Windows XP History

Windows NT 5.x, otherwise known as Windows 2000 and Windows XP, are definitely the
two most-used NT-based operating systems.
Windows 2000, released in Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter
Server flavors, began its development in late 1996 with a projected release date
sometime in 1997. This, however, was a long shot because there were so many
features that needed to be added, removed, or fixed to Windows NT, such as improved
directory services, plug-and-play support, and FAT32 support, just to name a few.
The first Windows NT 5.0 beta was released in 1997. Many new features were
displayed, and Microsoft's goal at the time was to make NT 5 the ideal OS, a must-have
upgrade to any previous version of Windows. There was just one issue...problems arose
when trying to upgrade 9x to NT 5, as they had dreaded. Trying ever-so-hard to work
all the features they'd like into the OS, the release date kept getting pushed farther and
farther back. They were working on errorless networking, Windows Installer, NTFS 5.0,
the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), file encryption, FAT32 support, and even
more. It seemed like Microsoft was doing more than they could possibly handle.
Trying to make a late 1998 release date, Microsoft said that they would possibly cut
some features from the OS. Features such as IntelliMirror and Active Directory were the
features in question, but found their way into NT 5 after all. At this time, it was also
confirmed that the future of Windows would lie in the hands of Windows NT. NT 5 was
hoping to be the merger of the home and business operating systems around the NT
kernel.
Windows NT 5 was also now optimized for laptops with new hibernation support, hot
docking, and hot-swapping technologies. These, as well as IntelliMirror, would be
featured in Beta 2, which was supposed to appear in June of 1998.
Along the way, it was decided that Internet Explorer 5.0 would be integrated into
Windows NT 5, now pending a release date in early 1999. NT was now to have a
seamless integration of DirectX and the Internet and advanced storage features, among
other features that need not be mentioned. Also, in May of 1998, the Active Directory
was finally being completed.
Promises were still being made that Beta 2 would appear in June, but alas, that did not
happen. It was decided that NT 5 Beta 2 would not be released with nearly as many
features as the Windows development team would have liked, but this just made way
for a Beta 3 release to follow it up, hopefully to fill in the holes left by Beta 2.
Finally in August of 1998, Beta 2 was released. The features showcased in this build
were the Personalized Start Menu, better hardware support, and a definite end to what
became known as "DLL Hell". Also at around this time, Microsoft came to the realization
that Windows NT 5 would be a strictly business-oriented operating system. Trying to
integrate some of the features from Windows 98, for example, WebTV for Windows,
among others, was becoming more of a pain and consequentally, more of a delay.
In September of 1998, the release date was pushed back to late 1999, if not early
2000, and in October, the name "Windows 2000" was chosen for the OS.
In early 1999, it was decided that Windows 2000 would receive no more new features,
and therefore, a release date of October 6th was in order. Beta 3 was due to be
released in mid-April, and it was supposed to be a fairly stable operating system, also
determined to be the best laptop OS on the market. Beta 3 was released on April 30th,
and was, in fact, a quite solid operating system. Release candidates were right around
the corner.
Three release candidates later, and on December 14, 1999, Windows 2000 build 2195
was designated as the last build of Windows 2000. The next day, it "went gold". Finally
in mid-February 2000, Windows 2000 shipped.
Microsoft Windows 2000 SP1 in a Nutshell
• Provides users with updated driver sets
• Corrects many reliability issues such as data corruption and memory loss

• Fixes many Windows 2000 installation issues

• Y2K compliance

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2 in a Nutshell

• Fixes many DHCP issues
• Corrects SP1 setup issues

• Installs 128-bit encryption

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 in a Nutshell

• Adds 48-bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives in Windows 2000
• Corrects SP2 printer issues

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 in a Nutshell

• Improved program compatibility

• Many access violations and stop errors fixed

• Improvements to Active Directory

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Even during the Windows 2000 development, Windows XP was being planned. XP is an
OS that is taken one of two ways: a Windows 2000 clone filled with eye candy, or the
greatest incarnation of Windows ever created. I wouldn't necessarily agree entirely with
the latter, but Windows XP is quite a good OS bringing home and business users alike to
the NT kernel.
Plans for Windows XP, then codename Neptune (for the home release) and codename
Odyssey (for the business release), started in early 1999. It was decided that this
version of Windows would be the one that would end the days of the Win9x kernel. The
NT kernel was now here to stay. After one development release of Neptune, both
Neptune and Odyssey were scrapped. Not much came out of this other than "feature"
integration between Windows 2000 and Windows ME.
Early in 2000, Windows codename Whistler was born, which would eventually become
Windows XP. In the first couple of builds, not much had really changed from Windows
2000. In fact, the About screens still said "Windows 2000". Finally, in build 2250, visual
enhancements were being made. The rather cool watercolor theme (which I wish they
didn't scrap) was introduced as was the new Start panel. Development was really on its
way. Aside from visual enhancements, actual features were being developed. In build
2257, Microsoft introduced the Personal Firewall, which is a quite handy tool in the final
release of XP. A few builds later, not much had really changed. The OS was made a little
more useable, but that was about it.
After a somewhat long wait, on October 31, 2000, Beta 1 was released to testers. It
was also learned (probably to not much of a surprise) that Microsoft would be
integrating media player and instant messaging technologies into the OS. Other than
that, there is not really much to say about Beta 1. However, early in January of 2001,
Microsoft released Whistler build 2410, the build that introduced Windows Product
Activation. This build also introduced the integration of Windows Media Player and
Windows Messenger. New, fancier icon sets were being developed, and the OS was
slowly transforming into the Windows XP that we know today. Grouping was available in
Windows Explorer, fast user switching came to be, and Rover showed up as your
"handy" search assistant. What more could you possibly ask for?
Not too long after, build 2416 was introduced. The Help and Support center was fancied
up a bit and looked less like it did in Windows ME. Windows Media Player 8 was being
tweaked, and the new icons were beginning to show up everywhere. Aside from that,
there is nothing much to say about this build. Build 2419 was rapidly released after
that, and it had the completed XP setup procedure as well as the Bliss wallpaper.
In February of 2001, Beta 2 was release which introduced the new Luna interface.
Shortly after the release, the name "Windows XP" was decided on. Many builds were
released, improving on the UI and under-the-hood features. XP was coming together
and was nearly complete. A couple release candidates later, XP was completed, and on
August 24, 2001, Windows XP, both home and professional flavors, were released to
manufacturing, and on October 25, 2001 in New York City, the operating system was
launched.
Microsoft Windows XP SP1 in a Nutshell
 • Improved program compatibility
• USB 2.0 support added
• Improved FireWire support

