When one thinks of Windows NT, one does not normally think of OS/2.  Yet the first version of Windows NT is actually the last version of OS/2 Microsoft developed under the OS/2 name.  Originally called “OS/2 NT 3.0,” Microsoft changed the name of this operating system to “Windows NT 3.1.”  Microsoft introduced the computer industry to Windows NT 3.1 in 1993.  “NT” stands for “New Technology.”

Windows NT is a robust, scalable operating system capable of running high-end computer systems processing mission-critical data.  NT 3.1 is both a network operating system and a standalone “workstation” OS.  Using the New Technology File System, or NTFS – which is the same file system Microsoft invented for Microsoft OS/2 1.30 which was then called HPFS, or High Performance File System – Windows NT is far more stable and less prone to disk errors than DOS-based FAT partitions.

With services such as Net Logon, Messenger, Alerter, Directory Replicator, and others, Windows NT 3.1 could manage a corporate business IT system.  And with Notepad, Write, Paintbrush, Mail, Schedule+, File Manager, and Solitaire, Windows NT 3.1 could also manage the tasks of a single workstation computer.  Windows NT 3.1 uses the same Program Manager graphical user interface as 16-bit, DOS-based Windows 3.1.

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When Microsoft released the next version of Windows NT, 3.5, in 1994, they split this version into separate NT Server and NT Workstation releases.  This allowed the networking version to be far more robust without the overhead of features to run in workstation mode.  Conversely, the Workstation version is much leaner for use on standalone or node computers because it does not have all the extra networking features built in.  Both Windows NT 3.5 Server and Workstation also uses the same graphical user interface as 16-bit, DOS-based Windows 3.1.

In 1995, Microsoft released Windows NT 3.51 Server and Workstation.  This version included some of the features Microsoft was also building into their 32-bit DOS-based Windows 95 operating system, such as long file name support and a new style of on-line help files.

But Microsoft elected not to give Windows 3.51 the new Start Menu shortcut-based graphical interface they were building into DOS-based Windows 95.  Instead, Windows NT 3.51 Server and Workstation were released with the “old” Windows 3.1-style interface.  This decision caused a wave of criticism throughout the computer industry and spawned many NT-based slurs such as “Not There,” “Next Time,” and “Nice Try.”  These NT jabs also chastised Microsoft for being consistently late with new NT releases.  The computer industry created a new term for Microsoft’s lateness on software releases – “vaporware.”

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In a flurry of computer programming, in less than a year, Microsoft released Windows NT Server and Workstation 4.0 in 1996.  These NT versions featured the “new” Windows 95-style Start menu, taskbar, and window interface, and new features such as a Recycle Bin, right-click pop-up menus, Network Neighborhood, Dialup Networking, Explore file manager and folder system, Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, Accessibility Options, Add/Remove Programs, Windows Messaging, DirectX, DirectDraw, and DirectSound support, etc. This version of Windows NT was far easier to manage than previous releases.

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Microsoft’s next version of NT-based Windows was originally meant to be named “Windows NT 5.0.”  But prior to its release, Microsoft renamed their next version of NT operating systems “Windows 2000 Professional” – the “workstation” edition – and “Windows 2000 Server” editions, including Advanced Server and Enterprise Server.  Windows 2000 was released in 1999.

New features of Windows 2000 include an advanced interface design which was also later used for DOS-based Windows Millennium Edition, and based mainly on program dialogs from releases of Microsoft Office, plug-and-play hardware support, giving computer administrators the same maintenance ease of use as with DOS-based Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition, Server Edition Active Directory service that is scalable, uses Internet-standard technologies, and is fully integrated at the operating-system level.

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With the invention of what was first IBM/Microsoft OS/2 in 1987 that evolved into Microsoft OS/2 with a Windows graphical user interface and then was renamed Windows NT, Microsoft was maintaining two categories of operating systems – MS-DOS and later DOS-based versions of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Millennium Edition, and OS/2-based Windows NT 3.x, 4.0, and 2000.  In the mid-1990's, Microsoft announced plans to eventually “merge” these two technologies into a single operating system.  This did not happen until 2001 with the release of Windows XP.

Windows XP, which stands for “eXPerience,” Home Edition and Windows XP Professional Edition are not an actual “merging” of MS-DOS and OS/2-NT technology, but rather the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000 with emulation support for DOS-based Windows 3.1x, 9x/Me, and many DOS programs.  If you open a command prompt window and type “VER,” you will get “Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.xxxx]” where “xxxx” is the operating system build number.

Windows XP combines the user friendliness of DOS-based 32-bit Windows with the stability and reliability of OS/2-NT-based Windows.  It features a new, category-based Start menu but also keeps the now “classic” Windows 95-based Start menu.  Other features include a CD-burning wizard integrated into the Explore file manager, wizard support for digital cameras and scanners, support for VCD DVD video (which originally required added support via a Windows Update download), Windows Movie Maker, a new version of Windows Media Player, wireless network support, support for hard drives larger than 120GB, advanced search utilities, etc.

Back in 1987, when Microsoft was offering DOS-based Windows 2.0, the back of the retail package had this statement printed on it:

"Integrate the new generation of Windows applications and existing DOS applications with Microsoft Windows.  It's the one graphical environment that gives you a standard path to OS/2, the operating system of the future."

It’s ironic that what started out as OS/2, later renamed Windows NT, then 2000, then XP, did indeed become “the operating system of the future” for a large majority of computers around the world.

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