Microsoft Windows is a computer operating system developed by Microsoft. It was first launched in 1985 as a graphical operating system built on MS-DOS. The initial version was adopted by a number of subsequent releases, and by the early 1990s, the Windows line had split into two separate traces of releases: Windows 9x for customers and Home windows NT for companies and enterprises. In the next years, a number of further variants of Windows could be released: Home windows CE in 1996 for embedded programs; Pocket Laptop in 2000 (renamed to Home windows Cell in 2003 and Windows Cellphone in 2010) for personal digital assistants and, later, smartphones; Windows Holographic in 2016 for AR/VR headsets; and several other other editions.

A "private computer" model of Home windows is taken into account to be a model that finish-customers or OEMs can install on personal computers, including desktop computers, laptops, and workstations. The first 5 variations of Windows-Windows 1.0, Home windows 2.0, Windows 2.1, Home windows 3.0, and Windows 3.1-have been all based mostly on MS-DOS, and had been aimed at both shoppers and businesses.

Nevertheless, Windows 3.1 had two separate successors, splitting the Windows line in two: the patron-centered "Home windows 9x" line, consisting of Home windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me; and crypto-markets the skilled Windows NT line, comprising Home windows NT 3.1, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, and Home windows 2000.

These two traces had been reunited right into a single line with the NT-based Windows XP; this Windows release succeeded both Home windows Me and Home windows 2000 and had separate editions for consumer and professional use. Cell versions check with versions of Windows that may run on smartphones or personal digital assistants. Windows MultiPoint Server was an operating system based on Home windows Server. It was succeeded by the MultiPoint Services function in Windows Server 2016 and Home windows Server version 1709.

It was not being developed in Home windows Server model 1803 and later variations. In 2012 and 2013, Microsoft launched versions of Windows specifically designed to run on ARM-based mostly tablets; these versions of Home windows have been based mostly on Windows eight and Home windows 8.1, respectively, though the standard versions could run on x86-primarily based tablets without modification.

Home windows 10 Cell primarily ended up solely working on smartphones until its discontinuation.

In 2017, the complete version of Home windows 10 gained the ability to run on ARM, which rendered a specific version of Windows for ARM-based mostly tablets pointless. Microsoft initially introduced the Surface Hub, an interactive whiteboard, in January 2015. The Surface Hub household of units runs a customized variant of Home windows 10 often known as Windows 10 Crew. Two versions of Windows XP had been launched that have been optimized for tablets.