you’re able to tell a mortal ’s eld by which version of Windows is their favorite . I have fond memories of XP and Windows 98 SE , so you may take a shot at mine , but I have colleagues who are much more enamored with Windows 7 or Windows 95 . We all have something disparaging to say about Windows 8 though , and the less suppose about Windows Vista the better .
rank thedifferent versions of Windowsis about more than what era of computing you grew up in , though . There are some very serious duds in Microsoft ’s back catalogue , just as there are a few win too . WithWindows 11constantly improving it ’s worth looking back at some of all the previous versions , rank from the absolute spoilt to the very good .
12. Windows ME
It ’s a toss - up as to which is the literal worst Windows operating system , but for us , Windows ME just about takes it , because despite its lofty goal , it failed at almost all of them . It ultimately only lasted a year before it was substitute by the beloved , and immeasurably improved , Windows XP .
Windows Millennium Edition was the last Windows osmium based on MS - DOS , but it restricted access to DOS to improve boot time . This made it the worst of both humankind , as it could n’t benefit from the melioration found in the Windows NT nub , which formed the base of Windows XP , but also did n’t render right DOS functionality either .
Windows ME was plagued by short number one wood support and fantastically bad stability offspring . It is cognise for how frequent it would crash , and not just once you had it up and running . There are innumerable reports of its break apart during installation and apparatus , and much - touted feature like System Restore often did n’t process properly in protecting affected systems .
It tried to do a few innovative things , like introduce automatic certificate update , folder compression with aboriginal ZIP support , and a new Help and backing system to make it comfortable to desexualise thing . But none of that make much of a difference if the gist OS is barely useable .
Windows ME was a hatful , and from our perspective , is the worst version of Windows ever release .
11. Windows 8
Windows 8 feels like Microsoft impinge on the terror button in its developer offices . tablet and smartphones were taking over the earth and the microcomputer was dying , so Windows needed to be more compatible with tab . It essay to make the Windows desktop a better tantrum for the emerging tablet setting , and it succeed to some extent , with its roofing tile design and gesture controls arrive at it enjoyable to use on a tablet . regrettably , it was completely unintuitive for experienced and novice desktop PC user , turning off longtime Windows fans immediately .
It was so bad that Microsoft had to patch in the original taskbar and starting signal push button with Windows 8.1 , which helped things to some extent , but it was too late .
With the original release , Microsoft had also been side - eyeing Apple ’s success with the App Store and stress to emulate it by introducing the Windows Store and Universal Windows ( UWP ) apps that were — and still are — a incubus for everyone involve . Microsoft also tried to promote gamers onto its newfangled platform by gatekeeping DirectX 11 there . It also did n’t work .
10. Windows Vista
It ’s a fleck of a meme , how high-risk Windows Vista was . It ’s often found at the top of everyone ’s “ Worst Windows ” lists , but we recall it gets below the belt maligned — at least a little . Its ironware requirements were unbelievably steep at the time , demanding a 1GHz C.P.U. , 1 GB of RAM , and 15 GB of storage space just to install it . It also needed a DirectX 9 - affirm artwork chip with 128 MB of VRAM . That might not seem like much now , but this was 10 times the memory demand of XP , and almost 20 sentence the RAM requirements .
This ultimately imply that for many other Vista adopters , it run like hot garbage . That ’s a material shame , because looking back , you may see what Microsoft was trying to do . Windows Vista calculate improbably forward-looking at its release , with lots of lovely Aero transparency effects . There ’s even some concept that imagineWindows 12 acquire a similar look .
But Vista was further bruised by a deficiency of compatibility with older number one wood , so new 1 had to be released for almost everything , which took sentence , or just did n’t amount out at all , pee-pee it a nightmare for accessories and peripheral machine .
Games for Windows Live came shortly after , and together with Vista , marked a low point in PC gaming , where nothing seemed to work and performance was horrendous . gizmo were n’t well - incur and nobody was a sports fan of the raw User Account Control soda water - ups that take for admin approval .
It did n’t matter that most of these features retrovert with Windows 7 a few class later , and received a much salutary reception . Windows Vista was too young , too before long , and few have fond memories of it .
9. Windows 1
The first major Windows release should be gamy on this list , but the first endeavour at an operating system of rules was n’t much of an operating organisation — at least how we know them today . It was fantastically circumscribed in its surgical procedure , without the ability to overlap window or many of the programs that made Windows such a functional platform over the years .
However , Windows 1 still has its place in history . It was build on top of MS - DOS as a shell program known as MS - DOS Executive , and opened up all sorts of voltage for the chopine . It introduced the computer mouse as an interface equipment , and launched authoritative Windows program like Calculator , Paint , and Notepad .
Unfortunately , Windows 1 was n’t specially well get , even at the time . referee felt that it could n’t adequately contend with Apple ’s GUI operating organisation , and criticized its velocity and poor compatibility with survive computer software . Some bemoaned its reliance on computer mouse input , especially those used to keyboard - exclusive interfaces .
8. Windows 2
Windows 2 did n’t enjoy the breakout winner of Windows 3.0/3.1 , but it was an important refining over the comparably limited Windows 1 . It still was n’t really competitive with Macintosh OS , but it tote up the ability to overlap and resize windows ( a cardinal feature missing from Windows 1 ) , bread and butter for 16 - color VGA artwork , and desktop picture . It introduced important nomenclature like maximize and minimise , replace the “ Iconize , ” and “ Zoom ” command of Windows 1 .
Arguably the most important scene of Windows 2 , though , was n’t the operate system itself , but the programs it transport with . Windows 2 was packed with helpful nonpayment applications , like the Windows Calculator and Windows Calendar . It also amount with financial support for the iconicMicrosoft Wordand Excel .
7. Windows 95
Windows 95 was the work system that adjust the trend for how Windows would look for tenner to occur . It precede the iconic Start menu , nesting applications programme within submenu to make compartmentalise programme easier and improving organization in the increasingly busy ocular port . It bridged the gap between the MS - DOS floor and the graphical interface of its front - death , opening the room access to new game and programs while still supporting the old ones . At least in theory .
windowpane 95 was prone to crashing and it took the button of Windows 98 to fix many of the problems that plagued it , but it innovate modern background computing to the man and would go on to be Microsoft ’s most popular operating system of the ten , holding over 60 % of the microcomputer market well into the late 1990s .
Other crucial new features that are now humdrum included the taskbar , morekeyboard shortcuts , the recycle bin , and Indian file shortcuts , which made it easier to line up what you ask .
6. Windows 98
The first , tangible cyberspace - ready Windows operating system , Windows 98 had measured the wind ’s counseling and was desperate to get out ahead of it . It introduced a mature version 4.0 of net Explorer , the now - iconic Windows Update , and Internet Connection Sharing . It also added good driver compatibility and improved USB support , as well as support for DVD histrion .
Designed as a major upgrade of Windows 95 , more so than a reinvention of the wheel , Windows 98 was well - received upon release , and the Second Edition ( SE ) bolstered it further a twelvemonth later with deal of bug fixes and UI tweaks . It was far more stable than Windows 95 , and though it still held on to its MS - DOS core , it was finally starting to move beyond the restraint of the Command Prompt .
This is the operating system where some of the 10 ’s most defining games happen their home , too . Games likeAge of Empires , Half Life , and the originalUnrealhelped make Windows 98 the Prime Minister desktop play platform . Users at the time were a small resentful of Windows 98 being sold as a standalone operating system , consider that it is mostly an upgraded Windows 95 with few bug , but it was still good and clear its place on this listing accordingly .
5. Windows 11
The newest kid on the block has a lot to try , but it ’s already leave behind its mark . Taking the bold leap of redesign the Start fare and taskbar dramatically , Windows 11could have fall on its cheek in a like style to Windows 8 — but it did n’t . It might have changed how it looked , but Windows 11 is very much a Windows 10 development . It strips out some of the legacy Windows 7 interfaces and makes the entire experience more undifferentiated and attractive , borrowing transparency effects from some of the Windows rival . you could also run multiple versions of your desktop at once , switching between them to aid productivity and compartmentalization .
Android applications have native support with Windows 11 , blurring the lines again between it and its Chrome O contemporary , and though the Microsoft Store is n’t pushed quite so hard in Windows 11 , it ’s still expanded with new support for Win32 applications like the Epic Games Store and Firefox .
With how much Windows 10 has become the home of forward-looking PC gamers , Windows 11 tries to tempt them over with a few new features . But when you compare Windows 11 and Windows 10 , the newer variant certainly has some near thing give-up the ghost for it , including cracking optimisation for run games in windowed mode , living for AutoHDR andDirectStorage , and attractive fresh visuals .
