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WINDOWS 1 AND 2 - EARLY UI Just after the PC hit the market (August 1981), a project named "Interface Manager" started. It was renamed to "Windows" because the programmers talked very much about the zones called "windows" on the screen. The first Windows pre-version was presented in November 1983. It used Word for DOS-like menus at the bottom of the screen. The 1.0 version (it was numbered 1.01; it is rumored that version 1.00 was actually released but quickly pulled due to a severe flaw), released in November 1985, used pull-down menus like the early Macintosh System 1.x (Microsoft actually licensed GUI elements from Apple). The shell was a file manager (not a program manager) called "MS-DOS Executive". Applications could be launched from the MS-DOS Executive which minimized itself. The minimizing (called "iconing") was done by transforming the windows into an icon that sit at the bottom of the screen, in a special minimized windows zone. The maximizing (called "zooming") could extend the window over the minimized windows zone. Windows could not be overlapped, but they were instead "tiled". As a result, two windows could not be "zoomed" at the same time. Windows 2.0 was an interface-based release. The new window controls were introduced with this release, with the new "minimize" and "maximize" terminology. Windows could be overlapped and the minimized window icons could be moved freely on the desktop. OS/2 1.X As of version 1.1, launched in 1988, the new OS/2 operating system from Microsoft introduced a new GUI, called the Presentation Manager (PM). The default shell (a program) was a program manager (not a file manager like in Windows 1.x and 2.x) called "Start Programs". Versions 1.2 and 1.3 renamed "Start Programs to "Desktop Manager", added 16-colour icons support and many more. WINDOWS 3.X, NT 3.X - THE FIRST REVOLUTION Windows 3.0, introduced in May 1990, inherited the OS/2 GUI. The new "Program Manager" was an advanced "Desktop Manager". A background could be put on the desktop, and the window controls were redisigned. The buttons were all in 3-D appearance (the windows weren't). As a result, the Windows 3.0 operating environment was a success. Later versions of Windows 3.x introduced Screen Savers. The new operating system form Microsoft, "Windows NT", featured the same GUI in the first version (3.1), like Windows 3.1x. WINDOWS 95, NT4, SUR - "CAIRO" The successor to Windows 3.11 for Workgroups was codenamed "Chicago" (launched as Windows 95). A new user interface, called "Cairo" was designed to replace the old Program Manager-based GUI. A high-end, object-oriented version of Cairo was designed for Windows NT 4.0 and a stripped-down version was going to be the Chicago GUI. Work started at the Chicago GUI, which was to become the Windows Explorer shell from Windows 95. However, the ambitious plan for the object-oriented GUI was eventually cancelled. Windows NT4 featured, in 1996, the same interface as Windows 95. The Win95 Explorer GUI featured a "taskbar", which contained a running tasks manager, a Start button which launched the Start menu, a system tray and a clock. The desktop contained system icons and files. A new capability of the Explorer were "shortcuts", similar to the Macintosh aliases. The Windows NT4 shell was also released as a Shell Update Release to Windows NT 3.51. WINDOWS 95C, 98 - "NASHVILLE" The growing popularity of the World Wide Web forced Microsoft to release its own browser, dubbed "Internet Explorer". In early 1996, Netscape announced that the next release of its browser, Netscape, will completely integrate with Windows and add a new shell, codenamed "Constellation". Microsoft started working on a similar Internet Explorer release, codenamed "Nashville". Internet Explorer 4.0 was redesigned and resulted in two products: the standalone IE4 which replaced the Windows shell with a new "Active Desktop" shell and the future Windows releases, like Windows 95C and Windows 98, which integrated Internet Explorer and Active Desktop in the shell. GEORGIA, NEPTUNE AND TIGER The new Windows NT5/2000 integrated also Internet Explorer into the shell and added some new capabilities, like Extended Start Menus and some eye candy. This interface was codenamed "Georgia". Windows Me also added these features. In the meantime, some new Windows versions were planned, "Neptune" and "Odyssey". Neptune and Odyssey were cancelled in January 2000 and replaced with Whistler. But before that, an early alpha release of Neptune appeared. It featured Activity Centers, which were also cancelled along with Neptune and Odyssey. Tiger was a short-lived idea for continuing the DOS/9x platform with "Windows ME 2". Some fake screenshots were leaked, featuring a new task-based, 2000 white-style interface. ODYSSEY, WHISTLER - THE SKINNING ENGINE Odyssey was designed to have a skinning engine similar to Stardock's WindowBlinds. It was later incorporated into Whistler. Two skins were developed: a "Professional" and a "Home" skin. Early builds of Whistler shipped only with the "Professional" skin (Visual Style), which was developed initially for Odyssey, but later Microsoft polls showed that consumers were interested in the "Home" visual style. XP, SERVER 2003 - "LUNA", "ROYALE" The "home" VS became Luna, and the Luna UI featured also some other UI elements, like the new Start Menu, the new Control Panel and much more. It was shipped with Windows XP (Whistler). It received an update with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, called "Royale". Windows Server 2003 featured the same Luna UI. LONGHORN - PLEX, SLATE AND JADE (ALSO AEROS) See Also: Development of Windows Vista The future Longhorn operating system was designed to have a new interface called Aero. In the early alpha builds, Longhorn featured some interfaces called Plex, Slate and Jade, which were some interim steps between Luna and Aero. The Aero developments were at the beginning Plex-ish, but later transformed in the modern Aero. VISTA - AERO The Aero UI was introduced with Longhorn build 5048 and was developed along with the Vista builds, Beta 1 and the CTPs. The tiers are called "Aero Glass", "Aero Express" and "Aero Basic". |
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