List of Microsoft Windows components
Encyclopedia
Configuration and maintenance
| Component | Description | |Introduced | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control Panel | ||||
| Control Panel Control Panel (Windows) The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options... |
Allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, changing accessibility Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity... options, and so on. |
Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
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| Device Manager Device Manager The Device Manager is a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with... |
Allows the user to display and control the hardware attached to the computer, and control what device driver Device driver In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device.... s are used. |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
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| Windows Mobility Center Windows Mobility Center Windows Mobility Center is a component of Microsoft Windows, introduced in Windows Vista, that centralizes the most relevant information to mobile computing.-Overview:... |
Centralizes the most relevant information related to mobile computing. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
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| Windows Action Center | Centralizes and reports on the status of anti-virus, Automatic Updates, Windows Firewall, and other security-related components of the operating system. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... SP2 |
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| Administrative Tools | ||||
| Microsoft Management Console Microsoft Management Console Microsoft Management Console is a component of Windows 2000 and its successors that provides system administrators and advanced users an interface for configuring and monitoring the system.- Snap-ins and consoles :... |
Provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor the system. | Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... 4.0 Option Pack |
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| Windows System Assessment Tool Windows System Assessment Tool The Windows System Assessment Tool is a module of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 which measures various performance characteristics and capabilities of the hardware it is running on and reports them as a Windows Experience Index score, a number from 1.0 and 5.9 for Windows Vista and from... |
A built-in benchmarking tool that analyzes the different subsystems (graphics, memory, etc.), and uses the results to allow for comparison to other Windows Vista systems, and for software optimizations. It rates the computer's performance using the Windows Experience Index. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
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| System Restore System Restore System Restore is a component of Microsoft's Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not Windows 2000, operating systems that allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of system malfunction or failure.The... |
Allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of a system failure. | Windows Me Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
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| Windows Recovery Environment | Helps diagnose and recover from serious errors which may be preventing Windows from booting successfully, or restore the computer to a previous state using System Restore or a backup image. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
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| Windows Disk Defragmenter Windows Disk Defragmenter Disk Defragmenter is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called defragmentation. Defragmenting a disk minimizes head travel, which reduces the time it takes to read files from and... |
Rearranges files stored on a hard disk to occupy contiguous storage locations in order to optimize computer performance. | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
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| Event Viewer Event Viewer Event Viewer, a component of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems, lets administrators and users view the event logs on a local or remote machine. In Windows Vista, Microsoft overhauled the event system.- Overview :... |
Lets administrators and users view the event logs on a local or remote machine. | Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 is the first release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server and business desktop operating systems, and was released to manufacturing on 27 July 1993. The version number was chosen to match the one of Windows 3.1, the then-latest operating environment from Microsoft, on account of... |
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| Resource Monitor Resource Monitor Resource Monitor is a system application in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is used to view information about the use of hardware and software resources in real time. Resource Monitor is available in Windows Vista and onwards only... (or Reliability and Performance Monitor) |
Lets administrators view current system reliability and performance trends over time. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
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| Logical Disk Manager Logical Disk Manager The Logical Disk Manager is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Microsoft Windows NT, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. It was introduced with the Windows 2000 operating system, and is supported in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7... |
A logical volume manager Logical volume management In computer storage, logical volume management or LVM provides a method of allocating space on mass-storage devices that is more flexible than conventional partitioning schemes... developed by Microsoft in conjunction with Veritas Software VERITAS Software Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005. It was headquartered in Mountain View, California... . |
Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... (as a separate Tool) 2000 (integrated in the Management Console) |
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| Registry Editor | Edits the Windows registry Windows registry The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user... . |
