly to Windows Phone and Silverlight ) that could be distributed via a new packaging system and a rumored application store . The earliest available build of Windows 8 is build 7700, compiled in January 2010. The build was almost identical to Windows 7 except for
6253-476: A new keyboard shortcut for screenshots . Many of these features were adapted from Windows Phone . Windows 8 also added support for USB 3.0 , Advanced Format , near-field communication , and cloud computing , as well as a new lock screen with clock and notifications. Additional security features—including built-in antivirus software , integration with Microsoft SmartScreen phishing filtering, and support for Secure Boot on supported devices—were introduced. It
6422-521: A new set of APIs known as Windows Runtime , which supports programming languages such as C , C++ , Visual Basic .NET , C# , along with HTML5 and JavaScript . If written in some "high-level" languages, apps written for Windows Runtime can be compatible with both Intel and ARM variants of Windows, otherwise they are not binary code compatible . Components may be compiled as Windows Runtime Components, permitting their use by all compatible languages. To ensure stability and security, apps run within
6591-484: A part of the connection process and offer usage statistics on their respective tile. Windows 8 introduces a new style of application, Windows Store apps . According to Microsoft developer Jensen Harris, these apps are optimized for touchscreen environments and are more specialized than current desktop applications . Apps can run either in a full-screen mode or be snapped to the side of a screen. Apps can provide toast notifications on screen or animate their tiles on
6760-443: A period of protracted development that was unprecedented for Microsoft. Most new features were prominently based on a new presentation layer codenamed Avalon , a new communications architecture codenamed Indigo , and a relational storage platform codenamed WinFS — all built on the .NET Framework ; however, this proved to be untenable due to incompleteness of technologies and ways in which new features were added, and Microsoft reset
6929-414: A piece of malicious software to compromise the system, or disable the encryption. BitLocker can work in conjunction with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cryptoprocessor (version 1.2) embedded in a computer's motherboard , or with a USB key. However, as with other full disk encryption technologies, BitLocker is vulnerable to a cold boot attack , especially where TPM is used as a key protector without
Start menu - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-554: A protected mode, which operates with lower permissions than the user and runs in isolation from other applications in the operating system, preventing it from accessing or modifying anything besides the Temporary Internet Files directory. Microsoft's anti-spyware product, Windows Defender , has been incorporated into Windows, protecting against malware and other threats. Changes to various system configuration settings (such as new auto-starting applications) are blocked unless
7267-477: A public build since its debut on Windows 95 ; according to Windows manager Chaitanya Sareen, the Start button was removed to reflect their view that on Windows 8, the desktop was an app itself, and not the primary interface of the operating system. Windows president Steven Sinofsky said more than 100,000 changes had been made since the developer version went public. The day after its release, Windows 8 Consumer Preview had been downloaded over one million times. Like
7436-453: A single chassis. A convertible can be transformed into a tablet where the attached input devices are hidden or removed, leaving the display as the only input mechanism. On March 12, 2013, Microsoft amended its certification requirements to only require that screens on tablets have a minimum resolution of 1024×768 (down from the previous 1366×768). The amended requirement is intended to allow "greater design flexibility" for future products. If
7605-702: A smaller blacklist of sites with known compatibility issues instead, allowing Flash to be used with most sites by default. The desktop variant does not contain these limitations. Windows 8 also incorporates improved support for mobile broadband ; the operating system can now detect the insertion of a SIM card and automatically configure connection settings (including APNs and carrier branding), and reduce its Internet usage to conserve bandwidth on metered networks . An integrated airplane mode setting enables users to globally disable all wireless connectivity. Carriers can also offer account management systems through Windows Store apps, which can be automatically installed as
7774-482: A team of core architects to visually map out the entirety of the Windows operating system, and to proactively work towards a development process that would enforce high levels of code quality, reduce interdependencies between components, and in general, "not make things worse with Vista". Since Microsoft decided that Longhorn needed to be further componentized, work started on builds (known as the Omega-13 builds, named after
7943-565: A team. The name of the lab in which any given build originated is shown as part of the build label, and the date and time of the build follow that. Some builds (such as Beta 1 and Beta 2) only display the build label in the version information dialog (Winver). The icons used in these builds are from Windows XP. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May 2003, Microsoft gave their first public demonstrations of
8112-437: A time travel device in the film Galaxy Quest ) that would componentize existing Windows Server 2003 source code, and over time add back functionality as development progressed. Future Longhorn builds would start from Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and continue from there. This change, announced internally to Microsoft employees on August 26, 2004, began in earnest in September, though it would take several more months before
8281-535: A vertical list, containing frequently-used applications, and links to the "All apps" menu, File Explorer , Settings , and power options. Some of these links, and additional links to folders such as Downloads, Pictures, and Music, can be added through Settings' "Choose which folders appear on Start" page. The Start menu can be resized, or be placed in a full-screen display resembling the Windows 8/8.1 Start screen (although scrolling vertically instead of horizontally). The Start menu also enters this state when "Tablet mode"
8450-436: A year later. Windows Vista was succeeded by Windows 7 in 2009. Mainstream support for Windows Vista ended on April 10, 2012 and extended support ended on April 11, 2017. Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename "Longhorn", in May 2001, five months before the release of Windows XP . It was originally expected to ship in October 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and "Blackcomb", which
8619-563: Is a new architecture with more advanced shader support, and allows the graphics processing unit to render more complex scenes without assistance from the CPU. It features improved load balancing between CPU and GPU and also optimizes data transfer between them. WDDM also provides video content playback that rivals typical consumer electronics devices. It does this by making it easy to connect to external monitors, providing for protected HD video playback, and increasing overall video playback quality. For
SECTION 50
