As of 2025,[update] the only active top-level family isWindows NT.[citation needed] The first version,Windows NT 3.1, was intended forserver computing and corporateworkstations. It grew into a product line of its own and now consists of four sub-families that tend to be released almost simultaneously and share the same kernel.
Windows PE: A lightweight version of its Windows sibling, meant to operate as alive operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers (especially on many computers at once), recovery, or troubleshooting purposes. The latest version is Windows PE 10.[citation needed]
These top-level Windows families are no longer actively developed:
Windows 9x: Intended exclusively for the consumer market. The first version wasWindows 95, which was followed byWindows 98. The last version wasWindows Me (which was infamously known as the worst operating systems of all time, withPC World labeling it as "Mistake Edition" and placing it 4th in their list ofWorst Tech Products in 2006[16]). All versions of the Windows 9x family have amonolithic kernel that usesMS-DOS as a foundation alongside the kernel first used with Windows 95. This line has since been defunct, with Microsoft now catering to the consumer market with Windows NT starting withWindows XP.[citation needed]
Windows Mobile: The predecessor to Windows Phone, a mobile phone andPDA operating system. The first version was calledPocket PC 2000. The third version,Windows Mobile 2003, was the first version to adopt the Windows Mobile trademark. The last version wasWindows Mobile 6.5.
Windows Embedded Compact: Most commonly known by its former name, Windows CE, it is ahybrid kernel operating system optimized for low power and memory systems, withOEMs able to modify theUI to suit their needs. The final version was Windows Embedded Compact 2013, and it is succeeded byWindows IoT.[citation needed]
The termWindows collectively describes any or all of several generations ofMicrosoftoperating system products. These products are generally categorized as follows:
The history of Windows dates back to 1981 when Microsoft started work on a program called "Interface Manager". The name "Windows" comes from the fact that the system was one of the first to use graphical boxes to represent programs; in the industry, at the time, these were called "windows" and the underlying software was called "windowing software."[12] It was announced in November 1983 (after theApple Lisa, but before theMacintosh) under the name "Windows", butWindows 1.0 was not released until November 1985.[17] Windows 1.0 was to compete withApple's operating system, but achieved little popularity. Windows 1.0 is not a complete operating system; rather, it extendsMS-DOS. The shell of Windows 1.0 is a program known as theMS-DOS Executive. Components includedCalculator, Calendar,Cardfile,Clipboard Viewer, Clock,Control Panel,Notepad,Paint,Reversi,Terminal andWrite. Windows 1.0 does not allow overlapping windows. Instead, all windows aretiled. Only modal dialog boxes may appear over other windows. Microsoft sold as included Windows Development libraries with the C development environment, which included numerous windows samples.[18]
Windows 2.0 was released in December 1987, and was more popular than its predecessor. It features several improvements to the user interface and memory management.[19] Windows 2.03 changed the OS from tiled windows to overlapping windows. The result of this change led toApple Computer filing a suit against Microsoft alleging infringement on Apple's copyrights (eventually settled in court in Microsoft's favor in 1993).[20][21] Windows 2.0 also introduced more sophisticatedkeyboard shortcuts and could make use ofexpanded memory.
In addition to full Windows packages, there were runtime-only versions that shipped with early Windows software from third parties and made it possible to run their Windows software on MS-DOS and without the full Windows feature set.
The early versions of Windows are often thought of as graphical shells, mostly because they ran on top of MS-DOS and used it forfile system services.[23] However, even the earliest Windows versions already assumed many typical operating system functions; notably, having their ownexecutable file format and providing their owndevice drivers (timer, graphics, printer, mouse, keyboard and sound). Unlike MS-DOS, Windows allowed users to execute multiple graphical applications at the same time, throughcooperative multitasking. Windows implemented an elaborate, segment-based, software virtual memory scheme, which allows it to run applications larger than available memory: code segments andresources are swapped in and thrown away when memory became scarce; data segments moved in memory when a given application had relinquished processor control.
Windows 3.0, released in 1990, improved the design, mostly because ofvirtual memory and loadable virtual device drivers (VxDs) that allow Windows to share arbitrary devices between multi-tasked DOS applications.[citation needed] Windows 3.0 applications can run inprotected mode, which gives them access to several megabytes of memory without the obligation to participate in the software virtual memory scheme. They run inside the same address space, where the segmented memory provides a degree of protection. Windows 3.0 also featured improvements to the user interface. Microsoft rewrote critical operations fromC intoassembly. Windows 3.0 was the first version of Windows to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months.[24][25]
Versions before Windows 95 had to be installed fromfloppy disks by end users (or in professional environments with a network installation); here Windows for Workgroups with nine 3.5-inch-disks to be inserted sequentially.
