As yesterday was Windows 95’s 16 Birthday, I thought it might be fun to see how the worlds most popular Operating system has ‘matured’. I’ve included screens shots of the major releases from Windows 1.0 to Windows 7 and included their system requirements for comparison.
I think it’s fair to say it’s changed quite significantly!
Windows 1.0
Released November 1985
Requirements
CGA/HGA/EGA Mono or color Monitor, MS DOS 2.0, 256K Memory, 2 x Double-Sided Disk Drives
Windows 2.0
Released November 1987
Requirements
Graphics Card, 512k Memory, MS DOS 3.0, 2 x Double-Sided Disk Drives
Windows 3.1
Requirements
EGA, VGA, SVGA, XGA or Hercules Video Card, MS DOS 3.1, 80286 CPU (or greater), 640k Conventional Memory + 1024k extended memory, 5.25″ (HD) or 3.5″ Floppy drive and Fixed drive with 6MB Free, Mouse Recommended !
Windows 95
Requirements
- Personal computer with a 386DX or higher processor (486 recommended)
- 4 megabytes (MB) of memory (8 MB recommended)
- Typical hard disk space required to upgrade to Windows 95: 35-40 MB The actual requirement varies depending on the features you choose to install.
- Typical hard disk space required to install Windows 95 on a clean system: 50-55 MB The actual requirement varies depending on the features you choose to install.
- One 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive
- VGA or higher resolution (256-color SVGA recommended)
To use Microsoft Exchange and The Microsoft Network:
- 8 MB of memory
- 20 MB of additional hard disk space
- Modem (required for using The Microsoft Network)
Optional components:
- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
- Modem or fax/modem
- Audio card and speakers for sound
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Windows 2000
Requirements
- 133 MHz or more Pentium microprocessor (or equivalent). Windows 2000 Professional supports up to two processors on a single computer.
- 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum. 32 MB of RAM is the minimum supported. 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM is the maximum.
- A 2 GB hard disk that has 650 MB of free space. If you are installing over a network, more free hard disk space is required.
- VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
- Keyboard.
- Mouse or compatible pointing device (optional).
For CD-ROM installation:
- CD drive or DVD drive
- High-density 3.5-inch disk drive, unless your CD drive supports starting the Setup program from a CD
For network installation:
- Windows 2000-compatible network adapter and related cable (See the Hardware Compatibility List (Hcl.txt) in the Support folder on the Windows 2000 Professional CD)
- Access to the network share that contains the Setup files
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Windows ME
Requirements
The minimum hardware requirements for Windows Me include:
- Pentium 150-MHz processor or better
- 32 megabytes (MB) of RAM or better
- Minimum 320 MB of free hard-disk space
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive
- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
- Video adapter and monitor that support VGA or higher resolution
- Sound card
- Speakers or headphones
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Windows XP
Requirements
- Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
- At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
- At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
- Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
- Sound card
- Speakers or headphones
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Windows Vista
Requirements
- 1 gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) of system memory (512 megabytes (MB) for Home Basic)
- 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space (20 GB for Home Basic)
- Support for DirectX 9 graphics with WDDM and 128 MB of graphics memory (32 MB for Home Basic)
- DVD-ROM drive
- Audio Output
- Internet access (fees may apply)
Windows 7
Requirements
- 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver