Windows NT

Developer| Microsoft, with Dave Cutler as the lead architect
Written in| C, Assembly language
(core)
C++, Rust[1]
(user mode applications, kernel graphical subsystem)

(user mode applications)[2]
Working state| Current
Source model|

* Closed-source
* Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative)

Initial release| July 27, 1993; 32 years ago (1993-07-27)
(as Windows NT 3.1)
|Final release|Latest release}}| 23H2 (10.0.22631.3085) (January 23, 2024; 2 years ago (2024-01-23)[3]) [±]
Update method| Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services
Platforms| IA-32, x86-64, ARM and ARM64 (and historically Intel i860, DEC Alpha, Itanium, MIPS, and PowerPC)
Influenced by| RSX-11, VAXELN, OpenVMS, MICA, Mach (kernel)
MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.1 (userland)
Default user interface| Graphical (Windows shell)
License| Depending on version, edition or customer choice: Trialware, commercial software, volume licensing, OEM-only, SaaS, S+S[lower-alpha 1]
Official website| windows.com

Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Originally made for the workstation, office, and server markets, the Windows NT line was made available to consumers with the release of Windows XP in 2001. The underlying technology of Windows NT continues to exist to this day with incremental changes and improvements, with the latest version of Windows based on Windows NT being Windows Server 2025 announced in 2024.[4]

The name "Windows NT" originally denoted the major technological advancements that it had introduced to the Windows product line, including eliminating the 16-bit memory access limitations of earlier Windows releases such as Windows 3.1. Each Windows release built on this technology is considered to be based on, if not a revision of Windows NT, even though the Windows NT name itself has not been used in any other Windows releases since Windows NT 4.0 in 1996.

Windows NT provides many more features than other Windows releases, among them being support for multiprocessing, multi-user systems, a "pure" 32-bit kernel with 32-bit memory addressing, support for instruction sets other than x86, and many other system services such as Active Directory and more. Newer versions of Windows NT support 64-bit computing, with a 64-bit kernel and 64-bit memory addressing.

## Contents

* 1 Product line
* 2 Installing
* 3 Naming
* 4 Major features
* 5 Development
* 6 Architecture
* 6.1 Programming language
* 7 Releases
* 8 Supported platforms
* 8.1 32-bit platforms
* 8.2 64-bit platforms
* 9 Hardware requirements
* 10 See also
* 11 Notes
* 12 References
* 13 External links

## Product line

Windows NT is a group or family of products—like Windows is a group or family. Windows NT is a sub-grouping of Windows.

The first version of Windows NT, 3.1, was produced for workstation and server computers. It was commercially focused—and intended to complement consumer versions of Windows that were based on MS-DOS (including Windows 1.0 through Windows 3.1x). In 1996, Windows NT 4.0 was released, including the new shell from Windows 95.

Eventually, Microsoft incorporated the Windows NT technology into the Windows product line for personal computing and deprecated the Windows 9x family. Starting with Windows 2000,[5] "NT" was removed from the product name yet is still in several low-level places in the system—including for a while as part of the product version.[6]

## Installing

## Naming

It has been suggested that Dave Cutler intended the initialism "WNT" as a play on VMS, incrementing each letter by one.[7] However, the project was originally intended as a follow-on to OS/2 and was referred to as "NT OS/2" before receiving the Windows brand.[8] Two of the original NT developers, Mark Lucovsky and Dave W. Plummer,[9] state that the name was taken from the original target processor—the Intel i860, code-named N10 ("N-Ten").[10] A 1991 video featuring Bill Gates and Microsoft products specifically says that "Windows NT stands for 'New Technology'".[11] Seven years later in 1998, during a question-and-answer (Q&A) session, he then revealed that the letters were previously expanded to such but no longer carry any specific meaning.[12] The letters were dropped from the names of releases from Windows 2000 and later, though Microsoft described that product as being "Built on NT Technology".[5][13]

## Major features

One of the main purposes of NT is hardware and software portability. Various versions of NT family operating systems have been released for a variety of processor architectures, initially IA-32, MIPS, and DEC Alpha, with PowerPC, Itanium, x86-64 and ARM supported in later releases. An initial idea was to have a common code base with a custom Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for each platform. However, support for MIPS, Alpha, and PowerPC was later dropped in Windows 2000. Broad software compatibility was initially achieved with support for several API "personalities", including Windows API, POSIX,[14] and OS/2 APIs[15]—the latter two were phased out starting with Windows XP.[16] Partial MS-DOS and Windows 16-bit compatibility is achieved on IA-32 via an integrated DOS Virtual Machine—although this feature is not available on other architectures.[17]

NT has supported per-object (file, function, and role) access control lists allowing a rich set of security permissions to be applied to systems and services. NT has also supported Windows network protocols, inheriting the previous OS/2 LAN Manager networking, as well as TCP/IP networking (for which Microsoft used to implement a TCP/IP stack derived at first from a STREAMS-based stack from Spider Systems, then later rewritten in-house).[18]

Windows NT 3.1 was the first version of Windows to use 32-bit flat virtual memory addressing on 32-bit processors. Its companion product, Windows 3.1, used segmented addressing and switches from 16-bit to 32-bit addressing in pages.