Windows 3.1, madegenerally available on March 1, 1992, featured a facelift. In October 1992, Windows for Workgroups, a special version with integratedpeer-to-peer networking features, was released. It was sold along with Windows 3.1. Support for Windows 3.1 ended on December 31, 2001.[26]
Windows 3.2, released in 1994, is an updated version of the Chinese version of Windows 3.1.[27] The update was limited to this language version, as it fixed only issues related to the complex writing system of the Chinese language.[28] Windows 3.2 was generally sold by computer manufacturers with a ten-disk version ofMS-DOS that also hadSimplified Chinese characters in basic output and some translated utilities.[citation needed]
The next major consumer-oriented release of Windows,Windows 95, was released on August 24, 1995. While still remaining MS-DOS-based, Windows 95 introduced support for native32-bit applications,plug and play hardware,preemptive multitasking,long file names of up to 255 characters, and provided increased stability over its predecessors. Windows 95 also introduced a redesigned,object oriented user interface, replacing the previousProgram Manager with theStart menu,taskbar, andWindows Explorershell. Windows 95 was a major commercial success for Microsoft; Ina Fried ofCNET remarked that "by the time Windows 95 was finally ushered off the market in 2001, it had become a fixture on computer desktops around the world."[29] Microsoft published four OEM Service Releases (OSR) of Windows 95, each of which was roughly equivalent to aservice pack. The first OSR of Windows 95 was also the first version of Windows to be bundled with Microsoft'sweb browser,Internet Explorer.[30] Mainstream support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2000, and extended support for Windows 95 ended on December 31, 2001.[31]
On September 14, 2000, Microsoft releasedWindows Me (Millennium Edition), the last DOS-based version of Windows. Windows Me incorporated visual interface enhancements from its Windows NT-based counterpartWindows 2000, had faster boot times than previous versions (which however, required the removal of the ability to access areal mode DOS environment, removing compatibility with some older programs),[33] expandedmultimedia functionality (including Windows Media Player 7,Windows Movie Maker, and theWindows Image Acquisition framework for retrieving images from scanners and digital cameras), additional system utilities such asSystem File Protection andSystem Restore, and updatedhome networking tools.[34] However, Windows Me was faced with criticism for its speed and instability, along with hardware compatibility issues and its removal of real mode DOS support.PC World considered Windows Me to be one of the worst operating systems Microsoft had ever released, and the fourth worst tech product of all time.[16]
In November 1988, a new development team within Microsoft (which included formerDigital Equipment Corporation developersDave Cutler andMark Lucovsky) began work on a revamped version ofIBM and Microsoft'sOS/2 operating system known as "NT OS/2". NT OS/2 was intended to be a secure,multi-user operating system withPOSIX compatibility and a modular,portable kernel withpreemptive multitasking and support for multiple processor architectures. However, following the successful release ofWindows 3.0, the NT development team decided to rework the project to use an extended32-bit port of theWindows API known as Win32 instead of those of OS/2. Win32 maintained a similar structure to the WindowsAPIs (allowing existing Windows applications to easily beported to the platform), but also supported the capabilities of the existing NTkernel. Following its approval by Microsoft's staff, development continued on what was now Windows NT, the first 32-bit version of Windows. However, IBM objected to the changes, and ultimately continued OS/2 development on its own.[35][36]
Windows NT was the first Windows operating system based on ahybrid kernel. The hybrid kernel was designed as a modifiedmicrokernel, influenced by theMach microkernel developed byRichard Rashid at Carnegie Mellon University, but without meeting all of the criteria of a pure microkernel.
The first release of the resulting operating system,Windows NT 3.1 (named to associate it withWindows 3.1) was released in July 1993, with versions for desktopworkstations andservers.Windows NT 3.5 was released in September 1994, focusing on performance improvements and support forNovell'sNetWare, and was followed up byWindows NT 3.51 in May 1995, which included additional improvements and support for thePowerPC architecture.Windows NT 4.0 was released in June 1996, introducing the redesigned interface ofWindows 95 to the NT series. On February 17, 2000, Microsoft releasedWindows 2000, a successor to NT 4.0. The Windows NT name was dropped at this point in order to put a greater focus on the Windows brand.[36]
A variation of the 2001–2006 Windows logo from 2003 using theSegoe typeface instead of theFranklin Gothic typeface. This variation was mainly used for branding purposes.
