Microsoft Windows

A system which serves as a GraphicalUserInterface between machines, users, files, and programs. Supports networks and interfacing between machines and files, programs and peripherals attached to the machines. Provided as the initially installed system on many PCs. -- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/

Q: Is Windows an OperatingSystem? That's the important question.

A: Those who use Windows are more aware of the ease of operation and the intuitive interface which allows use of the computer, its files, programs and peripherals and having a low barrier of entry. It employs a graphical user interface. Underlying this is a system which supports such usage. A CommandLineInterface is also available.

A: In the days of the OS/2 (IbmOsTwo) wars, IBM referred to Windows through the 9x line as "a popular line of DOS extenders". There's no reasonable question that NT/2K/XP and CE are operating systems. The more interesting question is, are they RealOperatingSystem?s?

A: It is now, yes. WindowsNt, WindowsTwoThousand, and WindowsXp remove the 16-bit MsDos code and replace it with a fully 32-bit kernel based on that originally developed for the VmsOperatingSystem. The DOS shell is now confined to a window running in an emulation mode; they've even changed the default shell from command.com to cmd.exe. There is no way to boot into DOS mode. (Not that there was under WindowsMe?, but WindowsMe? was still MsDos on the inside. God, that OS sucked.)

: To be honest, yes it did. The XP Command Prompt wasn't much better than none at all in the way of BatchFile?s, but would be challenging DosBox at overall emulation. Get any later OS's CommandPrompt, and although it processes BatchFiles? better, it has ZERO emulation. --SimonMould

A: Windows was once famously described as "32 bit extensions and a graphical shell [on top of] a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that can't stand 1 bit of competition." This was attributed to Art Bahrs (an HP guy) in Aug 1997, although it probably predates that.

While humorous, it's inaccurate: neither DOS nor its predecessor QDOS were a patch to any flavor of CP/M (presumably the "8-bit operating system"), and no flavor of CP/M never targeted a 4-bit microprocessor.

Q: How can something that manages files, memory, threads & processes, security, and network i/o not be an operating system?

A: Not everything labeled "Windows" manages files, memory, threads & processes, security, and network I/O. Huh? Are you making a historical argument (that Win95 wasn't an OS)? Win2000, WinXP, and Win2003 are operating systems.

Q:Is there a wiki version running locally on a Windows system?

A:Try EddieEdwards's WikiServer, which can be run as a localhost. It doesn't require a local Web server. If you do run a Web server on your machine, many WikiEngines will do the job.

In the MS-Windows GUI, the window or widget with current focus receives mouse scroll-wheel movements. This keeps tripping me up. It would be more natural for the window/widget under the mouse-pointer to receive scroll-wheel movements.

This has been fixed, now the behaviour is what you describe

Not for me. Both work and home machines (Windows 7) still do this.

thumbs.db - annoying little files that always get locked up etc. and clutter things up. A separate parallel folder set should perhaps have been used instead. A good idea done wrong.

See WindowsOperatingSystems

CategoryQuote CategoryOperatingSystem CategoryWindowManager CategoryMicrosoft

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