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The strongest entry to the operating system popular science (Unix / Linux article)

In the last article, Xiao Zaojun introduced the birth and development of Unix and Linux operating systems. In today's article, I'll talk about Microsoft's DOS and Windows series again.

The last issue of the █ DOS operating system mentioned that in the 1970s, with the maturity of computer technology, the operating system also entered a stage of rapid development. The concept of modern operating system was also gradually formed in that period.

At the beginning of 1975, MITS computer Company launched the Altair 8800 microcomputer based on Intel 8080 chip. This is the first PC (personal computer) in human history, and it is of great significance.

Altair 88001976, Digital Research Company of the United States (hereinafter referred to as DR Company) successfully developed a set of operating system called CP/M (Control Program / Monitor, control program / monitoring), which is specially used for microcomputers with 8080 chips (including Altair 8800).

Later, in 1980, IBM secretly launched its own PC project.

The project, called Chess, led by Don Estrich (Don Estridge), aims to develop a microcomputer product that is cheap enough for small businesses and home users.

To match the new PC with the right operating system, they found Bill Gates from Microsoft.

There are two main reasons for looking for Bill Gates:

First, Microsoft had previously developed a Zmuri 80 SoftCard product that lets CP / M run on Apple II, so IBM thought Microsoft owned CP / M.

Second, Bill Gates' mother, Mary Maxwell Gates (Mary Maxwell Gates), worked with IBM CEO John Fellows Akers when she was chairman of the Executive Board of the United fundraising Association, so she made a match.

After talking to the IBM team, Bill Gates said he didn't own CP / M and advised them to go directly to DR.

Because of the strict confidentiality agreement, when Bill Gates explained the matter to Gary Kildale, the head of DR, he did not directly point out that IBM was looking for them, but said: "someone has come to see you. Treat them well, they are important people."

Gary Kildale, a legendary programmer, also invented BIOS, but for a variety of reasons, DR and IBM didn't agree, and they broke up in discord. (one theory is that Gary was upset when IBM asked Gary to sign a strict confidentiality agreement as soon as he met. There is also a saying that DR wants to sell it in a package, while IBM wants to buy it under a single license. )

Seeing this situation, Bill Gates felt that this is a huge business opportunity and must not be missed.

After some investigation, Bill Gates learned that a 24-year-old programmer named Tim Paterson at SCP (Seattle computer products) spent four months writing a QDOS system (Quick and Dirty Operating System, a fast and dirty operating system, but later changed its name to 86-DOS). This system is a variant of CP / M system and seems to be able to meet the needs of IBM.

Tim Patterson, the father of DOS, Bill Gates only bought the 86-DOS license for $2.5W at first. Later, considering the huge commercial potential of the IBM project, Bill Gates paid $5-7W directly and bought out the copyright in one breath.

In order to better transform 86-DOS, Bill Gates also poached Tim Patterson directly to join Microsoft.

On July 27, 1981, Microsoft officially launched the MS-DOS system (MS means MicroSoft, DOS is Disk Operating System, disk operating system).

A few days after the first version of MS-DOS, on August 12, 1981, IBM also officially released its personal computer product, IBM PC, using MS-DOS version 1.14 (named PC-DOS on IBM PC).

IBM PC at that time, IBM and Microsoft adopted a single licensing approach. Every time users buy an IBM PC, they have to pay a MS-DOS usage fee of $40.

When DR learned of the incident, it lodged a strong protest. In an effort to quell the protest, IBM said it would allow IBM PC users to choose between DR's CP / Mmur86 system and Microsoft's PC-DOS system.

The CP / Mmur86 system costs as much as $240, while the PC-DOS costs only $40. Soon, the CP / Mmur86 system was defeated.

DR has also tried to fix the situation. They released DOS Plus and later DR-DOS (both of which are compatible with MS-DOS and CP / MMel 86 software), but neither was successful. Later, DR was bought by Novell and DR-DOS became Novell DOS 7 (1993).

Novell DOS 7 returns to MS-DOS.

After IBM launched IBM PC, it continued to upgrade and iterate its products. Microsoft, on the other hand, continues to launch new versions of DOS.

On March 8, 1983, IBM launched an enhanced version of IBM PC / XT, which was equipped with a hard drive on the PC for the first time and used MS-DOS version 2.0. In 1984, IBM launched IBM PC / AT with MS-DOS version 3.0.

In 1988, Microsoft launched MS-DOS version 4.0.

In the 1990s, because of the great success of Windows, Microsoft gradually began to abandon MS-DOS.