The next major version of Windows NT,Windows XP, was released to manufacturing (RTM) on August 24, 2001, and to the general public on October 25, 2001. The introduction of Windows XP aimed to unify the consumer-orientedWindows 9x series with the architecture introduced by Windows NT, a change which Microsoft promised would provide better performance over its DOS-based predecessors. Windows XP would also introduce a redesigned user interface (including an updated Start menu and a "task-oriented"Windows Explorer), streamlined multimedia and networking features,Internet Explorer 6, integration with Microsoft's.NET Passport services, a "compatibility mode" to help providebackwards compatibility with software designed for previous versions of Windows, andRemote Assistance functionality.[37][38]
At retail, Windows XP was marketed in two maineditions: the "Home" edition was targeted towards consumers, while the "Professional" edition was targeted towards business environments andpower users, and included additional security and networking features. Home and Professional were later accompanied by the "Media Center" edition (designed forhome theater PCs, with an emphasis on support forDVD playback,TV tuner cards,DVR functionality, and remote controls), and the "Tablet PC" edition (designed for mobile devices meeting itsspecifications for atablet computer, with support forstylus pen input and additional pen-enabled applications).[39][40][41] Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009. Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.[42]
After Windows 2000, Microsoft also changed its release schedules for server operating systems; the server counterpart of Windows XP,Windows Server 2003, was released in April 2003.[36] It was followed in December 2005, by Windows Server 2003 R2.
After a lengthydevelopment process,Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006, for volume licensing and January 30, 2007, for consumers. It contained a number ofnew features, from a redesigned shell and user interface to significanttechnical changes, with a particular focus onsecurity features. It was available in a number ofdifferent editions, and has been subject tosome criticism, such as drop of performance, longer boot time, criticism of new UAC, and stricter license agreement. Vista's server counterpart,Windows Server 2008 was released in early 2008.
On July 22, 2009,Windows 7 andWindows Server 2008 R2 were released to manufacturing (RTM) and released to the public three months later on October 22, 2009. Unlike its predecessor, Windows Vista, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista was already compatible.[43] Windows 7 hasmulti-touch support, a redesignedWindows shell with an updatedtaskbar with revealablejump lists that contain shortcuts to files frequently used with specific applications and shortcuts to tasks within the application,[44] a home networking system calledHomeGroup,[45] and performance improvements.
Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7, was released generally on October 26, 2012. A number of significant changes were made on Windows 8, including the introduction of a user interface based around Microsoft'sMetro design language with optimizations fortouch-based devices such astablets and all-in-one PCs. These changes include theStart screen, which uses large tiles that are more convenient for touch interactions and allow for the display of continually updated information, and a new class ofapps which are designed primarily for use on touch-based devices. The new Windows version required a minimum resolution of 1024×768 pixels,[46] effectively making it unfit fornetbooks with 800×600-pixel screens.
On September 30, 2014, Microsoft announcedWindows 10 as the successor to Windows 8.1. It was released on July 29, 2015, and addresses shortcomings in the user interface first introduced with Windows 8. Changes on PC include the return of the Start Menu, avirtual desktop system, and the ability to run Windows Store apps within windows on the desktop rather than in full-screen mode.Windows 10 is said to be available to update from qualifiedWindows 7 with SP1,Windows 8.1 andWindows Phone 8.1 devices from the Get Windows 10 Application (forWindows 7,Windows 8.1) orWindows Update (Windows 7).[55]
In February 2017, Microsoft announced the migration of its Windows source code repository fromPerforce toGit. This migration involved 3.5 million separate files in a 300-gigabyte repository.[56] By May 2017, 90 percent of its engineering team was using Git, in about 8500 commits and 1760 Windows builds per day.[56]
In June 2021, shortly before Microsoft's announcement of Windows 11, Microsoft updated their lifecycle policy pages for Windows 10, revealing that support for their last release of Windows 10 will end on October 14, 2025.[57][58] On April 27, 2023, Microsoft announced that version 22H2 would be the last of Windows 10.[59][60]
On June 24, 2021,Windows 11 was announced as the successor to Windows 10 during a livestream. The new operating system was designed to be more user-friendly and understandable. It was released on October 5, 2021.[61][62] As of May 2022,[update] Windows 11 is a free upgrade to Windows 10 users who meet the system requirements.[63]
