Īs of 2024, the most recent version of Windows is Windows 11 for consumer PCs and tablets, Windows 11 Enterprise for corporations, and Windows Server 2022 for servers. However, Windows is not the most used operating system when including both mobile and desktop OSes, due to Android's massive growth. Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with a 70% market share as of March 2023, according to StatCounter. The first version of Windows was released on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Defunct families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded Compact. It is a line of products grouped into families and sub-families that to some extent cater to a certain sector of the computing industry - Windows (unqualified) for a consumer or corporate workstation, Windows Server for a server and Windows IoT for an embedded system.
Microsoft Windows is a proprietary graphical operating system developed and marketed by Microsoft.
Windows 9x and earlier: Monolithic ( MS-DOS).
Windows Embedded Compact/Windows CE: Hybrid.