Windows NT 3.1 featured a core kernel providing a system API, running in supervisor mode (ring 0 in x86; referred to in Windows NT as "kernel mode" on all platforms), and a set of user-space environments with their own APIs which included the new Win32 environment, an OS/2 1.3 text-mode environment and a POSIX environment. The full preemptive multitasking kernel could interrupt running tasks to schedule other tasks, without relying on user programs to voluntarily give up control of the CPU, as in Windows 3.1 Windows applications (although MS-DOS applications were preemptively multitasked in Windows starting with Windows/386).

Notably, in Windows NT 3.x, several I/O driver subsystems, such as video and printing, were user-mode subsystems. In Windows NT 4.0, the video, server, and printer spooler subsystems were moved into kernel mode. Windows NT's first GUI was strongly influenced by (and programmatically compatible with) that from Windows 3.1; Windows NT 4.0's interface was redesigned to match that of the brand-new Windows 95, moving from the Program Manager to the Windows shell design.

NTFS, a journaled, secure file system, is a major feature of NT. Windows NT also allows for other installable file systems; NT can also be installed on FAT file systems, and versions 3.1, 3.5, and 3.51 could be installed on HPFS file systems.[19]

Windows NT introduced its own driver model, the Windows NT driver model, and is incompatible with older driver frameworks. With Windows 2000, the Windows NT driver model was enhanced to become the Windows Driver Model, which was first introduced with Windows 98, but was based on the NT driver model.[20] Windows Vista added native support for the Windows Driver Foundation, which is also available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and to an extent, Windows 2000.

## Development

Windows NT wordmark for version 4.0

Microsoft decided to create a portable operating system, compatible with OS/2 and POSIX and supporting multiprocessing, in October 1988.[21] When development started in November 1989, Windows NT was to be known as OS/2 3.0,[22] the third version of the operating system developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. To ensure portability, initial development was targeted at the Intel i860XR RISC processor, switching to the MIPS R3000 in late 1989, and then the Intel i386 in 1990.[10] Microsoft also continued parallel development of the DOS-based and less resource-demanding Windows environment, resulting in the release of Windows 3.0 in May 1990.

Windows 3.0 was eventually so successful that Microsoft decided to change the primary application programming interface for the still unreleased NT OS/2 (as it was then known) from an extended OS/2 API to an extended Windows API. This decision caused tension between Microsoft and IBM and the collaboration ultimately fell apart.

IBM continued OS/2 development alone while Microsoft continued work on the newly renamed Windows NT. Though neither operating system would immediately be as popular as Microsoft's MS-DOS or Windows products, Windows NT would eventually be far more successful than OS/2.

Microsoft hired a group of developers from Digital Equipment Corporation led by Dave Cutler to build Windows NT, and many elements of the design reflect earlier DEC experience with Cutler's VMS,[23] VAXELN and RSX-11, but also an unreleased object-based operating system developed by Cutler at Digital codenamed MICA.[24] The team was joined by selected members of the disbanded OS/2 team, including Moshe Dunie.[7]

Windows 2000 architecture

Although NT was not an exact clone of Cutler's previous operating systems, DEC engineers almost immediately noticed the internal similarities. Parts of VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures, published by Digital Press, accurately describe Windows NT internals using VMS terms. Furthermore, parts of the NT codebase's directory structure and filenames matched that of the MICA codebase.[7] Instead of a lawsuit, Microsoft agreed to pay DEC $65–100 million, help market VMS, train Digital personnel on Windows NT, and continue Windows NT support for the DEC Alpha.[23]

Windows NT and VMS memory management, processes, and scheduling are very similar. Windows NT's process management differs by implementing threading, which DEC did not implement until VMS 7.0 in 1995.

Like VMS,[23] Windows NT's kernel mode code distinguishes between the "kernel", whose primary purpose is to implement processor- and architecture-dependent functions, and the "executive". This was designed as a modified microkernel, as the Windows NT kernel was influenced by the Mach microkernel developed by Richard Rashid at Carnegie Mellon University,[25] but does not meet all of the criteria of a pure microkernel. Both the kernel and the executive are linked together into the single loaded module ntoskrnl.exe; from outside this module, there is little distinction between the kernel and the executive. Routines from each are directly accessible, as for example from kernel-mode device drivers.

