1. Microsoft Operating Systems
Richard Goldman
© February 28, 2001

2. Major Microsoft Desktop & Server Operating Systems
16-bit
32-bit
64-bit
DOS 1.0
DOS 8.0
Win 3.1
Win 3.11
Win 95
NT 4.0
Workstation
NT 4.0
Server
Win 98
Win2000
Professional
Win2000
Server
Adv Server
Datacenter
Win Me
Win XP
Home
Win XP
Professional
Win XP
64-bit
Professional
.net 2003
Web Server
Standard Ser
Enterprise Ser
Datacenter
.net 2003
64-bit
Enterprise Ser
Longhorn & Blackcomb 2005 ?

3. Primary System Configuration Locations
DOS
Win 3X
Win 9X / NT
CONFIG.SYS
SYSTEM.INI
REGISTRY

4. Microsoft Operating System Requirements
Release
Operating System
Processor (min)
bit
Memory (min-max)
Min HDD
Configuration
Note
1981
DOS 1.0
8088 / / 16
-1MB
none
Config.sys
First DOS
1992
Win 3.1 (DOS 3.1 min)
Std286/En386
1MB/1.6MB
6.5/8MB
System.ini
GUI
1994
Win 3.11 (DOS 3.1 min)
386
3MB
9.5MB
Networking
DOS 6.22
8086
Last DOS
1995
Win 95 (DOS 7.0)
386DX 32
4MB
35MB
Registry
32-bit, PnP
1996
Win 95B (DOS 7.1)
486/33
16MB
125MB
OSR2.5, FAT32
Win NT 4.0 Server
NTFS, No PnP
Win NT 4.0 Workstation
1998
Win 98 (DOS 7.1)
486DX/66
195MB
MMX, AGP
1999
Win 98SE (DOS 7.1)
24MB
205MB
USB
2000
Win 2000 Pro
133MHz
32MB
2GB
2CPUs
Win 2000 Server
256MB-4GB
1GB
4CPUs
Win 2000 Adv Server
256MB-8GB
8CPUs
Win 2000 Data Center
Pentium III Xeon
256MB-32GB
32CPUs
Win Me (DOS 8.0)
150MHz
270MB
Revert
2001
Win XP Home
233MHz
128MB
1.5GB
No Act Dir
Win XP Pro
Win XP 64
733MHz Itanium 64
1GB-64GB ?
.Net Standard Server
128MB-4GB
.Net Enterprise Server
128MB-32GB
.Net Enterprise Server 64
128MB-64GB

5. Boot Differences Mode DOS Win 3X Win 9X NT 16 bit WIN.COM Dosx.exe
IO.SYS
MSDOS.EXE
COMMAND.COM
CONFIG.SYS
AUTOEXEC.BAT
WIN.COM
Dosx.exe
Krnl286.exe
Vmm32.vxd
Static VxDs
32 bit or
Win386.exe
Krnl386.exe
Dynamic VxDs
NTLDR