In July 2021, Microsoft announced it will start selling subscriptions to virtualized Windows desktops as part of a newWindows 365 service in the following month. The new service will allow forcross-platform usage, aiming to make the operating system available for both Apple and Android users. It is a separate service and offers several variations including Windows 365 Frontline, Windows 365 Boot, and the Windows 365 app.[64] Thesubscription service will be accessible through anyoperating system with aweb browser. The new service is an attempt at capitalizing on the growing trend, fostered during theCOVID-19 pandemic, for businesses to adopt a hybridremote work environment, in which "employees split their time between the office and home". As the service will be accessible through web browsers, Microsoft will be able to bypass the need to publish the service throughGoogle Play or theApple App Store.[65][66][67][68][69]
Microsoft announced Windows 365 availability to business and enterprise customers on August 2, 2021.[70]
Multilingual support has been built into Windows since Windows 3.0. The language for both the keyboard and the interface can be changed through the Region and Language Control Panel. Components for all supported input languages, such asInput Method Editors, are automatically installed during Windows installation (in Windows XP and earlier, files for East Asian languages, such as Chinese, and files for right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic, may need to be installed separately, also from the said Control Panel). Third-party IMEs may also be installed if a user feels that the provided one is insufficient for their needs. Since Windows 2000, English editions of Windows NT have East Asian IMEs (such asMicrosoft Pinyin IME and Microsoft Japanese IME) bundled, but files for East Asian languages may be manually installed on Control Panel.
Interface languages for the operating system are free for download, but some languages are limited to certain editions of Windows.Language Interface Packs (LIPs) are redistributable and may be downloaded from Microsoft's Download Center and installed for any edition of Windows (XP or later) – they translate most, but not all, of the Windows interface, and require a certain base language (the language which Windows originally shipped with). This is used for most languages in emerging markets. Full Language Packs, which translate the complete operating system, are only available for specific editions of Windows (Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista and 7, and all editions of Windows 8, 8.1 and RT except Single Language). They do not require a specific base language and are commonly used for more popular languages such as French or Chinese. These languages cannot be downloaded through the Download Center, but are available as optional updates through theWindows Update service (except Windows 8).
The interface language of installed applications is not affected by changes in the Windows interface language. The availability of languages depends on the application developers themselves.
Windows 8 andWindows Server 2012 introduce a new Language Control Panel where both the interface and input languages can be simultaneously changed, and language packs, regardless of type, can be downloaded from a central location. The PC Settings app inWindows 8.1 andWindows Server 2012 R2 also includes a counterpart settings page for this. Changing the interface language also changes the language of preinstalledWindows Store apps (such as Mail, Maps and News) and certain other Microsoft-developed apps (such as Remote Desktop). The above limitations for language packs are however still in effect, except that full language packs can be installed for any edition except Single Language, which caters to emerging markets.
Platform support
Windows NT included support for several platforms before thex86-basedpersonal computer became dominant in the professional world.Windows NT 4.0 and its predecessors supportedPowerPC,DEC Alpha andMIPS R4000 (although some of the platforms implement64-bit computing, the OS treated them as 32-bit). Windows 2000 dropped support for all platforms, except the third generation x86 (known asIA-32) or newer in 32-bit mode. The client line of the Windows NT family still ran on IA-32 up toWindows 10[63] (the server line of the Windows NT family still ran on IA-32 up toWindows Server 2008).
With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture (IA-64), Microsoft released new versions of Windows to support it. Itanium versions ofWindows XP andWindows Server 2003 were released at the same time as their mainstream x86 counterparts. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (Version 2003), released in 2003, is the last Windows client operating system to support Itanium. Windows Server line continues to support this platform untilWindows Server 2012; Windows Server 2008 R2 is the last Windows operating system to support Itanium architecture.
On April 25, 2005, Microsoft releasedWindows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 editions to supportx86-64 (or simply x64), the 64-bit version of x86 architecture.Windows Vista was the first client version of Windows NT to be released simultaneously in IA-32 and x64 editions. As of 2024, x64 is still supported.
An edition of Windows 8 known asWindows RT was specifically created for computers withARM architecture, and while ARM is still used for Windows smartphones with Windows 10, tablets with Windows RT will not be updated. Starting fromWindows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709) and later includes support for ARM-based PCs.[71]
Windows CE (officially known asWindows Embedded Compact), is an edition of Windows that runs onminimalistic computers, like satellite navigation systems and some mobile phones. Windows Embedded Compact is based on its own dedicated kernel, dubbed Windows CE kernel. Microsoft licenses Windows CE toOEMs and device makers. The OEMs and device makers can modify and create their own user interfaces and experiences, while Windows CE provides the technical foundation to do so.