## Architecture

Windows NT uses a layered design architecture that consists of two main components, user mode and kernel mode. Programs and subsystems in user mode are limited in terms of what system resources they have access to, while the kernel mode has unrestricted access to the system memory and external devices. Kernel mode in Windows NT has full access to the hardware and system resources of the computer. The Windows NT kernel is a hybrid kernel; the architecture comprises a simple kernel, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), drivers, and a range of services (collectively named Executive), which all exist in kernel mode.[26]

The booting process of Windows NT begins with NTLDR in versions before Vista and the Windows Boot Manager in Vista and later.[27] The boot loader is responsible for accessing the file system on the boot drive, starting the kernel, and loading boot-time device drivers into memory. Once all the boot and system drivers have been loaded, the kernel starts the Session Manager Subsystem. This process launches winlogon, which allows the user to login. Once the user is logged in File Explorer is started, loading the graphical user interface of Windows NT.

### Programming language

Windows NT is written in C and C++, with a very small amount written in assembly language.[28] C is mostly used for the kernel code while C++ is mostly used for user-mode code. Assembly language is avoided where possible because it would impede portability.[29]

## Releases

See also: Software:List of Microsoft Windows versions

The following are the releases of Windows based on the Windows NT technology.

Windows NT releases  Version | Marketing name | Editions | Release date | Build number

|
|
|
|

3.1 | Windows NT 3.1 | Workstation, Advanced Server | July 27, 1993 | 528
3.5 | Windows NT 3.5 | Workstation, Server | September 21, 1994 | 807
3.51 | Windows NT 3.51 | May 30, 1995 | 1057
4.0 | Windows NT 4.0 | Workstation, Server, Enterprise Server, Terminal Server, Embedded | August 24, 1996 | 1381
5.0[30] | Windows 2000 | Professional, Server, Advanced Server | February 17, 2000 | 2195
Datacenter Server | September 26, 2000
5.1[30] | Windows XP | Home, Professional, Media Center, Tablet PC, Starter, Embedded, Home N, Professional N | October 25, 2001 | 2600
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | N/A | July 8, 2006
5.2[30] | Windows XP | 64-bit Edition (IA-64)[31] | March 28, 2003 | 3790
Windows Server 2003 | Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, Storage, Small Business Server, Compute Cluster | April 24, 2003
Windows XP | Professional x64 Edition (x86-64) | April 25, 2005
Windows Server 2003 R2 | Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, Storage, Small Business Server, Compute Cluster | March 5, 2006
Windows Home Server | N/A | November 4, 2007
6.0[30] | Windows Vista | Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate  | Business: November 30, 2006
Consumer: January 30, 2007  | 6000 (RTM)
6001 (SP1)
6002 (SP2)
6003 (SP2 Update)[lower-alpha 2]
Windows Server 2008 | Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web Server, HPC Server, Itanium-Based Systems[32] | February 27, 2008  | 6001 (RTM)
6002 (SP2)
6003 (SP2 Update)[33]
6.1[30] | Windows 7 | Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate[34] | October 22, 2009 [35] | 7600 (RTM)
7601 (SP1)
Windows Server 2008 R2 | Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web Server, HPC Server, Itanium-Based Systems
Windows Home Server 2011 | Home Server Premium | April 6, 2011  | 7601
Windows Thin PC | N/A  | June 6, 2011
6.2[30] | Windows 8[36] | Core, Pro, Enterprise, RT[37] | October 26, 2012[38] | 9200
Windows Server 2012[39] | Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter[40] | September 4, 2012
6.3[30] | Windows 8.1 | Core, Pro, Enterprise, RT, Embedded Industry Pro/Enterprise  | October 17, 2013  | 9600[41]
Windows Server 2012 R2  | Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter
10.0[30][42] | Windows 10 | Home Single Language, Home China, Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations,[43] Enterprise, Education, S, IoT Core, Mobile, Mobile Enterprise[44][45] | July 29, 2015  | 10240 (RTM)
10586 (1511)
14393 (1607)
15063 (1703)
16299 (1709)
17134 (1803)
17763 (1809)
18362 (1903)
18363 (1909)
19041 (2004)
19042 (20H2)
19043 (21H1)
19044 (21H2)
19045 (22H2)
Windows Server 2016 | Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Multipoint Premium Server, Storage Server, Hyper-V Server | September 26, 2016  | 14393
Windows Server 2019 | Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Multipoint Premium Server, Hyper-V Server | October 2, 2018  | 17763
Windows Server 2022 | August 18, 2021[46] | 20348
Windows 11 | Home Single Language, Home China, Home, Pro, Education, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, IoT Enterprise, SE | October 5, 2021[47] | 22000 (RTM)
22621 (22H2)
22631 (23H2)
26100 (24H2)
26200 (25H2)
Windows Server 2025 | Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Multipoint Premium Server, Hyper-V Server | November 1, 2024  | 26100

Windows NT 3.1 to 3.51 incorporated the Program Manager and File Manager from the Windows 3.1 series. Windows NT 4.0 onwards replaced those programs with Windows Explorer (including a taskbar and Start menu), which originally appeared in Windows 95.