It may take many age before Windows 11 supplants the small Windows 10 , but if espousal rates carry on to filter in , it ’ll be the top heel one sidereal day — and that twenty-four hour period could be sooner than we all thought if it uphold its dabble with AI tools like theWindows Copilot .
4. Windows 3.1
Like XP , Windows 3.1 was the first version of Windows that many people born in the decade prior to its handout ever used . Its stark white and grey hid its DOS stem under several bed of contrivance and serviceableness , all of which had been stack up over the predate coevals of Windows to create something truly usable .
Today . Windows 3.1 would just be a big content update for the operating system , but in the ’ 90s , this important release had its own box and stack of floppy disks for installation . Building on the success of Windows 3.0 , Windows 3.1 was a breakout , help oneself IBM to sell jillion of PC presently after its debut . It introduce the massively authoritative TrueType font system that made Windows machines truly capable word processors and publication machines .
Dragging and shed file cabinet was suddenly possible with this version of Windows , reach it all the more customizable and intuitive to use . It also introduced screensavers , which was such a visually striking part of desktop computers moving forward that they would be some multitude ’s defining memory of the operating system .
3. Windows 10
Like the other top contenders in this list , Windows 10was a succeeder following a unsuccessful person , which made it all the more fresh . For those of us who hop Windows 8 after getting our first taste of the design - for - pill user interface , Windows 10 felt like a easy on - ramp to modern computation , and a conversant place to call home after Windows 7 . It was fast , feature - filled , and clearly design with desktop use at its vanguard — while still retaining advanced ghost compatibility . Simply put , it upgraded the Windows experience into what it efficaciously remains today .
Windows 10 brought with it theEdge web browser , finally quash the sinister hole of feat that was Internet Explorer . It update the Start menu into something far more functional , added new login method acting like fingermark and facial identification , and improved scaling for better high - firmness support . It did campaign the Microsoft Store front and center and boost online Microsoft accounts over more traditional logins . The musical theme of Windows as a service was certainly born with Windows 10 , and it really ramped up data appeal . force-out - feeding everyone Cortana was n’t a smart move either .
Still , Windows 10 has proven to be the Windows 7 or its era , with the majority of personal computer users still consort it over a year - and - a - half since the acquittance of its successor . It ’s standing the test of time right now and looks set to do so for many age to come .
2. Windows XP
After the dumpster firing of Windows ME , Microsoft amount back unbelievably potent with Windows XP . For many , this is the first operating system they used , and see the failures of Vista , it ’s in many cases the one they used for close to a decade . It was the go system that introduce zillion of people to the World Wide Web , assure that grandparents the Earth over would continue to conflate Internet Explorer withtheweb internet browser , and unlocking communication across a ten thousand of democratic chat apps . MSN Messenger , AIM , and ICQ open up up the world to young personal computer users for the first time , and Limewire , Kazaa , and eDonkey lease them share data like never before .
Out of all the operating systems on this lean , Windows XP might have the most iconic look . Not just because of its immature Start button , but because of that roll Hill wallpaper . It also get with some really strong default applications , like Windows Media Player , Windows Movie Maker , and of course , Solitaire .
cumber to 32 - bit , however , Windows XP could never progress beyond 4 GB of RAM , set its use once 64 - spot processors started slay the market . Over the years , it became notorious for malware too — facilitated by the leaky sieve that was Internet Explorer and a lack of Windows - own surety tools . Still , thanks to updates called Service Packs , Windows XP has a sterling legacy behind it , and can still be see on computers all over the world , despite Microsoft ’s near - decade attempt to advance acclivity .
1. Windows 7
There ’s an arguing to be made that Windows 7 is a just a processed version of Windows Vista , free at a clip when people actually had the kind of hardware that could course it the right way . But this Riley B King of Windows releasesdid so much more than that . It was fast and responsive , with many important visual ascent over late versions of Windows . It had splendid compatibility , working with older hardware and package likewise , and introduced crucial features which are still Windows mainstays today . It added pin applications to the taskbar , acquaint stacking Windows for good organization , let you preview windows with taskbar thumbnails , and it made it potential to click Windows to different portions of the screen .
Windows 7 is important for what it did n’t have , too . It feel like the last Windows operating system of rules that was profligate and modern , but had n’t yet started chasing feature designed for other political program , like touch - direct UI elements , or smart assistant integration . It did n’t have the Microsoft Store or overblown data collection , and there was no attempt to draw you to use an on-line account to login .
It was a clean , responsive operating system that many would likely continue to use today if it was still supported by Microsoft and modern hardware likewise .