#17328521470458788-408: Is accessed via a tile on the Start screen. The Start button on the taskbar from previous versions of Windows has been converted into a hotspot (or "hot corner") in the lower-left corner of the screen, which displays a large tooltip displaying a thumbnail of the Start screen. Windows 8.1 added the start button back to the taskbar after many complaints, but removed the preview thumbnail. Swiping from
8957-408: Is aimed at low-powered computers with availability only in emerging markets. Windows Vista Home Basic is intended for budget users. Windows Vista Home Premium covers the majority of the consumer market and contains applications for creating and using multimedia; the home editions consequentally cannot join a Windows Server domain . For businesses, there are three editions as well. Windows Vista Business
9126-450: Is all about: "bringing clarity to your world" (a reference to the three marketing points of Vista—Clear, Connected, Confident), so you can focus on what matters to you". Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin also loved the name, saying that "Vista creates the right imagery for the new product capabilities and inspires the imagination with all the possibilities of what can be done with Windows—making people's passions come alive." After Longhorn
9295-506: Is available as "full version software" as both a packaged DVD and online for download, and does not require a previous version of Windows in order to be installed. Pricing for these new copies remains identical with that of Windows 8. With the retail release of Windows 8.1 returning to being full version software, the "Personal Use License" exemption was removed from the OEM SKU, meaning that end users building their own PCs for personal use must use
9464-471: Is available to devices running Windows 8 Enterprise and joined to a domain ; Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT devices that are not part of a domain can also sideload apps, but only after special product keys are obtained through volume licensing. The term "Immersive app" had been used internally by Microsoft developers to refer to the apps prior to the first official presentation of Windows 8, after which they were referred to as "Metro-style apps" in reference to
9633-456: Is capable of running all editions of Windows Vista although some of the special features and high-end graphics options may require additional or more advanced hardware. A Vista Premium Ready PC can take advantage of Vista's high-end features. Windows Vista's Basic and Classic interfaces work with virtually any graphics hardware that supports Windows XP or 2000; accordingly, most discussion around Vista's graphics requirements centers on those for
9802-504: Is dimmed, and only the authorization window is active and highlighted. The intent is to stop a malicious program from misleading the user by interfering with the authorization window, and to hint to the user about the importance of the prompt. Testing by Symantec Corporation has proven the effectiveness of UAC. Symantec used over 2,000 active malware samples, consisting of backdoors , keyloggers , rootkits , mass mailers, trojan horses , spyware , adware , and various other samples. Each
9971-419: Is enabled. As of version 1511 , the left panel of the Start menu advertises "suggested" Windows Store apps; users can opt out of these suggestions. Version 1607 and later remove the recent apps view, always showing all apps. Version 20H2 replaced the colorful tiles in previous versions with transparent "theme-aware" tiles. Windows RT 8.1 update KB3033055 adds a variant of the Windows 10 Start menu that
10140-581: Is included as two variants – a desktop program and a touch-optimized app. It also includes increased support for HTML5 , CSS3 , and hardware acceleration . The app does not support plugins or ActiveX components, but includes a variant of Adobe Flash Player that is optimized for touch and low-power usage. Initially, Adobe Flash would only work on sites included on a "Compatibility View" whitelist ; however, after feedback from users and additional compatibility tests, an update in March 2013 changed this behavior to use
10309-448: Is not the case with Vista, which includes more comprehensive wireless networking support. For graphics, Vista introduces a new Windows Display Driver Model and a major revision to Direct3D . The new driver model facilitates the new Desktop Window Manager , which provides the tearing -free desktop and special effects that are the cornerstones of Windows Aero. Direct3D 10, developed in conjunction with major graphics card manufacturers,
SECTION 60
#173285214704510478-435: Is only available through volume licensing . A port of Windows 8 for ARM architecture , Windows RT , is marketed as an edition of Windows 8, but was only included as pre-loaded software on devices specifically developed for it. Windows 8 was distributed as a retail box product on DVD , and through a digital download that could be converted into DVD or USB install media. From its launch until January 31, 2013, as part of
10647-659: Is possible to prevent specific programs from appearing in the recent programs list (the left pane of the Start menu) by modifying the Windows registry . Many desktop environments for open source operating systems provide a menu similar to the Start menu: Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft . It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and generally released for retail on October 26, 2012. Windows 8 introduced major changes to
10816-495: Is similar to that of Windows 7 . Several notable features were removed in Windows 8; support for playing DVD-Video was removed from Windows Media Player due to the cost of licensing the necessary decoders (especially for devices which do not include optical disc drives at all) and the prevalence of online streaming services. For the same reasons, Windows Media Center is not included by default on Windows 8, but Windows Media Center and DVD playback support could be purchased in
10985-857: Is specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises , while Windows Vista Enterprise is only available to Software Assurance customers. Windows Vista Ultimate contains all features from the Home and Business editions, as well as Windows Ultimate Extras . In the European Union , Home Basic N and Business N variants without Windows Media Player are also available due to sanctions brought against Microsoft for violating anti-monopoly laws ; similar sanctions exist in South Korea . Windows Vista includes four distinct visual styles: Computers capable of running Windows Vista are classified as Vista Capable and Vista Premium Ready . A Vista Capable or equivalent PC
11154-439: Is the first release of Windows to be made available through a digital distribution platform . Development of Windows Vista began in 2001 under the codename "Longhorn"; originally envisioned as a minor successor to Windows XP, it gradually included numerous new features from the then-next major release of Windows codenamed "Blackcomb", after which it was repositioned as a major release of Windows, and it subsequently underwent
11323-463: Is visually closer to the design used in early preview builds of Windows 10. It allows applications to be pinned to the top of the left column, with recently used apps listed below (much like 7), and as with 10, allows tiles to be pinned to the right column. Windows 11 introduces another major redesign to the Start menu. A search box was reinstated at the top of the menu, and tiles have been replaced by an area for pinned application shortcuts displayed in
11492-505: The 32-bit ( x86 ) architecture and the additional 64-bit ( x86-64 ) instruction set extensions, which Vista was the first consumer home release of Windows to support. Intel IA-64 Itanium support however is exclusively limited to the Vista-based Windows Server 2008 . The maximum number of logical processors in a PC that Windows Vista supports is: 32 for 32-bit; 64 for 64-bit. The maximum number of physical processors in
