Developer | Microsoft |
---|---|
Written in | C, Assembly language (core) C++ (user mode applications, kernel graphical subsystem) C# (user mode applications)[1] |
Working state | Current |
Source model | |
Initial release | July 27, 1993 (as Windows NT 3.1) |
Latest release | 24H2 (10.0.26100.1000) (June 28, 2024[2]) [±] |
Latest preview |
24H2 (10.0.26100.1000) (June 28, 2024[3][4]) [±]
23H2 (10.0.22635.3858) (June 28, 2024[5]) [±]
24H2 (10.0.26120.961) (June 14, 2024[6]) [±]
|
Update method | Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services |
Platforms | IA-32, x86-64, ARM and ARM64 (and historically Intel i860, DEC Alpha, Itanium, MIPS, and PowerPC) |
Kernel type | Hybrid [citation needed] (NT) |
Influenced by | RSX-11, VAXELN, OpenVMS, MICA, Mach (kernel) MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.1x (userland) |
Default user interface | Graphical (Windows shell) |
License | Depending on version, edition or customer choice: Trialware, commercial software, volume licensing, OEM-only, SaaS, S+S[a] |
Official website | windows |
Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which was released on July 27, 1993, as Windows NT 3.1. Originally made for the workstation, business and server markets, the Windows NT line was made available to consumers with the release of Windows XP in 2001. The underlying technology of Windows NT continues to live on to this day, with the latest version of Windows based on Windows NT being Windows 11.
The name "Windows NT" originally denoted the major technological advancements that it had introduced to the Windows product line, including eliminating the 16-bit memory access limitations of earlier Windows releases such as those from the Windows 9x series. Each Windows release that includes this technology is considered to be based on, if not a revision of Windows NT, even though the Windows NT name has not been used in many Windows releases since Windows NT 4.0 in 1996.
Windows NT provides many more features than other Windows releases, among them being support for multiprocessing, multi-user systems, a "pure" 32-bit kernel with 32-bit memory addressing, multi-architecture support, and many other system services such as Active Directory and more.
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