It is important to note that earlier versions of Windows are just applications that execute on top of DOS. In the early 1990s, Windows was still heavily dependent on DOS. It was not until the advent of Windows for Workgroups 3.11 that DOS gradually retreated to the second line, only responsible for booting and loading the Windows core.

In April 1994, MS-DOS version 6.22 was released. This is a classic version, post-80s readers should be very familiar with this version. When Xiao Zaojun first came into contact with computers, he started to learn from DOS 6.22 in the school computer room. )

Many of you will remember that on September 14, 2000, the last version of MS-DOS, version 8.0, was released. Since then, Microsoft has officially terminated the development of MS-DOS.

Microsoft's abandonment of DOS does not mean the complete disappearance of DOS.

In the mid-1990s, open source software became so popular that many programmers took the opportunity to develop derivative versions of DOS, such as FreeDOS, PTS-DOS, ROM-DOS and so on. These DOS are so powerful that they even surpass MS-DOS.

Based on the DOS command line interface, some programmers have also developed interface enhancements imitating Windows, such as Seal, Qube, WinDOS and so on. Others have developed DOS operating systems with 32-bit kernel, such as FreeDOS 32 and so on.

These "miscellaneous brands" DOS, in a sense, also continue the life of DOS.

The history of █ Windows is good. Let's go back and look at the story of Windows.

In 1979, Apple founder Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs) went to Xerox's famous PARC Institute to visit their PC prototype, the Alto.

Xerox's AltoAlto technology is very advanced, especially its GUI (Graphic User Interface, graphical user interface) interface and mouse are unprecedented designs.

Jobs loved the designs so much that he bought them at a low price (Xerox executives didn't even realize the value of them) and was ready to apply them to his PC products.

In 1983, the world's first commercial computer product with GUI interface was launched, that is, Apple Lisa.

The birth of Steve Jobs and Apple LisaApple Lisa shocked everyone, including Microsoft's Bill Gates.

At that time, Bill Gates had just been successful on MS-DOS. After seeing Apple Lisa, he knew very well that the GUI interface was the future of the PC operating system.

So he immediately approached Jobs and said he wanted to work with Apple to help develop apps for another new Apple model (Macintosh).

Jobs trusted Bill Gates and agreed to cooperate with him. As a result, Microsoft has been researching and "copying" Apple's GUI graphics operating system in the process of cooperation.

Windows 1.0Accord 2.11984, Apple released Macintosh (Macintosh, Macintosh), which shocked the world again. A year later, in November 1985, Microsoft officially released Windows 1.0.

Jobs was furious when he learned that the Windows 1. 0 interface had been cheated, but it was too late. Because of this matter, Jobs and Bill Gates have not been able to deal with it, often scolding each other every other time.

As mentioned earlier, the early windows is actually a "shell" on the outside of the DOS, just playing the role of the operating interface. At first, Microsoft called it the "interface manager". You can also think of it as an application under DOS.

Later, Microsoft released Windows 2.0and Windows 2.1in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Both versions are also unsuccessful, often with blue screens and crazy complaints from users.

Learning from the bitter experience of Windows 2.0, Bill Gates felt that continuing to shell DOS is definitely not the solution, but should redevelop a completely new kernel.

So he went around recruiting some of Xerox's first graphical interfaces, along with David Cutler (David Neil Cutler), the developer of VMS, a powerful operating system at the time, and Jim Allchin, a top operating system expert, to develop the new system.

Jim Alchin was very dismissive of Bill Gates' invitation. He told Bill Gates that your Microsoft system is the worst in the world. Bill Gates is very magnanimous, replied, it is because they are very bad, so I asked you to do them well.

Finally, Gates' sincerity and Microsoft's stock options moved Jim Alchin. He chose to join.

On May 22, Windows 3.x1990, Microsoft finally ushered in its first landmark work-Windows 3.0. Then, in April 1992, a more mature Windows 3.1 was born.

Windows 3.0Windows 3.0 is the first fully successful version of Windows, selling 1000 million copies in two years.

It introduces 16-color icons, has more advanced memory management and interface management, and is more compatible and stable. In addition, it also introduces card games to increase entertainment.

Windows 3.1 also adds multimedia functions, CD players, and True Type fonts that are important for desktop typesetting, which greatly improves the user experience.

It is worth mentioning that in the 1980s, in addition to Windows, Microsoft also cooperated with IBM to develop OS / 2 system.

However, the success of Windows 3.0 has strengthened Microsoft's confidence in developing Windows and abandoning OS / 2.

In May 1991, Bill Gates officially announced that he would end the OS / 2 partnership with IBM and devote all resources to Windows.

During that period, the rapid development of network technology, the rapid rise of the Internet.