11661-915: The Luna visual style are no longer available. Support for the original release of Windows Vista (without a service pack) ended on April 13, 2010. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was retired on July 12, 2011, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 reached its end of support on April 11, 2017. Several Windows Vista components are upgradable to the latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows Vista include: Windows Vista shipped in six different product editions. These were deviced across separate consumer and business target markets, with editions varying in features to cater to specific sub-markets. For consumers, there are three editions, with two available for economically more developed countries. Windows Vista Starter edition
11830-545: The Metro design language . The term was phased out in August 2012; a Microsoft spokesperson denied rumors that the change was related to a potential trademark issue, and stated that "Metro" was only a codename that would be replaced prior to Windows 8's release. Following these reports, the terms "Modern UI-style apps", "Windows 8-style apps", and "Windows Store apps" began to be used in various Microsoft documents and material to refer to
11999-603: The desktop and Start menu. The latter was comparable in some respects with the Apple menu in Mac OS and did not have the mentioned limitations of Program Manager: Being a menu , it allowed nested grouping while keeping only one group open at the time. The menu also offered the ability to shut down and log off from their computer. Later developments in Internet Explorer and subsequent Windows releases make it possible to customize
12168-434: The "Pro Pack" (which upgrades the system to Windows 8 Pro) or the "Media Center Pack" add-on for Windows 8 Pro. As with prior versions, third-party DVD player software can still be used to enable DVD playback. Backup and Restore , the backup component of Windows, was deprecated . It still shipped with Windows 8 and continues to work on preset schedules, but it was pushed to the background and can only be accessed through
12337-521: The All Programs view. Drag and drop support for adding new items to the menu as well as reorganizing the contents of the All Programs view is no longer available. In addition, for the first time in the history of Windows, the Start menu in a stock installation of Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 does not provide any facility for shutting down , restarting or activating sleep mode or hibernation , forcing users to use
12506-522: The Developer Preview, the Consumer Preview expired on January 15, 2013. Many other builds may exist or were released until Japan's Developers Day conference when Sinofsky announced that Windows 8 Release Preview (build 8400) would be released during the first week of June. On May 28, 2012, Windows 8 Release Preview (Standard Simplified Chinese x64 edition, not China-specific variant, build 8400)
12675-554: The GeForce FX series on Vista was 96.85. Microsoft offered a tool called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to assist Windows XP and Vista users in determining what versions of Windows their machine is capable of running. The required server connections for this utility are no longer available. Although the installation media included in retail packages is a 32-bit DVD, customers needing a CD-ROM or customers who wish for
12844-415: The Internet around February 28, 2003. It was also privately handed out to a select group of software developers. As an evolutionary release over build 3683, it contained several small improvements, including a modified blue "Plex" theme and a new, simplified Windows Image-based installer that operates in graphical mode from the outset, and completed an install of the operating system in approximately one third
13013-508: The Longhorn project as "another Cairo" or "Cairo.NET", referring to the Cairo development project that the company embarked on through the first half of the 1990s, which never resulted in a shipping operating system (though nearly all the technologies developed in that time did end up in Windows 95 and Windows NT ). Microsoft was shocked in 2005 by Apple's release of Mac OS X Tiger . It offered only
13182-589: The Release Preview to the final version. These included updated versions of bundled apps, the renaming of Windows Explorer to File Explorer, the replacement of the Aero Glass theme from Windows Vista and 7 with a new flat and solid-color theme as seen in build 8432, and the addition of new background options for the Start screen, lock screen, and desktop. Prior to its general availability on October 26, 2012, updates were released for some of Windows 8's bundled apps, and
13351-499: The Skylake support policy until the end of support for Windows 7 and 8.1 (2020 and 2023, respectively). Microsoft released minimum hardware requirements for tablet and laplet devices to be "certified" for Windows 8 and defined a convertible form factor as a standalone device that combines the PC, display, and rechargeable power source with a mechanically attached keyboard and pointing device in
13520-418: The Start menu and to access and expand Internet Explorer Favorites, My Documents and Administrative Tools ( Windows 2000 and later) from the Start menu. Items could also be simply added to the Start menu by dragging and dropping them . Although Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 introduced a new version of Start menu, they offered the ability to switch back to this version of Start menu. This version of
13689-565: The Start menu is also available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 . However, it is absent in Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 R2 and other later Windows releases. The first major overhaul to the Start menu was introduced in Windows XP and was later included in Windows Server 2003 . The Start menu was expanded to two columns: the left-hand column focuses on installed programs, while
13858-403: The Start menu produces a separate screen of icons. Windows Phone was the original host of the design principles of the third generation Start menu. The Start screen no longer supports several previously available features. A list of recently launched programs or shortcuts to special folders no longer appears on the Start screen. It no longer supports more than one level of nesting for groups in
14027-564: The Start menu provided a customizable nested list of programs for the user to launch, as well as a list of most recently opened documents, a way to find files and obtain assistance, and access to the system settings. Later enhancements via Windows Desktop Update included access to special folders such as "My Documents" and "Favorites" (browser bookmarks). Windows XP 's Start menu was expanded to encompass various My Documents folders (including My Music and My Pictures ), and transplanted other items like My Computer and My Network Places from
14196-457: The Start menu so that they are always accessible. A sub-menu item at the bottom of this column grants access to all items of Start menu. When this menu item is selected, a scrolling list of Start menu programs replaces the user/recent list. Windows Vista and its successors added minor changes to the menu. Prior to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 , the Start menu consisted of a group of menus and sub-menus that cascaded and expanded, obscuring
14365-469: The Start menu support Jump lists through cascade buttons on their right. Unlike prior versions, the ability to revert to the "Classic" Start menu design is no longer available. On Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 , an update to the Start menu known as the "Start screen" was introduced. It covers the entire screen and no longer features the right column. It shows much larger tiles for programs and, whenever possible, displays dynamic content supplied by
