Primary
Windows ○˒｜Definition｜1st｜20251119205401-00-⌔
Microsoft Windows
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).1 The name Windows is a reference to the windowing system in GUIs.2 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 77% market share as of May 2026,3 and the second-most popular operating system overall, behind Android.4 As of May 2026, Windows 11 is the most used desktop version of Windows, with a market share of 72%.5
Printed 2026-06-28.
(echo:: @ ᯤ)
Link to original Footnotes
Bellis, Mary (October 4, 2019). “The Unusual History of Microsoft Windows”. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2023. ↩
Edwards, Benj (February 7, 2022). “Why Is Windows Called Windows?”. How-To Geek. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024. ↩
“Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide”. StatCounter Global Stats. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2026. ↩
Keizer, Gregg (July 14, 2014). “Microsoft gets real, admits its device share is just 14%”. Computerworld. IDG. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. [Microsoft’s chief operating officer] Turner’s 14% came from a new forecast released last week by Gartner, which estimated Windows’ share of the shipped device market last year was 14%, and would decrease slightly to 13.7% in 2014. Android will dominate, Gartner said, with a 48% share this year ↩
“Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide”. StatCounter Global Stats. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2026. ↩
Secondary
• • •