The NT version number is not now generally used for marketing purposes, but is still used internally, and said to reflect the degree of changes to the core of the operating system.[48] However, for application compatibility reasons, Microsoft kept the major version number as 6 in releases following Vista,[49] but changed it later to 10 in Windows 10.[42] The build number is an internal identifier used by Microsoft's developers and beta testers.

Starting with Windows 8.1, Microsoft changed the Version API Helper functions' behavior. If an application is not manifested for Windows 8.1 or later, the API will always return version 6.2, which is the version number of Windows 8.[50][51] This is because the manifest feature was introduced with Windows 8.1,[52] to replace GetVersion and related functions.[53]

## Supported platforms

### 32-bit platforms

In order to prevent Intel x86-specific code from slipping into the operating system, due to developers being used to developing on x86 chips, Windows NT 3.1 was initially developed using non-x86 development systems and then ported to the x86 architecture. This work was initially based on the Intel i860-based Dazzle system and, later, the MIPS R3000-based Jazz platform. Both systems were designed internally at Microsoft.[54]

Windows NT 3.1 was released for Intel x86 PC compatible and PC-98 platforms, and for DEC Alpha and ARC-compliant MIPS platforms. Windows NT 3.51 added support for the PowerPC processor in 1995, specifically PReP-compliant systems such as the IBM ThinkPad Power Series laptops and Motorola PowerStack series; but despite meetings between Michael Spindler and Bill Gates, not on the Power Macintosh as the PReP compliant Power Macintosh project failed to ship.

Intergraph Corporation ported Windows NT to its Clipper architecture and later announced an intention to port Windows NT 3.51 to Sun Microsystems' SPARC architecture,[55] in conjunction with the company's planned introduction of UltraSPARC models in 1995,[56] but neither version was sold to the public as a retail product.

Only two of the Windows NT 4.0 variants (IA-32 and Alpha) have a full set of service packs available. All of the other ports done by third parties (Motorola, Intergraph, etc.) have few, if any, publicly available updates.

Windows NT 4.0 was the last major release to support Alpha, MIPS, or PowerPC, though development of Windows 2000 for Alpha continued until August 1999, when Compaq stopped support for Windows NT on that architecture; and then three days later Microsoft also canceled their AlphaNT program,[57] even though the Alpha NT 5 (Windows 2000) release had reached RC1 status.[58]

On January 5, 2011, Microsoft announced that the next major version of the Windows NT family will include support for the ARM architecture. Microsoft demonstrated a preliminary version of Windows (version 6.2.7867) running on an ARM-based computer at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.[59] This eventually led to the commercial release of the Windows 8-derived Windows RT on October 26, 2012, and the use of Windows NT, rather than Windows CE, in Windows Phone 8.

The original Xbox and Xbox 360 run a custom operating system based upon a heavily modified version of Windows 2000, an approach that Microsoft engineer Don Box called "fork and run".[60][61] It exports APIs similar to those found in Microsoft Windows, such as Direct3D.[62] The Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles use a stripped-down version of the Windows operating system.[63]

Windows 11 is the first non-server version of Windows NT that does not support 32-bit platforms.[64][65]

### 64-bit platforms

The 64-bit versions of Windows NT were originally intended to run on Itanium and DEC Alpha; the latter was used internally at Microsoft during early development of 64-bit Windows.[66][67] This continued for some time after Microsoft publicly announced that it was cancelling plans to ship 64-bit Windows for Alpha.[68] Because of this, Alpha versions of Windows NT are 32-bit only.

While Windows 2000 only supports Intel IA-32 (32-bit), Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 each have one edition dedicated to Itanium-based systems.[69][70][71] In comparison with Itanium, Microsoft adopted x64 on a greater scale: every version of Windows since Windows XP (which has a dedicated x64 edition)[72] has x64 editions.[69][73]

The first version of Windows NT to support ARM64 devices with Qualcomm processors was Windows 10, version 1709.[74] This is a full version of Windows, rather than the cut-down Windows RT.

## Hardware requirements

The minimum hardware specification required to run each release of the professional workstation version of Windows NT has been fairly slow-moving until the 6.0 (Vista) release, which requires a minimum of 15 GB of free disk space, a tenfold increase in free disk space alone over the previous version, and the 2021 10.0 (11) release which excludes most systems built before 2018.