14534-604: The Start screen with dynamic content. Apps can use "contracts"; a collection of hooks to provide common functionality that can integrate with other apps, including search and sharing. Apps can also provide integration with other services; for example, the People app can connect to a variety of different social networks and services (such as Facebook, Skype , and People service ), while the Photos app can aggregate photos from services such as Facebook and Flickr. Windows Store apps run within
14703-512: The U.S. and Canada on select models) and Acer (in Europe on selected Ultrabook models). During these promotions, the Windows Media Center add-on for Windows 8 Pro was also offered for free. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 was distributed at retail only under "Upgrade" licenses, which require an onboard version of Windows to install. The "full version software" SKU, which
14872-476: The United States and Canada into a Windows-branded store-within-a-store that would showcase Microsoft products, services, and Windows devices. New features and functionality in Windows 8 include a faster startup through UEFI integration and the new "Hybrid Boot" mode (which hibernates the Windows kernel on shutdown to speed up the subsequent boot), a new lock screen with a clock and notifications, and
15041-566: The Windows Aero interface. As of Windows Vista Beta 2, the NVIDIA GeForce 6 series and later, the ATI Radeon 9500 and later, Intel's GMA 950 and later integrated graphics, and a handful of VIA chipsets and S3 Graphics discrete chips are supported. Although originally supported, the GeForce FX 5 series has been dropped from newer drivers from NVIDIA. The last driver from NVIDIA to support
15210-422: The Windows desktop. Until Windows Vista , the Start menu was constantly expanded across the screen as the user navigated through its cascading sub-menus. In Microsoft Windows , the Start menu in some form appears in Windows 9x , Windows NT 4.0 and all subsequent versions in the Windows NT family, as well as Windows CE , Windows Mobile and Windows Phone . The Start menu first appeared in Windows 95 . It
15379-448: The Windows logo was changed to resemble a set of four window panes. Additionally, the entire logo is now rendered in a single solid color. On February 29, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the beta version of Windows 8, build 8250. Alongside other changes, the build brought over the big change from build 8195: removing the Start button from the taskbar for the first time in
15548-557: The Xbox brand, including Xbox Music , Xbox Video , and the Xbox SmartGlass companion for use with an Xbox 360 console. Games can integrate into an Xbox Live hub app, which also allows users to view their profile and Gamerscore . Other bundled apps provide the ability to link Flickr and Facebook . Due to Facebook Connect service changes, Facebook support is disabled in all bundled apps effective June 8, 2015. Internet Explorer 10
15717-488: The ability for enterprise users to create live USB variants of Windows (also known as Windows To Go ). It also includes native support for USB 3 devices, which allow for faster data transfers and improved power management with compatible devices, and hard disk 4KB Advanced Format support, as well as support for near field communication to facilitate sharing and communication between devices. Windows Explorer , which has been renamed to File Explorer, now includes
15886-671: The above minimum specifications. Included in this standard are a number of security-specific requirements designed to improve physical security , notably against Cold Boot Attacks . 32-bit SKUs of Windows 8 only support a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. 64-bit SKUs, however, support more: Windows 8 x64 supports 128 GB while Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise x64 support 512 GB. In January 2016, Microsoft announced that, effective July 17, 2018, it would no longer support Windows 8.1 or 7 on devices using Intel's Skylake CPU family, and that all future CPU microarchitectures, as well as Skylake systems after this date, would only be supported on Windows 10 . After
16055-409: The addition of antivirus capabilities to Windows Defender (bringing it in parity with Microsoft Security Essentials ). SmartScreen filtering integrated into Windows, Family Safety offers parental controls , which allows parents to monitor and manage their children's activities on a device with activity reports and safety controls. Windows 8 also provides integrated system recovery through
16224-537: The advanced options still accessible from the Control Panel. A vertical toolbar known as the charms (accessed by swiping from the right edge of a touchscreen, swiping from the right edge of a touchpad, or pointing the cursor at hotspots in the right corners of a screen) provides access to system and app-related functions, such as search, sharing, device management, settings, and a Start button. The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications
16393-612: The audio being received by the speech recognition software being "incredibly distorted". Windows Vista build 5824 (October 17, 2006) was supposed to be the RTM release, but a bug, where the OOBE hangs at the start of the WinSAT Assessment (if upgraded from Windows XP), requiring the user to terminate msoobe.exe by pressing Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt using either command-line tools or Task Manager prevented this, damaging development and lowering
16562-423: The bottom, with a vertical scrollbar whenever needed. Also added in Windows Vista is a Search box that allows users to search for the Start menu shortcuts or other files and folders. The search box features incremental search : If indexing is not turned off, the search box returns results on-the-fly as users type into it. Since the found items can be immediately opened, the Start menu search box partially replaces
16731-849: The business-oriented versions like Windows 2000 (build 2195) or Server 2003 (build 3790). On November 16, 2006, Microsoft made the final build available to MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers. A business-oriented Enterprise edition was made available to volume license customers on November 30, 2006. Windows Vista was launched for general customer availability on January 30, 2007. New features introduced by Windows Vista are very numerous, encompassing significant functionality not available in its predecessors. Vista includes technologies such as ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive , which employ fast flash memory (located on USB flash drives and hybrid hard disk drives ) to improve system performance by caching commonly used programs and data. This manifests itself in improved battery life on notebook computers as well, since
16900-556: The capabilities and features of the edition preceding it, and add additional features oriented towards their market segments. For example, Pro added BitLocker , Hyper-V , the ability to join a domain , and the ability to install Windows Media Center as a paid add-on. Users of Windows 8 can purchase a "Pro Pack" license that upgrades their system to Windows 8 Pro through Add features to Windows . This license also includes Windows Media Center. Windows 8 Enterprise contains additional features aimed towards business environments, and
