Microsoft developed the operating system known as Windows to ease the use the use of personal computers and has successfully became the most popular operating system in the world.

The first graphical operating system by Microsoft, Windows 1.0, was released for manufacturing in November 1985. It allowed multitasking, the use of the mouse and contained notepad, paint, and a calculator. With support extending until December 31, 2001, it remains the longest supported version to date.

In 1995 came the release of Windows95 as a redesigned object oriented interface, with the introduction of the start menu, taskbar, Windows Explorer shell, and as an add-on, Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer featured a virtual reality modeling language(VRML), secure socket layering, and "cookies". There was an update that released Internet Explorer 3.0 in 1997. It was no longer an add-on and this became a highly controversial topic, which led to a lawsuit by Netscape Communications Corporation, 20 states and the District of Columbia. Initially Microsoft lost the monopoly suit, but through appeals the decision was overturned.

By June of 1998, Windows98 was released offering the first instance of Disk Cleanup and USB accessibility. Many advancements allowed the use of DVD players, multi-monitor support and Internet Connection Sharing(ICS). ICS allowed a local area network (LAN) where one computer could host communication control and internet sharing between other computers.

Windows 2000 was released in February 2000. The development of Encrypting File System(EFS) created a way to protect confidential data from someone who had physical access to the computer. Microsoft Management Console(MMC) allowed for there to be system administrators and advanced user capabilities to configure and monitor systems in the network. It held the title of the most secure version ever, which caused hackers to release viruses such as "Code Red" and "Nimda". On July 19, 2001 at least 359,000 host were infected with "Code Red" in 24 hours.

A year later WindowsXP was released as the first edition of Windows to not be based on MS-DOS. It was run only on a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) which allows hardware initialization during startup. You could also revert back to a previous device driver state incase an update produced an unwanted result.

A not very popular edition was released in Janurary 2007 called Windows Vista. Although, it brought the introduction of User Account Control, which replaced the "administrator-by-default".

Microsoft released Windows 7 in 2007. There where improvements to the taskbar, Start menu, faster startup and introduced Windows PowerShell.

Five years later brought new technology and the use of tablets. In October of 2012, Windows 8 was released with major interface changes to adapt to the technology. It allowed a touch optimized Windows Shell and introduced a keyboard shortcut for screenshots. Other advances with cloud computing, built-in anti-virus software and the addition of the Windows Store that allowed the accumulation of apps.

Windows 10 was released in July of 2015 that included a return of the Start menu. It brought a virtual desktop system and the ability to run apps from the Windows Store within windows on the desktop without having to be run in full screen mode. In 2017, Microsoft announced that it would move its source code repository to GIT from Preforce. By May there were 8500 commits and 1760 Windows builds per day.

As a successor to Windows 10, Windows 11 was released in October of 2021. It was designed to be more user friendly and easier to understand. In May of that 2022 it became a free upgrade to Windows 10 users whose systems meet the requirements.

For almost forty years Microsoft has set a standard for computer operation with the use of Windows.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows_version_history
https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet-Explorer