Xbox OS is an unofficial name given to the version of Windows that runs onXbox consoles.[72] FromXbox One onwards it is an implementation with an emphasis on virtualization (usingHyper-V) as it is three operating systems running at once, consisting of the coreoperating system, a second implemented for games and a more Windows-like environment for applications.[73]Microsoft updates Xbox One's OS every month, and these updates can be downloaded from the Xbox Live service to the Xbox and subsequently installed, or by using offline recovery images downloaded via a PC.[74] It was originally based on NT 6.2 (Windows 8) kernel, and the latest version runs on an NT 10.0 base. This system is sometimes referred to as "Windows 10 on Xbox One".[75][76]Xbox One andXbox Series operating systems also allow limited (due to licensing restrictions and testing resources) backward compatibility with previous generation hardware,[77] and the Xbox 360's system is backwards compatible with the original Xbox.[78]
Version control system
Up to and including every version beforeWindows 2000, Microsoft used an in-house version control system named Source Library Manager (SLM). Shortly after Windows 2000 was released, Microsoft switched to a fork of Perforce named Source Depot.[79] This system was used up until 2017 once the system could not keep up with the size of Windows.[citation needed] Microsoft had begun to integrate Git intoTeam Foundation Server in 2013,[80] but Windows (and Office) continued to rely on Source Depot.[81] The Windows code was divided among 65 different repositories with a kind of virtualization layer to produce unified view of all of the code.[citation needed]
In 2017 Microsoft announced that it would start usingGit, an open source version control system created byLinus Torvalds, and in May 2017 they reported that the migration into a new Git repository was complete.[56][82][83]
VFSForGit
Because of its large, decades-long history, however, the Windows codebase is not especially well suited to the decentralized nature ofLinux development that Git was originally created to manage.[citation needed] Each Git repository contains a complete history of all the files,[84] which proved unworkable for Windows developers because cloning the whole repository takes several hours.[citation needed] Microsoft has been working on a new project called theVirtual File System for Git (VFSForGit) to address these challenges.[83]
In 2021 the VFS for Git was superseded byScalar.[85]
Use ofWindows 10 has exceeded Windows 7 globally since early 2018.[91]
For desktop and laptop computers, according toNet Applications andStatCounter (which track the use of operating systems in devices that are active on the Web), Windows was the most used operating-system family in August 2021, with around 91% usage share according to Net Applications[92] and around 76% usage share according to StatCounter.[93]
Including personal computers of all kinds (e.g., desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and game consoles), Windows OSes accounted for 32.67% of usage share in August 2021, compared to Android (highest, at 46.03%),iOS's 13.76%,iPadOS's 2.81%, and macOS's 2.51%, according to Net Applications[94] and 30.73% of usage share in August 2021, compared to Android (highest, at 42.56%), iOS/iPadOS's 16.53%, and macOS's 6.51%, according to StatCounter.[95]
Those statistics do not include servers (includingcloud computing, where Linux has significantly more market share than Windows) as Net Applications and StatCounter use web browsing as a proxy for all use.
Security
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2020)
Early versions of Windows were designed at a time wheremalware and networking were less common, and had few built-in security features; they did not provide access privileges to allow a user to prevent other users from accessing their files, and they did not providememory protection to prevent one process from reading or writing another process's address space or to prevent a process from code or data used by privileged-mode code.