In response to this trend, Microsoft officially released Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in November 1993, focusing on strengthening network support-including support for Ethernet and the popular Novell netware, and building a Windows working group network using the concept of peer-to-peer networks.

All these efforts helped Windows gradually win the advantage in the fierce operating system competition in the 1990s, and gradually build a strong "Wintel (Windows+Intel)" system.

On July 27, Windows NT1993, Windows NT was officially released. NT means New Technology, which means new technology.

Windows NT is a 32-bit operating system that supports multitasking, and there are actually two versions: Windows NT Server, designed to be used as a server in a network, and Windows NT Workstation, for stand-alone or client workstations.

Windows 95x98 August 24, 1995, this is an important day. Because, on this day, Windows 95, which is very familiar to many of our readers, was officially released.

The success of Windows 95 is obvious. More than 7 million copies of the system were sold in the five weeks after its release. Its interface has been greatly improved, and its stability and fluency are much better than those of the previous Windows.

For users snapping up Win95, the start menu appeared for the first time in Windows 95, and IE browsers also appeared with the system. Its overall appearance, in the later 20 years, has not changed much, leaving a deep impression in the hearts of many users.

As classic as Windows 95 is Windows 98, which was released on June 25, 1998, commonly known as the "plague bar".

Windows 98 desktop interface Windows 98 is an upgraded version of Windows 95, with improvements in the interface and tools. Everyone is familiar with it, so I won't introduce it any more.

Windows 95 and Windows 98, basically established Microsoft's dominant position in the PC operating system, but also formed a de facto market monopoly.

After Windows 2000 entered the 21st century, Windows has entered a new stage of development.

On February 17, 2000, Microsoft launched a 32-bit computer operating system, Windows 2000 (kernel version number Windows NT 2000).

There are four main versions of Windows 2000: Professional (Professional Edition), Server (Server Edition), Advanced Server (Advanced Server Edition), and Datacenter Server (Database Server Central Edition).

Many IDC data center servers, including web servers, e-mail servers, ftp servers, etc., use Windows 2000 Server, which also meets the needs of the development of the Internet at that time.

The most important feature of Windows 2000 is stability. It upgraded and improved the active directory function, enhanced storage services, began to support new devices, and adopted the NTFS 5 file system, which significantly improved its reliability and security.

Shortly after Windows Me, Microsoft released Windows Me (Windows Millennium Edition) on September 14, 2000.

In addition to the meaning of "I", this Me also means Millennium (millennium) and Multimedia (multimedia).

Windows Me is a 16-bit / 32-bit hybrid system and the last Windows operating system based on MS-DOS 's Windows 9X kernel family. Its stability is not as good as that of Win2000, and it is more "eating" configuration, so the market performance is not successful and is not recognized by users.

Windows XP was quick, and Microsoft launched a brand new Windows XP (October 25, 2001). "XP" means "Experience" in English, although we sometimes call it "wipe fart".

Windows XP is also a classic, and even many old computers still use it (end of sale in 2008, end of technical support in 2014).

It uses Luna graphical user interface and dual-column start menu, improves the security and performance of the system, provides WiFi support, simplifies the installation and operation of software, and adds remote desktop functions.

At the end of the Windows Vista/790 era, Jobs returned to Apple after a series of twists and turns. Under his leadership, Apple has launched a range of cool products, including the stunning and smooth MacOS.

In the interface experience, Windows XP is no match for MacOS at all. As a result, Microsoft bought OS / 2 back from IBM and released Windows Vista on that basis (November 30, 2006).

Windows Vista's interface is really cool, multimedia and communication capabilities are also significantly enhanced, but the gorgeous interface has greatly slowed down the performance of the system, which has been madly complained by users.

In desperation, Microsoft redeveloped it in a short time and launched Windows 7 (October 22, 2009, kernel version Windows NT 6.1).

After Windows 8-10-11, there are Windows 8 (not very successful), Windows 10 (very successful), and Windows 11 (just getting started). Everyone is using it and should be familiar with it.

Windows 10 has greatly improved in terms of ease of use, security and stability, and is now the Windows operating system with the highest market share in the world.

Windows 11, which will be released on June 24, 2021, is still in its infancy.

In addition to the desktop operating system, Windows Server for server platforms is also being upgraded, resulting in many versions such as Windows Server 2003Universe 2008and2016 (as shown in the table below).

The following picture can be seen more clearly:

█ conclusion, the above is the complete development history of Windows.

As the most familiar operating system, Windows accompanies the growth of many of us. We complain about it, but we can't live without it.

How long will Windows stay with us in the future? Will it still have subversive innovation? Let time tell us the answer.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: fresh Jujube classroom (ID:xzclasscom), author: Xiaozaojun

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