17069-569: The chance that it would hit its January 2007 deadline. Development of Windows Vista came to an end when Microsoft announced that it had been finalized on November 8, 2006, and was concluded by co-president of Windows development, Jim Allchin . The RTM's build number had also jumped to 6000 to reflect Vista's internal version number, NT 6.0. Jumping RTM build numbers is common practice among consumer-oriented Windows versions, like Windows 98 (build 1998), Windows 98 SE (build 2222), Windows Me (build 3000) or Windows XP (build 2600), as compared to
17238-420: The charms. On most versions of Windows, the Start button is located on the lower left corner of the screen, while the start button on Windows 11 is located in the center (but can be moved back to the lower left corner). On a Mac keyboard or on a Mac running Windows through Boot Camp , the ⌘ Command key is used as the Windows logo key to activate the Start menu. Right-clicking on the Start button invokes
17407-617: The core of the operating system, notably the completely re-designed audio, networking, print, and video interfaces, major changes to the security infrastructure, improvements to the deployment and installation of applications (" ClickOnce " and Windows Installer 4.0), new device driver development model (" Windows Driver Foundation "), Transactional NTFS , mobile computing API advancements (power management, Tablet PC Ink support, SideShow ) and major updates to (or complete replacements of) many core subsystems such as Winlogon and CAPI . There are some issues for software developers using some of
17576-477: The creator of the driver can be identified. This is also on par with one of the primary goals of Vista to move code out of kernel-mode into user-mode drivers, with another example bing the new Windows Display Driver Model . While much of the focus of Vista's new capabilities highlighted the new user interface, security technologies, and improvements to the core operating system, Microsoft also adding new deployment and maintenance features: Windows Vista includes
17745-586: The deadline, only critical security updates would be released for users on these platforms. When this new policy faced criticism from users and enterprise customers, Microsoft partially retracted the change and stated that both operating systems would remain supported on Skylake hardware through the end of their extended-support lifecycle. Windows 8.1 remains officially unsupported on all newer CPU families, and neither AMD or Intel will provide official chipset drivers for Windows operating systems other than Windows 10. However, in August 2016, Microsoft again extended
17914-416: The device's boot process. Some pre-built devices may be described as "certified" by Microsoft; these must have secure boot enabled by default, and provide ways for users to disable or re-configure the feature. ARM -based Windows RT devices must have secure boot permanently enabled. Windows 8 provides tighter integration with online services from Microsoft and others. A user can now log into Windows with
18083-413: The end, Microsoft chose Windows Vista as confirmed on July 22, 2005, believing it to be a "wonderful intersection of what the product really does, what Windows stands for, and what resonates with customers, and their needs". Group Project Manager Greg Sullivan told Paul Thurrott "You want the PC to adapt to you and help you cut through the clutter to focus on what's important to you. That's what Windows Vista
18252-527: The exception of Windows Embedded 8 Standard users, all users are required to install the Windows 8.1 update. Mainstream support for the Embedded Standard edition of Windows 8 ended on July 10, 2018, and extended support ended on July 11, 2023. Development started in 2009 while Microsoft was finishing work on Windows 7 . At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011, it was announced that
18421-514: The first day of the first build conference on September 13, 2011. The first public beta build of Windows 8—Windows Developer Preview (build 8102)—was released at the event. A Samsung tablet running the build was also distributed to conference attendees. The build was released for download later that day in 32-bit and 64-bit variants, and a special 64-bit variant which included SDKs and developer tools ( Visual Studio Express and Expression Blend ) for developing Metro-style apps. The Windows Store
18590-483: The first time in Windows, graphics processing unit (GPU) multitasking is possible, enabling users to run more than one GPU-intensive application simultaneously. At the core of the operating system , many improvements have been made to the memory manager, process scheduler and I/O scheduler. The Heap Manager implements additional features such as integrity checking in order to improve robustness and defend against buffer overflow security exploits , although this comes at
18759-410: The full retail variant in order to satisfy the Windows 8.1 licensing requirements. Windows 8.1 with Bing is a special OEM-specific SKU of Windows 8.1 subsidized by Microsoft's Bing search engine. Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft . It was the direct successor to Windows XP , released five years earlier, which
18928-489: The function of the Run command from previous versions of Windows. The Run command can also be added separately to the right column in the Start menu. In Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 , the search results pane covers both columns of the Start menu. The search box is extended to support searching Control Panel items. The right column in Windows 7 links to Libraries instead of ordinary folders. Most importantly, however, items on
19097-469: The graphics APIs in Vista. Games or programs built solely on the Windows Vista-exclusive version of DirectX , version 10, cannot work on prior versions of Windows, as DirectX 10 is not available for previous Windows versions. Also, games that require the features of D3D9Ex, the updated implementation of DirectX 9 in Windows Vista are also incompatible with previous Windows versions. According to
19266-461: The hard disk where they can be loaded into memory very quickly with the least physical movement of the hard disk's read-write heads. As part of the redesign of the networking architecture, IPv6 has been fully incorporated into the operating system and a number of performance improvements have been introduced, such as TCP window scaling . Earlier versions of Windows typically needed third-party wireless networking software to work properly, but this
19435-514: The iPad's limitations in a parody of Apple's " Get a Mac " advertisements. On June 12, 2013, during game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals , Microsoft premiered the first ad in its "Windows Everywhere" campaign, which promoted Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 , and the company's suite of online services as an interconnected platform. Microsoft also announced that it would partner with electronics store chain Best Buy to convert PC departments at locations in
19604-434: The initially visible portions of the screen beneath them. In Windows Vista, however, cascading menus were replaced by a sliding window in the left pane of the Start menu. Whenever the All Programs item is clicked, the contents of the left pane slide off the left edge of the Start menu, and the All Programs menu slides in from the right edge of the left column. This menu presents a tree view of its hierarchy that expands towards
19773-449: The introduction of many new security and safety features such as BitLocker and User Account Control . The ambitiousness and scope of these changes, and the abundance of new features earned positive reviews, but Windows Vista was the subject of frequent negative press and significant criticism. Criticism of Windows Vista focused on driver, peripheral, and program incompatibility; digital rights management ; excessive authorization from