While theWindows 9x series offered the option of having profiles for multiple users with separate profiles and home folders, it had no concept ofaccess privileges, allowing any user to edit others' files. In addition, while it ran separate 32-bit applications in separate address spaces, protecting an application's code and data from being read or written by another application, it did not protect the first megabyte of memory fromuserland applications for compatibility reasons. This area of memory contains code critical to the functioning of the operating system, and by writing into this area of memory an application cancrash orfreeze the operating system. This was a source of instability as faulty applications could accidentally write into this region, potentially corrupting important operating system memory, which usually resulted in some form of system error and halt.[96]
Windows NT was far more secure, implementing access privileges and full memory protection, and, while 32-bit programs meeting the DoD's C2 security rating,[97] yet these advantages were nullified[improper synthesis?] by the fact that, prior toWindows Vista, the default user account created during the setup process was anadministrator account; the user, and any program the user launched, had full access to the machine. ThoughWindows XP did offer an option of turning administrator accounts into limited accounts, the majority of home users did not do so, partially due to the number of programs which required administrator rights to function properly. As a result, most home users still ran as administrator all the time. These architectural flaws, combined with Windows's very high popularity, made Windows a frequent target ofcomputer worm andvirus writers.[98][99][100]
Furthermore, although Windows NT and its successors are designed for security (including on a network) and multi-user PCs, they were not initially designed with Internet security in mind as much, since, when it was first developed in the early 1990s, Internet use was less prevalent.[101]
In a 2002 strategy memo entitled "Trustworthy computing" sent to every Microsoft employee, Bill Gates declared that security should become Microsoft's highest priority.[102][103]
Windows Vista introduced a privilege elevation system calledUser Account Control.[104] When logging in as a standard user, a logon session is created and atoken containing only the most basic privileges is assigned. In this way, the new logon session is incapable of making changes that would affect the entire system. When logging in as a user in the Administrators group, two separate tokens are assigned. The first token contains all privileges typically awarded to an administrator, and the second is a restricted token similar to what a standard user would receive. User applications, including theWindows shell, are then started with the restricted token, resulting in a reduced privilege environment even under an Administrator account. When an application requests higher privileges or "Run as administrator" is clicked, UAC will prompt for confirmation and, if consent is given (including administrator credentials if the account requesting the elevation is not a member of the administrators group), start the process using the unrestricted token.[105]
Leaked documents from 2013 to 2016 codenamedVault 7 detail the capabilities of theCIA to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare,[106] such as the ability to compromise operating systems such as Windows.[107]
Microsoft releases security patches through itsWindows Update service approximately once a month (usually thesecond Tuesday of the month), although critical updates are made available at shorter intervals when necessary.[110] Versions subsequent to Windows 2000 SP3 and Windows XP implemented automatic download and installation of updates, substantially increasing the number of users installing security updates.[111]
Windows integrates the Windows Defender antivirus, which is seen as one of the best available.[112] Windows also implementsSecure Boot,Control Flow Guard, ransomware protection,BitLocker disk encryption, a firewall, and Windows SmartScreen.
In July 2024, Microsoft signalled an intention to limit kernel access and improve overall security, following a highly publicisedCrowdStrike update that caused 8.5 million Windows PCs to crash.[113] Part of that initiative is to rewrite parts of Windows inRust, amemory-safe language.[114]
File permissions
All Windows versions from Windows NT 3 have been based on a file system permission system referred to asAGDLP (Accounts, Global, Domain Local, Permissions) in which file permissions are applied to the file/folder in the form of a 'local group' which then has other 'global groups' as members. These global groups then hold other groups or users depending on different Windows versions used. This system varies from other vendor products such asLinux andNetWare due to the 'static' allocation of permission being applied directly to the file or folder. However using this process of AGLP/AGDLP/AGUDLP allows a small number of static permissions to be applied and allows for easy changes to the account groups without reapplying the file permissions on the files and folders.
Vulnerabilities
Sticky keys and filter keys
Sticky keys and filter keys are a huge vulnerability of windows. It can allow someone to run any command on the lock screen, including making themselves administrator, just by changing the name of cmd to one of those two programs.[115]
Windows RE, also known as Windows PE, is a big vulnerability because it allows people to edit just about any program and execute many commands[116]
Alternative implementations
Owing to the operating system's popularity, a number of applications have been released that aim to provide compatibility with Windows applications, either as acompatibility layer for another operating system, or as a standalone system that can run software written for Windows out of the box. These include:
Wine – afree and open-source implementation of theWindows API, allowing one to run many Windows applications on x86-based platforms, includingUNIX,Linux andmacOS. Wine developers refer to it as a "compatibility layer"[117] and use Windows-style APIs to emulate Windows environment.
CrossOver – a Wine package with licensed fonts. Its developers are regular contributors to Wine.
Proton – A fork of Wine by Valve to run Windows games on Linux and other Unix-like OS.
ReactOS – an open-source OS intended to run the same software as Windows, originally designed to simulate Windows NT 4.0, later aiming at Windows 7 compatibility. It has been in thedevelopment stage since 1996.
Freedows OS – an open-source attempt at creating a Windows clone for x86 platforms, intended to be released under theGNU General Public License. Started in 1996 by Reece K. Sellin, the project was never completed, getting only to the stage of design discussions which featured a number of novel concepts until it was suspended in 2002.[118][119][120]
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