Windows NT minimum hardware requirements  Windows version  | CPU  | RAM  | Free disk space

|
|
|

NT 3.1[75] | i386, 25 MHz | 12 MB | 90 MB
NT 3.1 Advanced Server[75] | 16 MB
NT 3.5 Workstation[76] | 12 MB
NT 3.5 Server[76] | 16 MB
NT 3.51 Workstation[76] | 12 MB
NT 3.51 Server[76] | 16 MB
NT 4.0 Workstation[77] | i486, 25 MHz | 12 MB | 124 MB
NT 4.0 Server[77] | 16 MB
2000 Professional[78] | Pentium, 133 MHz | 32 MB | 650 MB
2000 Server[78] | 128 MB
XP[79] | Pentium, 233 MHz | 64 MB | 1.5 GB
Server 2003[80] | 133 MHz | 128 MB
Vista Home Basic[81] | 800 MHz | 512 MB | 20 GB
Vista (other editions)[81] | 1 GHz | 1 GB | 40 GB
7 for IA-32[82] | 16 GB
7 for x64[82] | 2 GB | 20 GB
8 for IA-32[83] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE | 1 GB | 16 GB
8 for x64[83] | 2 GB | 20 GB
8.1 for IA-32[83] | 1 GB | 16 GB
8.1 for x64[83] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE, CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF | 2 GB | 20 GB
10 for IA-32 (RTM-v1809)[84] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE | 1 GB | 16 GB
10 for x64 (RTM-v1809)[84] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE, CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF | 2 GB | 20 GB
10 for IA-32 (v1903-22H2)[84] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE | 1 GB | 32 GB
10 for x64 (v1903-22H2)[84] | 1 GHz with NX bit, SSE2, PAE, CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF | 2 GB
11 for x64[64][65] | Intel 8th-Gen CPU or AMD Zen+-based CPU; Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 or equivalent crypto-processor[85]
A X86-64 v2 CPU is required starting from version 24H2, dropping unofficial support for X86-64 v1.[86] | 4 GB | 64 GB
11 for ARM64[64][65] | Qualcomm Snapdragon 850, 7c, 8c, 8cx; Microsoft SQ1, SQ2.
An ARMv8.1 CPU is now required starting from version 24H2, dropping unofficial support for ARMv8.0.[87]<section end=ov/>

## See also

* Windows domain
* ReactOS (an open source project with the goal of providing binary- and device driver-level compatibility with Windows NT)
* Windows Preinstallation Environment
* Microsoft Servers

## Notes

1. ↑ For more information on how Microsoft licenses its products, see Microsoft Software Assurance, DreamSpark, DreamSpark Premium, BizSpark, MSDN § Software subscriptions, Microsoft TechNet § Subscriptions and downloads, and client access license.
2. ↑ Though Windows Vista support ended in 2017 and there was never a third Service Pack, the build number change occurs when the user opts to install KB4489887 update (released for Windows Server 2008 in 2019) on their system.