Windows 3.1 | ||
| Task Scheduler Task Scheduler Task Scheduler is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals. It was first introduced in the Windows 95 Plus! pack as System Agent but was renamed to Task Scheduler in Windows 98... |
Allows users to script tasks for running during scheduled intervals | Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications... for Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
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| Software installation and deployment | ||||
| Windows Update Windows Update Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer... |
An online service which provides critical updates, service packs, device drivers, and other updates. A variation called Microsoft Update also provides software updates for several Microsoft products. | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... |
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| Windows Installer Windows Installer The Windows Installer is a software component used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software on modern Microsoft Windows systems... |
A packaging format and engine for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. Includes a GUI Gui Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally... framework Software framework In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software... , automatic generation of the uninstallation sequence and deployment capabilities for corporate networks. |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
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| ClickOnce ClickOnce ClickOnce is a Microsoft technology that enables the user to install and run a Windows application by clicking a link in a web page. ClickOnce is a component of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and later, supports deploying applications made with Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation... |
Technology for deploying .NET Framework .NET Framework The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability... -based software via web pages, with automatic update capabilities. Intended for per-user only applications. |
.NET Framework 2.0 | ||
User interface
| Component | Description | |Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Aero Windows Aero Windows Aero is the graphical user interface and the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, operating systems released by Microsoft. It is also available in Windows Server 2008, but is not enabled by default. Its name is a backronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and... |
The file that contains the Windows Aero Windows Aero Windows Aero is the graphical user interface and the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, operating systems released by Microsoft. It is also available in Windows Server 2008, but is not enabled by default. Its name is a backronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and... theme for Windows Vista and Windows 7. |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Windows Shell Windows Shell The Windows shell is the main graphical user interface in Microsoft Windows, and since Windows 95 hosted by Windows Explorer. The Windows shell includes well-known Windows components such as the Taskbar and the Start menu... |
The most visible and recognizable aspect of Microsoft Windows. The shell is the container inside of which the entire graphical user interface Graphical user interface In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and... is presented, including the taskbar, the desktop Desktop metaphor The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and... , Windows Explorer, as well as many of the dialog box Dialog box In a graphical user interface of computers, a dialog box is a type of window used to enable reciprocal communication or "dialog" between a computer and its user. It may communicate information to the user, prompt the user for a response, or both... es and interface controls. In Windows Vista, a new compositing glass-like user interface called Windows Aero Windows Aero Windows Aero is the graphical user interface and the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, operating systems released by Microsoft. It is also available in Windows Server 2008, but is not enabled by default. Its name is a backronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and... has been shown. |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Windows Explorer Windows Explorer This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface... |
Provides an interface for accessing the file system File system A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the... s, launching applications, and performing common tasks such as viewing and printing pictures. |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Windows Search | Starting with Windows Vista, search is a tightly shell-integrated component of Windows. A downloadable Windows Desktop Search software is available for Windows XP and older versions. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... , downloadable for older versions |
| Special Folders Special Folders On Microsoft Windows, a special folder is a folder which is presented to the user through an interface as an abstract concept, instead of an absolute folder path... |
Folders which are presented to the user through an interface as an abstract concept, instead of an absolute path. This makes it possible for an application to locate where certain kinds of files can be found, regardless of what version or language of operating system is being used. See also, Windows Shell namespace Windows Shell namespace In Windows Shell programming, the Windows Shell namespace is an organized tree-structured hierarchical representation that Windows Explorer facilitates to graphically present file system contents and other objects to the end user... . |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Start menu Start menu The Start Menu and Start Button are user interface elements used in the later versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems and in some X window managers... |
Serves as the central launching point for applications. It provides a customizable, nested list of programs for the user to launch, as well as a list of most recently opened documents, a way to find files and get help, and access to the system settings. By default, the Start Button is visible at all times in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Taskbar Taskbar In computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,... |