• Many stop errors addressed

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Microsoft Windows XP SP2 in a Nutshell

• More improved program compatibility
• Security issues with Internet Explorer addressed
• Microsoft's Security Center makes sure your computer is not vulnerable to
virueses and exploits
• Internet Explorer now includes pop-up blocking and ActiveX blocking

• Many more stop errors addressed

• Latest security hole fixes (Hot fixes)

Of course, Longhorn is on its way as well. For more information on Longhorn, check out
our forum.

Windows XP History
Introduction
Windows XP was originally brought into being as an operating system which would
combine the best features of the latest business operating system of the time,
Windows 2000, which by then was quite mature and evolved, having had a few
years of use in the business community, and Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), which
was far and away the most robust version of a home-use operating system prior to
XP. In today's computing environment, Windows XP can be useful for both small
business and home users by making system problem recovery and digital media
transfer easier. It also features history and Service Pack 2 features a better security
for the user.
Many users prefer to remain with Windows XP, rather than upgrade to the latest
Microsoft Operating system, Windows Vista

History

Windows XP came into being around the year 2000/2001.

It came as a logical progression from Windows 98 SE for many users although it had
a look and feel about it much like Windows 2000 Professional. XP was originally
brought into being as an operating system which would combine the best features
of the latest business operating system, Windows 2000, which by then was quite
mature and evolved, having had a few years of use in the business community, and
Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), which was far and away the most robust version
prior to XP. To say that Windows Millenium (ME) was any more than a cut-down
version of Windows 2000 Professional would hide some of the inherent problems in
that O/S. In fact it stands out from the others, rather like the version of MS-DOS
known as version 4.00 (four point oh oh.) See Windows for a more detailed
description of all the Microsoft Windows operating systems.
It should be noted that now there are more flavors of Windows in place than ever
before, with the introduction of Windows Vista. But there are basically three versions
of Windows XP. The two other versions, (apart from Windows XP Professional) are:
Windows_XP_Home and Windows_XP_Media_Center_Edition. And all of these three
are designed around the same O/S, Windows_XP, and accommodate the NTFS file
system, designed by Helen Custer. (See the Wikipedia article on NTFS and its
author, Helen Custer).
A more rugged version of Windows XP was launched later with the introduction of
Service Pack 2. This added basic security with the introduction of the Windows
Firewall and other lock-downs, and support for more multi-media hardware. It
provides enhanced security measures that have hopefully improved defenses
against viruses, worms and hackers, along with increased manageability and an
improved experience for users. In addition to security and bug fixes, it changed
many default settings to improve security, but it may have also created some
problems for users because of the increased security. Nevertheless, Windows XP
Professional is a software product which a lot of users prefer over the latest version,
Windows Vista, which introduced still more security features along with the
enhanced visual effects.

Hardware

Microsoft Windows XP Professional can be normally run on a X86 32bit processor PC,
and also on a 64bit processor, for which there is special software. It is important to
note that only certain software is capable of leveraging the advanced features of
64bit. Among these are Adobe and Microsoft software products which have been
extensively developed within the 64bit environment. It is interesting to note that
this flavor of Windows can also be run on an Apple Macintosh computer as a sub-
process. Also, Windows XP Professional is capable of being run in a dual or triple
boot environment where the other OS's are on a separate partition. Other OS's
which run multiple-boot with Windows XP Professional are Linux and Windows 98.
Generally speaking, Windows XP will not run well with a processor slower than 700
Mhz and there should be at least 512 mbytes of RAM, (even though the
specifications allow for much less.) A computer with lower hardware specifications
would probably have a better chance of success using Windows 2000 Professional.
Other considerations are the use of USB and IEEE 1394 standards, removing the
need for a parallel port for the printer and introducing the concept of a USB hub and
transfers over firewire. Wireless networking has been improved considerably with
Service Pack 2, allowing for WPA encryption and three other flavors of encryption,
too.