## References

1. ↑ Thurrott, Paul (April 29, 2023). "Microsoft is Rewriting Parts of the Windows Kernel in Rust". https://www.thurrott.com/windows/282471/microsoft-is-rewriting-parts-of-the-windows-kernel-in-rust.
2. ↑ Lextrait, Vincent (January 2010). "The Programming Languages Beacon". http://www.lextrait.com/Vincent/implementations.html.
3. ↑ "January 23, 2024—KB50341204 (OS Builds 22621.3085 and 22631.3085) Preview". Microsoft Support. Software:Microsoft. https://support.microsoft.com/help/5034204.
4. ↑ LeGrow, Ian (November 4, 2024). "Windows Server 2025 now generally available, with advanced security, improved performance, and cloud agility". https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/2024/11/04/windows-server-2025-now-generally-available-with-advanced-security-improved-performance-and-cloud-agility/.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Microsoft Renames Windows NT 5.0 Product Line to Windows 2000; Signals Evolution of Windows NT Technology Into Mainstream" (Press release). Microsoft. October 27, 1998. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
6. ↑ "OperatingSystem.VersionString Property". Microsoft. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/system.operatingsystem.versionstring(v=vs.100).aspx.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Zachary, G Pascal (1994). Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-935671-5. https://archive.org/details/showstopperbreak00zach.
8. ↑ "Microsoft Windows NT OS/2 Design Workbook". American history. Smithsonian. http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_742559.
9. ↑ @davepl1968 (March 1, 2025). "Did You Know? Windows NT does not stand for "New Technology". It stands for NTen, or N10, which was the codename for the Intel i860 chip where NT development started.". https://twitter.com/davepl1968/status/1895871194290929872.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Thurrott, Paul (January 24, 2003). "Windows Server 2003: The Road To Gold". https://www.itprotoday.com/windows-server/windows-server-2003-road-gold-part-one-early-years.
11. ↑ kaleidomagic (December 3, 2008). Microsoft Windows 3 and NT, 1991, Part 3. Retrieved April 9, 2025 - via YouTube.
12. ↑ Gates, Bill (June 5, 1998). "Q&A: Protecting children from information on the Internet". http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/columns/1998q&a/QA5-6.asp.
13. ↑ "Windows 2000 is a name that reflects NT's continued move to the technology mainstream". Microsoft. October 27, 1998. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1998/10-27winma.mspx.
14. ↑ "Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows". Win super site. http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_x64.asp.
15. ↑ "28 – OS/2 Compatibility", MS Windows NT 4 Workstation, Microsoft, http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windowsnt/4/workstation/reskit/en-us/os2comp.mspx?mfr=true, retrieved November 24, 2010
16. ↑ "POSIX and OS/2 are not supported in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003". Support. Microsoft. November 5, 2007. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308259.
17. ↑ "x64 editions deployment". http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/1/e/81eabaf4-1907-4967-87a9-be242b1402e9/x64_Editions_Deployment.doc.
18. ↑ Barr, Adam (June 19, 2001). "Microsoft, TCP/IP, Open Source, and Licensing". http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/6/19/05641/7357.
19. ↑ "Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS File Systems". Microsoft. September 23, 2021. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/backup-and-storage/fat-hpfs-and-ntfs-file-systems.
20. ↑ "NT Drivers – FAQ – WDM". http://www.cmkrnl.com/faq02.html.
21. ↑ Cutler, Dave (2005), "Preface", in Russinovich, Mark; Solomon, David A, Microsoft Windows Internals (fourth ed.), Microsoft Press, ISBN 0-7356-1917-4, https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780735619173 .
22. ↑ Pollack, Andrew (July 27, 1991). "Microsoft Widens Its Split With IBM Over Software". https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0D81339F934A15754C0A967958260.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Russinovich, Mark (November 30, 1998). "Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story". http://www.itprotoday.com/windows-client/windows-nt-and-vms-rest-story.
24. ↑ Neil Rieck. "'Windows-NT' is 'VMS Reimplemented' (sort of)". http://neilrieck.net/docs/Windows-NT_is_VMS_re-implemented.html.
25. ↑ Mohr, Jim (December 1, 1999). "Windows NT Basics". Supporting Windows NT and 2000 Workstation and Server. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-083068-5. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc768132(v=technet.10). Retrieved November 29, 2023. "The technique that Windows NT uses is called a 'microkernel' and was influenced by the Mach microkernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University."
26. ↑ Finnel, Lynn (2000). MCSE Exam 70-215, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. Microsoft Press. Chapter 1: Introduction to Microsoft Windows 2000, pp. 7–18. ISBN 1-57231-903-8.
27. ↑ "Boot Sequence of Windows Multi-Boot - Multibooters.com". http://www.multibooters.com/guides/boot-sequence-of-mixed-windows-multiboot.html.
28. ↑ "Windows NT System Overview". Microsoft. February 20, 2014. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/cc767881(v=technet.10).
29. ↑ Chen, Raymond (September 28, 2016). One Dev Question with Raymond Chen – What Programming Language is Windows Written In?. Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 30.7 "Operating System Version". Microsoft Docs. Microsoft. September 15, 2020. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sysinfo/operating-system-version.
31. ↑ "Microsoft Releases Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 to Manufacturing". March 2003. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/mar03/03-28WinXP64BitPR.mspx.
32. ↑ "Overview of Editions". Windows Server 2008. Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/editions-overview.aspx.
33. ↑ "Build number changing to 6003 in Windows Server 2008". https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4495374/build-number-changing-to-6003-in-windows-server-2008.
34. ↑ LeBlanc, Brandon (February 4, 2009). "A closer look at the Windows 7 SKUs". Blogging Windows. Microsoft. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/02/04/a-closer-look-at-the-windows-7-skus.aspx.
35. ↑ Rothman, Wilson (June 2, 2009). "Windows 7 To Be Released October 22". Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/5275938/windows-7-to-be-released-october-22.
36. ↑ "Windows", Developer network, Microsoft, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516, retrieved October 28, 2011
37. ↑ LeBlanc, Brandon (April 16, 2012). "Announcing the Windows 8 Editions". Blogging Windows. Microsoft. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/04/16/announcing-the-windows-8-editions.aspx.
38. ↑ "Windows 8 will be available on…". Microsoft. July 18, 2012. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/18/windows-8-will-be-available-on.aspx.
39. ↑ "Windows server 8 named Windows server 2012", Windows valley, http://www.windowsvalley.com/windows-server-8-named-windows-server-2012, retrieved June 10, 2012 .
40. ↑ "Windows Server 2012 Editions". Server cloud. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2012-editions.aspx.
41. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 24, 2013). "Windows 8.1 is ready for its October 17th release". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/24/4652054/microsoft-windows-8-1-rtm.
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Thurrott, Paul (November 22, 2014). "Microsoft Confirms that Windows 10 will also be Version 10 Internally". Informa. https://www.itprotoday.com/windows-server/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-will-also-be-version-10-internally.
43. ↑ Pidgeon, Elana (August 10, 2017). "Microsoft announces Windows 10 Pro for Workstations" (in en-US). https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2017/08/10/microsoft-announces-windows-10-pro-workstations.
44. ↑ Prophet, Tony (May 13, 2015). "Introducing Windows 10 Editions". Microsoft. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2015/05/13/introducing-windows-10-editions.