The application desktop bar which is used to launch and monitor applications. | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Desktop Gadget Gallery | A screen to place gadgets Microsoft Gadgets Microsoft Gadgets are lightweight single-purpose applications, or software widgets, that can sit on a Microsoft Windows user's computer desktop, or are hosted on a web page... anywhere. |
Windows 7 |
| File association File association A file association associates a file with an application capable of opening that file. More commonly, a file association associates a class of files with a corresponding application .-Associations and verbs:A single file extension may have several associations for performing various actions, also... s |
Used to open a file with the correct program. File associations can be uniquely assigned to specific actions, known as verbs. | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Applications and utilities
| Component | Description | |Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Easy Transfer Windows Easy Transfer Windows Easy Transfer is a file transferring program included in newer versions of Microsoft Windows operating system which allows the switching files and settings between two PCs. The program aides migration of Windows XP or earlier to a new computer running Windows Vista or Windows 7. It... |
File transferring. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Windows Contacts Windows Contacts Windows Contacts is a contact manager which is included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which replaced and retained most of the functionality of Windows Address Book. Windows Mail integrates with it. Windows Contacts uses a new XML-based schema format where each contact appears as an... |
Keeps a single list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Calculator Microsoft Calculator Windows Calculator, commonly known as Calculator from the application's title bar, is a calculation application included in all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system... |
A calculation Calculator An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic... application. |
Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
| Character Map Character Map Character Map is a utility included with Microsoft Windows operating systems and is used to view the characters in any installed font, to check what keyboard input is used to enter those characters, and to copy characters to the clipboard in lieu of typing them. The tool is usually useful for... |
Utility to view and search characters in a font, copy them to the clipboard and view their Windows Alt keycodes and Unicode names | Windows 3.1 |
| Paint | A simple graphics Computer graphics Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware.... painting Painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is... program. |
Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
| Portable Workspace Creator Windows To Go Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 8 that allows the entire system to run from USB mass storage devices such as flash drives and external hard drives.... |
A utilit to create bootable versions of Windows 8, called Windows To Go Windows To Go Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 8 that allows the entire system to run from USB mass storage devices such as flash drives and external hard drives.... |
Windows 8 Windows 8 Windows 8 is the codename for the next version of the Microsoft Windows computer operating system following Windows 7. It has many changes from previous versions. In particular it adds support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the previously supported x86 microprocessors from Intel and AMD... (expected) |
| Notepad | A simple text editor Text editor A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code.... . |
Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
| Narrator Microsoft Narrator Narrator is a light-duty screen reader utility included in Microsoft Windows. Narrator reads dialog boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications for Windows.... |
A screen reader Screen reader A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen . This interpretation is then re-presented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a Braille output device... utility that reads dialog boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications Application software Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with... for Windows. |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Sound Recorder Windows Sound Recorder Sound Recorder is an audio recording program included in Microsoft Windows. The Vista version can record for longer durations but contains fewer options, and cannot play back recorded sound.... |
A simple audio recording program that can record from a microphone Microphone A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter... or headset Headset (telephone/computer) A headset is headphones combined with a microphone, or one headphone with a microphone. Headsets provide the equivalent functionality of a telephone handset with hands-free operation. Headsets typically have only one speaker like a telephone, but also come with speakers for both ears... , and save the results in WAVE format WAV Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs... and Windows Media Audio Windows Media Audio Windows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs... format in some Windows versions. |
Windows 3.1 |
| Command Prompt | A text-based shell Shell (computing) A shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users of an operating system which provides access to the services of a kernel. However, the term is also applied very loosely to applications and may include any software that is "built around" a particular component, such as web... (command line interpreter) that provides a command line interface to the operating system. |
Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
| WordPad WordPad WordPad is a basic word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Works Word Processor and Microsoft Word. It replaced Microsoft Write.... |