19942-434: The latest features from every development team at Microsoft was included. Typically, a team working on a certain feature or subsystem would generate their working builds which developers would test with, and when the code was deemed stable, all the changes would be incorporated back into the main development tree at once. At Microsoft, several "Build labs" exist where the compilation of the entirety of Windows can be performed by
20111-460: The left edge of a touchscreen or clicking in the top-left corner of the screen allows one to switch between apps and Desktop. Pointing the cursor at the top-left corner of the screen and moving down reveals a thumbnail list of active apps. Aside from the removal of the Start button and the replacement of the Aero Glass theme with a flatter and solid-colored design, the desktop interface on Windows 8
20280-462: The market was quickly moving to 64-bit processors. While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season , it announced in March 2006 that the release date would be pushed back to January 2007 in order to give the company—and the hardware and software companies that Microsoft depends on for providing device drivers —additional time to prepare. Because
20449-723: The network) cannot interact with parts of the operating system they do not need to. Obfuscation techniques such as address space layout randomization are used to increase the amount of effort required of malware before successful infiltration of a system. Code integrity verifies that system binaries have not been tampered with by malicious code. As part of the redesign of the network stack, Windows Firewall has been upgraded, with new support for filtering both incoming and outgoing traffic. Advanced packet filter rules can be created that can grant or deny communications to specific services. The 64-bit versions of Vista require that all new Kernel-Mode device drivers be digitally signed, so that
20618-509: The new "Refresh" and "Reset" functions, including system recovery from USB drive. Windows 8's first security patches would be released on November 13, 2012; it would contain three fixes deemed "critical" by the company. Windows 8 supports a feature of the UEFI specification known as "Secure boot", which uses a public-key infrastructure to verify the integrity of the operating system and prevent unauthorized programs such as bootkits from infecting
20787-521: The new Desktop Window Manager and Aero . The demonstrations were done on a revised build 4015 which was never released. Several sessions for developers and hardware engineers at the conference focused on these new features, as well as the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (previously known as "Palladium"), which at the time was Microsoft's proposed solution for creating a secure computing environment whereby any given component of
20956-579: The new User Account Control; inordinately high system requirements when contrasted with Windows XP; its protracted development; longer boot time ; and more restrictive product licensing. Windows Vista deployment and satisfaction rates were consequently lower than those of Windows XP, and it is considered a market failure; however, its use surpassed Microsoft's pre-launch two-year-out expectations of achieving 200 million users (with an estimated 330 million users by 2009). On October 22, 2010, Microsoft ceased retail distribution of Windows Vista; OEM supply ceased
21125-505: The new apps. In an interview on September 12, 2012, Soma Somasegar (vice president of Microsoft's development software division) confirmed that "Windows Store apps" would be the official term for the apps. An MSDN page explaining the Metro design language uses the term "Modern design" to refer to the language as a whole. Exceptions to the restrictions faced by Windows Store apps are given to web browsers . The user's default browser can distribute
21294-413: The new development process and build methodology would be used by all of the development teams. A number of complaints came from individual developers, and Bill Gates himself, that the new development process was going to be prohibitively difficult to work within. By approximately November 2004, the company had considered several names for the final release, ranging from simple to fanciful and inventive. In
21463-454: The next version of Windows would add support for ARM System-on-chips alongside the existing 32-bit processors produced by vendors, especially AMD and Intel . Windows division president Steven Sinofsky demonstrated an early build of the port on prototype devices, while Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the company's goal for Windows to be "everywhere on every kind of device without compromise." Details also began to surface about
21632-442: The only time this partition is accessed is when the computer is booting, or when there is a Windows update that changes files in this area, which is a legitimate reason to access this section of the drive. The area can be a potential security issue, because a hexadecimal editor (such as dskprobe.exe), or malicious software running with administrator and/or kernel level privileges would be able to write to this "Ghost Partition" and allow
21801-455: The operating system's platform and user interface with the intention to improve its user experience on tablets , where Windows competed with mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS . In particular, these changes included a touch-optimized Windows shell and start screen based on Microsoft's Metro design language, integration with online services, the Windows Store , and
21970-471: The planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature-complete with the release of the "February CTP", released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of the work between that build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance, application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in late May,
22139-406: The price of breaking backward compatibility with some legacy applications. A Kernel Transaction Manager has been implemented that enables applications to work with the file system and Registry using atomic transaction operations. Improved security was a primary design goal for Vista. Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, which aims to improve public trust in its products, has had
22308-403: The program directly on the tile itself (known as a "live tile"), behaving similarly to a widget . For instance, the live tile for an email client may display the number of unread emails. The Start screen allows users to uninstall their programs by right-clicking on them and selecting "Uninstall". Pinned apps can be placed in groups. The search box is initially hidden but can be viewed by clicking
22477-456: The project in 2004. Many features were eventually reimplemented after the reset, but Microsoft ceased using managed code to develop the operating system. New features of Windows Vista include a graphical user interface and visual style referred to as Windows Aero ; a content index and desktop search platform called Windows Search ; new peer-to-peer technologies to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices on
22646-554: The real names and locations of the Start menu and Desktop folders. Since Windows Vista , all folders used by the system use the same name as in the English version and only display different names in Windows Explorer. TweakUI , an unsupported utility program from Microsoft, offers additional customizations, including speeding up the response time of the Start menu, window animation, and other hacks . On Windows XP and Windows Vista, it