45. ↑ Foley, Mary Jo (July 27, 2016). "Microsoft to add new Windows 10 Pro Education edition to its line-up". CBS Interactive. https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-add-new-windows-10-pro-education-version-to-its-line-up/.
46. ↑ Schnackenburg, Paul. "Windows Server 2022 Is Coming!". https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2021/04/06/windows-server-2022.aspx.
47. ↑ DeNisco Rayome, Alison (October 24, 2021). "Windows 11 release date: Here's when Microsoft's new OS comes out". https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/windows-11-release-date-heres-when-microsofts-new-os-comes-out.
48. ↑ Russinovich, Mark; Solomon, David (December 2001), "Windows XP: Kernel Improvements Create a More Robust, Powerful, and Scalable OS", MSDN mag, Developer network (Microsoft), http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/01/12/XPKernel, retrieved December 19, 2006
49. ↑ "Why 7?". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. October 14, 2008. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/archive/b/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/14/why-7.aspx.
50. ↑ "Operating System Version". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. September 15, 2020. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sysinfo/operating-system-version.
51. ↑ "Operating system version changes in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. May 31, 2018. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/w8cookbook/operating-system-version-changes-in-windows-8-1.
52. ↑ "App (executable) manifest". Microsoft. July 11, 2018. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/application-executable-manifest.
53. ↑ "GetVersion function (sysinfoapi.h)". Microsoft. December 5, 2018. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/sysinfoapi/nf-sysinfoapi-getversion.
54. ↑ Lucovsky, Mark (August 9, 2000). "Windows: A Software Engineering Odyssey". http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix-win2000/invitedtalks/lucovsky_html.
55. ↑ "Intergraph Announces Port of Windows NT to SPARC Architecture". The Florida SunFlash. July 7, 1993. http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/sun-info/sunflash/1993/Jul/55.11-Sun-Intergraph:-SPARC-and-Windows-NT.
56. ↑ "New ports of call for Windows NT". Personal Computer World: pp. 174. October 1993.
57. ↑ Petreley, Nicholas (September 3, 1999). "Can Linux break Intel's hold on the market?". http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/03/linux.alpha.idg/index.html.
58. ↑ Aaron Sakovich (2001). "Windows 2000?". The AlphaNT Source. http://www.alphant.com/articles/windows2000.html.
59. ↑ Warren, Tom (January 5, 2011). "Microsoft demonstrates early build of Windows 8". http://www.winrumors.com/microsoft-demonstrates-early-build-of-windows-8.
60. ↑ "OneCore to rule them all: How Windows Everywhere finally happened". Ars Technica. May 20, 2016. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/onecore-to-rule-them-all-how-windows-everywhere-finally-happened/2/.
61. ↑ Warren, Tom (May 21, 2020). "Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online". https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/21/21265995/xbox-source-code-leak-original-console-windows-3-5.
62. ↑ Trinder, Garry (February 17, 2006). "The Xbox Operating System". MSDN. https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/xboxteam/2006/02/17/the-xbox-operating-system/.
63. ↑ "Xbox One Is "Literally a Windows Device"". http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-is-literally-a-windows-device/1100-6430425.
64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 "Windows 11 Specifications". https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications.
65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 "Windows minimum hardware requirements". September 2021. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/minimum-hardware-requirements-overview.
66. ↑ Thurott, Paul (December 15, 1999). "Road to Gold: A Look at the Development of Windows 2000". ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More. http://www.itprotoday.com/windows-server/road-gold-look-development-windows-2000-0.
67. ↑ Chen, Raymond (August 2008). "Building on the Past". TechNet Magazine (Microsoft). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-magazine/cc718978(v=msdn.10). Retrieved November 30, 2023.
68. ↑ Thurott, Paul (June 21, 2000). "Windows 2000 Reportedly Returning to Alpha Platform". http://www.itprotoday.com/windows-8/windows-2000-reportedly-returning-alpha-platform. "UPDATE: Compaq has apparently denied that any work is being done on Windows 2000/64 for the Alpha."
69. ↑ 69.0 69.1 "Comparison of Windows Server 2003 Editions". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. October 8, 2009. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2003/cc758523(v=ws.10).
70. ↑ "Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems Feature Support". Microsoft. July 2, 2012. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/cc772344(v=ws.10).
71. ↑ "Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems". Windows Server Editions. Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2008-r2-itanium.aspx.
72. ↑ "Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition". Microsoft. August 15, 2001. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-xp/bb457053(v=technet.10).
73. ↑ "A description of the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". Microsoft Support Center. Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888733.
74. ↑ "Windows 10 1709 Supported Qualcomm Processors". November 10, 2021. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-10-1709-supported-qualcomm-processors.
75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 "Recommended Hardware Configs. for Workstations and Servers". Microsoft. November 1, 2006. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103326/en-us.
76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 76.2 76.3 "Windows NT 3.5x Setup Troubleshooting Guide (MSKB 139733)". Microsoft. November 1, 2006. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/139733.
77. ↑ 77.0 77.1 "Info: Windows NT 4.0 Setup Troubleshooting Guide". Microsoft. October 31, 2006. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126690.
78. ↑ 78.0 78.1 "System requirements for Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems". Microsoft. November 13, 2007. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304297.
79. ↑ "System requirements for Microsoft Windows XP operating systems". Microsoft. September 14, 2007. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/314865.
80. ↑ "Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition: System requirements". Microsoft. January 21, 2005. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2003/cc738496(v=ws.10).
81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 "System requirements for Microsoft Windows Vista". Microsoft. November 13, 2007. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919183.
82. ↑ 82.0 82.1 "Windows 7 system requirements". Microsoft. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10737/windows-7-system-requirements.
83. ↑ 83.0 83.1 83.2 83.3 "Windows 8 system requirements". Microsoft. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12660/windows-8-system-requirements.
84. ↑ 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 "Windows 10 Specifications & Systems Requirements". Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-specifications.
85. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 27, 2021). "Microsoft won't stop you installing Windows 11 on older PCs". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/22644194/microsoft-windows-11-minimum-system-requirements-processors-changes.
86. ↑ Sen, Sayan (December 17, 2024). "Acronis backup, cloning app gets Windows 11 24H2 BitLocker support; won't work on old CPUs". https://www.neowin.net/news/acronis-backup-cloning-app-gets-windows-11-24h2-bitlocker-support-wont-work-on-old-cpus/. "Sadly, though, if you are on a Core 2 Duo or something similar that does not have x86_64-v2 instructions like SSE4.2 and PopCnt, you will not be able to install Windows 11 24H2, and no trick or hack exists that will be able to work around this requirement."
87. ↑ Carrasqueira, João (May 6, 2024). "Windows phones say goodbye to Windows 11 starting with version 24H2". https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-24h2-lumia-not-supported/. "the Windows 11 2024 Update will only run on processors based on Arm v8.1 or later"