A simple word processor Word processor A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material.... that is more advanced than Notepad. It has facilities to format and print text, but lacks intermediate features such as a spell checker Spell checker In computing, a spell checker is an application program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly. Spell checkers may be stand-alone capable of operating on a block of text, or as part of a larger application, such as a word processor, email client, electronic dictionary,... and thesaurus Thesaurus A thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning , in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations... . |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Private Character Editor Private Character Editor Private Character Editor is a limited font editor that comes with Windows for creating private use characters. Those characters are user-defined characters as prescribed under Unicode. The program is accessible via the Start Menu on East Asian editions of Windows... |
Utility to create private use characters as defined under Unicode and various East Asian encoding schemes. | Windows 3.1+ East Asian editions |
| Remote Desktop Connection Remote Desktop Protocol Remote Desktop Protocol is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft, which provides a user with a graphical interface to another computer. The protocol is an extension of the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol. Clients exist for most versions of Microsoft Windows , Linux, Unix, Mac OS... |
A client implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol; allows a user to securely connect to a computer running Terminal Services Terminal Services Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, formerly known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and previous versions, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network, using the Remote Desktop... (Remote Desktop on Windows XP and Server 2003) and interact with a full desktop environment on that machine, including support for remoting of printers, audio, and drives. |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , downloadable for previous Windows versions |
| Windows Remote Assistance | Allows a user to temporarily take over a remote computer over a network or the internet to offer help with and resolve issues. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Internet Explorer Internet Explorer Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year... |
A graphical Graphical user interface In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and... web browser Web browser A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content... and FTP client. See also: IE1 Internet Explorer 1 Internet Explorer 1.0 is a graphical web browser that made its debut from Microsoft on August 16, 1995. It was a reworked version of Spyglass Mosaic which Microsoft had licensed, like many other companies initiating browser development, from Spyglass Inc. It came with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95... , IE2 Internet Explorer 2 Microsoft Internet Explorer 2 is a graphical web browser released on November 22, 1995 by Microsoft for Windows 95 and Windows NT and in April 1996 for Apple Macintosh and Windows 3.1.... , IE3 Internet Explorer 3 Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 is a graphical web browser released on August 13, 1996 by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Apple Mac OS . It began serious competition against Netscape Navigator in the first Browser war... , IE4 Internet Explorer 4 Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 is a graphical web browser released in September 1997 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions available for Apple Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".It was one of the main participants of the first... , IE5 Internet Explorer 5 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war... , IE6 Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems... , IE7 Internet Explorer 7 Windows Internet Explorer 7 is a web browser released by Microsoft in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser in more than 5 years... , IE8 Internet Explorer 8 Windows Internet Explorer 8 is a web browser developed by Microsoft in the Internet Explorer browser series. The browser was released on March 19, 2009 for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds are available... , Features, History History of Internet Explorer The following is a history of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser from Microsoft developed over 9 major software versions including 1.0 , 2.0 3.0 , 4.0 , 5.0 , 6.0 , 7.0 , 8.0 , and 9.0 , which began public beta testing in September 2010... , Removal Removal of Internet Explorer Internet Explorer removal has changed over its version history, but the nature of many of its upgrades and installation methods have been a matter of public interest. The first version to be included was version 2 with Windows 95 in late 1996... , Browser Helper Object Browser Helper Object A Browser Helper Object is a DLL module designed as a plugin for Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to provide added functionality. BHOs were introduced in October 1997 with the release of version 4 of Internet Explorer. Most BHOs are loaded once by each new instance of Internet Explorer... s |
Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications... for Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| IExpress IExpress IExpress is a Microsoft utility bundled with various editions of Windows operating systems : Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7... |
Allows users to create self-extracting, self-installing INF INF file An INF file or Setup Information file, is a plain text file used by Microsoft Windows for installation of software and drivers. INF files are most commonly used for installing device drivers for hardware components. Windows includes IExpress.exe for the creation of INF-based installations... installation-based packages. |
Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems... |
| Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan is an integrated faxing and scanning application included in some versions of the Windows Vista operating system and all versions of Windows 7. Windows XP includes Fax Console instead.-Features:... |
An integrated fax Fax Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device... ing and image scanning application. |
Windows Vista, older faxing and scanning applications were present in previous Windows versions |