22815-404: The right of the screen (accessed by swiping in from the right on multitouch devices, or positioning the mouse in one of the right corners of the screen and sliding up or down). The Start screen is accessed either by that button or by clicking the lower left corner of the screen. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 restore the button back to its original place without removing the new button in
22984-501: The right-hand column provides access to My Documents , My Pictures, My Music and other special folders . This column also includes shortcuts for Computer and Network ( Network Neighborhood in Windows 95 and 98), which were placed on the Desktop in prior versions of Windows. The contents of this column can be customized. Commonly used programs are automatically displayed in the left-hand menu. Users may opt to "pin" programs to this side of
23153-549: The search button on the charms bar and can also be brought up as it receives keyboard input. True to its name, the Start screen is the first screen that a user sees upon login . The idea of a full-screen Start can be traced back to Windows Neptune , when Microsoft originally considered a "Start page" that integrated with Windows desktop through Active Desktop . This menu has its roots in Windows Mobile and Windows Phone : In Windows Mobile Standard, which runs on smartphones ,
23322-539: The security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C , C++ and assembly . Longhorn became known as Vista in 2005. Vista in Spanish means view. The early development stages of Longhorn were generally characterized by incremental improvements and updates to Windows XP. During this period, Microsoft was fairly quiet about what was being worked on, as their marketing and public relations efforts were more strongly focused on Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 , which
23491-518: The settings button in the charms bar to perform these actions. An April 2014 update for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 restores the latter. Windows 10 re-introduced the Start menu in a revised form. It uses a two column design similar to Windows 7's version, except that the right side is populated by tiles, similarly to Windows 8's Start screen. Applications can be pinned to the right half, and their respective tiles can be resized and grouped into user-specified categories. The left column displays
23660-505: The slider was. File metadata was also made more visible and more easily editable, with more active encouragement to fill out missing pieces of information. Also of note was the conversion of Windows Explorer to being a .NET application. Most builds of Longhorn and Vista were identified by a label that was always displayed in the bottom-right corner of the desktop. A typical build label would look like "Longhorn Build 3683.Lab06_N.020923-1821". Higher build numbers did not automatically mean that
23829-401: The software recognized the phrase "Dear mom" as "Dear aunt" . After several failed attempts to correct the error, the sentence eventually became " Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all ". A developer with Vista's speech recognition team later explained that there was a bug with the build of Vista that was causing the microphone gain level to be set very high, resulting in
23998-404: The system could be deemed "trusted". Also at this conference, Microsoft reiterated their roadmap for delivering Longhorn, pointing to an "early 2005" release date. By 2004, it had become obvious to the Windows team at Microsoft that they were losing sight of what needed to be done to complete the next version of Windows and ship it to customers. Internally, some Microsoft employees were describing
24167-469: The system. This was often difficult in previous versions of Windows, as the previous "limited" user accounts proved too restrictive and incompatible with a large proportion of application software, and even prevented some basic operations such as looking at the calendar from the notification tray. In Windows Vista, when an action is performed that requires administrative rights (such as installing/uninstalling software or making system-wide configuration changes),
24336-456: The time of Windows XP on the same hardware. An optional "new taskbar" was introduced that was thinner than the previous build and displayed the time differently. The most notable visual and functional difference, however, came with Windows Explorer. The incorporation of the Plex theme made blue the dominant color of the entire application. The Windows XP-style task pane was almost completely replaced with
24505-514: The top of the Start menu, or, if placed in the Programs sub-folder, in the Programs menu. The location of this folder however, depends on the operating system installed: In Windows Server 2003 and earlier, the folder name "Start Menu" changes depending on the localization; for example, on German versions of Windows XP it is " Startmenü ". Windows installers generally use the Windows API to find out
24674-504: The user gives consent. Whereas prior releases of Windows supported per-file encryption using Encrypting File System , the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Vista include BitLocker Drive Encryption , which can protect entire volumes , notably the operating system volume. However, BitLocker requires approximately a 1.5-gigabyte partition to be permanently not encrypted and to contain system files for Windows to boot. In normal circumstances,
24843-401: The user is first prompted for an administrator name and password; in cases where the user is already an administrator, the user is still prompted to confirm the pending privileged action. Regular use of the computer such as running programs, printing, or surfing the Internet does not trigger UAC prompts. User Account Control asks for credentials in a Secure Desktop mode, in which the entire screen
25012-464: The wallpaper being different—the same one from the Beta and Release Candidate. In addition, there were a few references to Windows 8 in this build's Local Group Policy Editor Utility. In late 2010, an optional 3D desktop user interface for high-end systems named "Wind" was rumored. Two milestone releases of Windows 8 and one of Windows Server 2012 leaked to the general public. Milestone 1, Build 7850,
25181-412: Was released to manufacturing with the build number 6.2.9200.16384, and Microsoft planned to hold a launch event on October 25, 2012 before releasing it for general availability the next day. However, only a day after its release to manufacturing, a copy of the final version of Windows 8 Enterprise N (a variant for European markets which lacks bundled media players to comply with an antitrust ruling )
25350-507: Was also announced during the presentation, but was not available in this build. According to Microsoft, there were about 535,000 downloads of the developer preview within the first 12 hours of its release. Originally set to expire on March 11, 2012, in February 2012 the Developer Preview's expiry date was changed to January 15, 2013. On February 17, 2012, Microsoft unveiled a new logo for Windows 8. Designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher ,
25519-475: Was discovered that Metro existed in this build, after disabling the Redpill feature lockout. The start screen was very primitive, being a screen with a white background and gray tiles. The charms bar was also included, but was unusable. The OS still reads as "Windows 7". Milestone 2, Build 7955, was leaked on April 25, 2011. The traditional Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) was replaced by a new black screen, although it
25688-513: Was executed on a default Windows Vista installation within a standard user account. UAC effectively blocked over 50 percent of each threat , excluding rootkits. 5 percent or less of the malware that evaded UAC survived a reboot. Internet Explorer 7 's new security and safety features include a phishing filter, IDN with anti-spoofing capabilities, and integration with system-wide parental controls. For added security, ActiveX controls are disabled by default. Also, Internet Explorer operates in
