Windows is a proprietary operating system developed by Microsoft. Windows is grouped into families that cater to particular sectors of the computing industry – Windows for personal computers, Windows Server for servers, and Windows IoT for embedded systems. Windows itself is further grouped into editions that cater to different users – Home for home users, Professional for advanced users, Education for schools, and Enterprise for corporations. Windows is sold both as a consumer retail product and to computer manufacturers, who bundle and distribute it with their systems.
The first version of Windows, Windows 1.0, was released on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The name Windows is a reference to the windowing system in GUIs. The 1990 release of Windows 3.0 catapulted its market success and led to the launch of various other product families, including the (now-defunct) Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and Windows CE/Embedded Compact.
Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with a 71% market share as of July 2026, and the second-most popular operating system overall, behind Android. As of July 2026, Windows 11 is the most used desktop version of Windows, with a market share of 69%.
Due to national security problems and reliance on foreign technology (digital sovereignty), France is moving away from Microsoft Windows to prevent foreign espionage.
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