## External links

* Windows, Microsoft, http://www.microsoft.com/windows .
* Russinovich, Mark, "Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story", Win 2000, http://www.win2000mag.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=4494 .
* A Brief History of the Windows NT Operating System, Microsoft PressPass, 1998, http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1998/winntfs.asp .

* v
* t
* e

Microsoft Windows family

* Components
* History
* Timeline
* Criticism

DOS-based|

* Windows 1.0
* Windows 2.0
* Windows 2.1x
* Windows 3.0
* Windows 3.1x

File:Windows logo – 2012 (dark blue).svg

Windows 9x|

* Windows 95 (Development)
* Windows 98
* Windows Me

Windows NT|

* Windows NT 3.1
* Windows NT 3.5
* Windows NT 3.51
* Windows NT 4.0
* Windows 2000

Client versions|

* Windows XP
* editions
* x64
* Media Center
* Fundamentals
* Development of XP
* Windows Vista
* editions
* Development of Vista
* Windows 7
* editions
* Windows 8
* editions
* RT
* 8.1
* Windows 10
* editions
* version history

Windows Server|

* Server 2003
* Home Server
* Server 2008
* EBS 2008
* HPC Server 2008
* Server 2008 R2
* Home Server 2011
* Server 2012
* Server 2012 R2
* Server 2016
* Server 2019
* MultiPoint Server
* Server Essentials

Specialized|

* Windows Preinstallation Environment

Windows Embedded|

* Embedded Compact
* CE 5.0
* Embedded CE 6.0
* Embedded Compact 7
* Embedded Automotive
* Embedded Industry

Windows Mobile|

* Pocket PC 2000
* Pocket PC 2002
* Mobile 2003
* Mobile 5.0
* Mobile 6.0
* Mobile 6.1
* Mobile 6.5

Windows Phone|

* Phone 7
* Phone 8
* Phone 8.1
* Windows 10 Mobile

Cancelled|

* Cairo
* Nashville
* Neptune
* Odyssey

Related|

* New features
* XP
* Vista
* 7
* 8
* 10
* Removed features
* XP
* Vista
* 7
* 8
* 10
* Criticism of Windows
* XP
* Vista
* 8
* 10

* List of versions
* Comparison
*   * Category

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows NT. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Windows_NT&oldid=4227652"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template