25857-732: Was later replaced, and the circling dots as featured in the final build (although the final version comes with smaller circling dots throbber). It also had the text Welcome below them, although this was scrapped. On June 1, 2011, Microsoft unveiled Windows 8's new user interface, as well as additional features at both Computex Taipei and the D9: All Things Digital conference in California. The "Building Windows 8" blog launched on August 15, 2011, featuring details surrounding Windows 8's features and its development process. Microsoft would unveil more Windows 8 features and improvements on
26026-496: Was later reverted to a different blue color. This build introduced a new ribbon in Windows Explorer . The "Windows 7" logo was temporarily replaced with text displaying "Microsoft Confidential". Both builds 7850 and 7955 leaked alongside Windows Server 2012 build 7959. On June 17, 2011, build 7989 64-bit edition was leaked. It introduced a new boot screen featuring the same Betta fish as the default Windows 7 Beta wallpaper, which
26195-505: Was leaked on April 12, 2011. It was the first build where the title of a window was written centered instead of aligned to the left. It was also probably the first appearance of the Metro-style font, and its wallpaper had the text shhh. let's not leak our hard work . However, its detailed build number reveals that the build was created on September 22, 2010. The leaked copy was Enterprise edition, with other editions leaking later. In 2020, it
26364-470: Was leaked online on various Chinese and BitTorrent websites. On May 31, 2012, Windows 8 Release Preview was released to the public by Microsoft. Major items in the Release Preview included the addition of Sports, Travel, and News apps, along with an integrated variant of Adobe Flash Player in Internet Explorer . Like the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview, the release preview expired on January 15, 2013. On August 1, 2012, Windows 8 (build 9200 )
26533-527: Was leaked online, followed by leaks of the final versions of Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise a few days later. On August 15, 2012, Windows 8 was made available to download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers, and was made available to Software Assurance customers on August 16, 2012. It was made available for students with a DreamSpark Premium subscription on August 22, 2012, earlier than advertised. Windows 8 became generally available for retail purchase on October 26, 2012. Relatively few changes were made from
26702-460: Was made to overcome the shortcomings of Program Manager in previous operating systems. Program Manager consisted of a simple multiple document interface (MDI) which allowed users to open separate "program groups" and then execute the shortcuts to programs contained within. It lacked the ability to nest groups within other groups. Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 replaced the Program Manager with
26871-572: Was more expensive but could be installed on computers without an eligible OS or none at all, was discontinued. In lieu of a full version, a specialized "System Builder" SKU was introduced. The "System Builder" replaced the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) SKU, which was only allowed for use on PCs meant for resale but added a "Personal Use License" exemption that officially allowed its purchase and personal use by users on homebuilt computers . Retail distribution of Windows 8 has since been discontinued in favor of Windows 8.1 . Unlike Windows 8, 8.1
27040-579: Was named Windows Vista in July 2005, an unprecedented beta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers from July 2005 to February 2006. The first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference , and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of
27209-483: Was not completed until early 2006, and at the time of Microsoft's announcement, no firmware manufacturers had completed a production implementation which could be used for testing. As a result, the decision was made to postpone the introduction of UEFI support to Windows; support for UEFI on 64-bit platforms was postponed until Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 and 32-bit UEFI would not be supported, as Microsoft did not expect many such systems to be built because
27378-704: Was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times in three years. In some builds of Longhorn, their license agreement said "For the Microsoft product codenamed 'Whistler'". Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep , Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it had revised its plans. For this reason, Longhorn
27547-517: Was released in April 2003. Occasional builds of Longhorn were leaked onto popular file sharing networks such as IRC , BitTorrent , eDonkey and various newsgroups , and so most of what is known about builds before the first sanctioned development release of Longhorn in May 2003 is derived from these builds. After several months of relatively little news or activity from Microsoft with Longhorn, Microsoft released Build 4008, which had made an appearance on
27716-765: Was removed in favor of heightened kernel stability, GPU scheduling performance and security. The minimum system requirements for Windows 8 are higher than those of Windows 7 . The CPU must support the Physical Address Extension (PAE), NX bit , and SSE2 . Windows Store apps require a screen resolution of 1024×768 or higher to run; a resolution of 1366×768 or higher is required to use the snap functionality. To receive certification, Microsoft requires candidate x86 systems to resume from standby in 2 seconds or less. Microsoft's Connected Standby specification, which hardware vendors may optionally comply with, sets new power consumption requirements that are higher than
27885-542: Was reset to start work on componentizing the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and over time re-incorporating the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. However, some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated to address concerns with
28054-499: Was significantly larger than the US$ 200 million campaign used to promote Windows 95 . As part of its campaign, Microsoft set up 34 pop-up stores inside malls to showcase the Surface product line, and provided training for retail employees in partnership with Intel . In an effort to make retail displays of Windows 8 devices more "personal" by exemplifying real-world usage, Microsoft developed
28223-499: Was the first Windows version to support ARM architecture under the Windows RT branding. CPUs without PAE , SSE2 and NX are unsupported in this version. Windows 8 received a mostly negative reception. Although the reaction to its performance improvements, security enhancements, and improved support for touchscreen devices was positive, the new user interface was widely criticized as confusing and unintuitive, especially when used with
28392-515: Was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded over 5 million times. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users. At the Intel Developer Forum on March 9, 2006, Microsoft announced a change in their plans to support EFI in Windows Vista. The UEFI 2.0 specification (which replaced EFI 1.10)
28561-482: Was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on November 8, 2006, and over the following two months, it was released in stages to business customers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released internationally and was made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace ; it
#44955