| Windows Media Player Windows Media Player Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices... |
A digital Digital media Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of... media player and media library application that is used for playing audio, playing video Video Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :... and viewing image Image An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:... s. In addition to being a media player, Windows Media Player includes the ability to rip Ripping Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction.... music from, and copy music to compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... s, synchronize content with a digital audio player (MP3 MP3 MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression... player) or other mobile devices, and let users purchase or rent music from a number of online music store Online music store An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without... s. |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
| Windows Photo Viewer | A simple image viewer Image viewer An image viewer or image browser is a computer program that can display stored graphical image; it can often handle various graphics file formats... that can play a simple slideshow |
Windows 7 |
| Windows DVD Maker Windows DVD Maker Windows DVD Maker is an application included in premium editions of Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Home Premium and above editions that is designed to enable the creation of DVD movies that can be played using DVD playback software or on a standalone consumer DVD player... |
A DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... movie encoding and authoring DVD authoring DVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum group in 1995... software. |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Windows Journal Windows Journal Windows Journal is a notetaking application, created by Microsoft and included in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition as well as Home Premium or superior editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. It allows the user to create and organize handwritten notes and drawings and to save them in a JNT-File... |
A notetaking Notetaking Notetaking is the practice of recording information captured from a transient source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting, or a lecture. Notes of a meeting are usually called minutes. The format of the initial record may often be informal and/or unstructured. One common format for such notes is... application that allows for the creation of handwritten notes. |
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Vista |
| Windows Media Center Windows Media Center Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos... |
Designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub, to be viewed from a distance up to 3 meters (~10 feet) and controlled by specially designed remote controls. Lets users browse and view pictures, videos, and music from local hard drives, optical drives, and network locations, along with viewing, recording and deferred-playing live TV. Features an interactive TV guide with scheduled recording capabilities. Can also be used for visualization of other information (like sports scores) within the interface. | Windows XP Media Center Edition Windows XP Media Center Edition Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of the Windows XP operating system designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, was released in October 2004.-Versions:... |
| Windows Task Manager Windows Task Manager Windows Task Manager is a task manager application included with the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that provides detailed information about computer performance and running applications, processes and CPU usage, commit charge and memory information, network activity and... |
Provides information about computer performance and displays details about running applications, processes, network activity, logged-in users, and system services. | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
| Disk Cleanup Disk Cleanup Disk Cleanup is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files... |
A utility for compacting rarely used files and removing files that are no longer required. | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... |
| Shadow Copy | A graphical front end for the Shadow Copy service that lets users choose from multiple versions of a file. The shadow copy service creates multiple copies of a file as they are changed over time, so that users can revert to previous versions. | Windows Vista. Windows Server 2003 included Previous Versions support only for client computers. |
| Snipping Tool Snipping Tool Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a powertoy for the Tablet PC launch on November 7, 2002. The program is a screen-capture tool that allows taking screenshots of an open... |
A screen-capture tool that allows for taking screen shots (called snips). | Experience Pack for Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... Tablet PC Edition 2005 |
Windows Server components
| Component | Acronym | Description | |Supported by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server domain Windows Server domain A Windows domain is a collection of security principals that share a central directory database. This central database contains the user accounts and security information for... |
A logical group of computers that share a central directory and user database. | All Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... -based versions |
|
| Active Directory Active Directory Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers.... |
AD | A set of technologies introduced with Windows 2000 that allows administrators to assign enterprise-wide policies, deploy programs to many computers, and apply critical updates to an entire organization. Active Directory stores information and settings relating to an organization in a central, organized, accessible database. Networks can vary from a small installation with a few objects, to global-scale directories with millions of objects. Related topics: Active Directory Service Interfaces, Flexible single master operation Flexible single master operation Flexible Single Master Operations , or just single master operation or operations master, is a feature of Microsoft's Active Directory... , IntelliMirror, Active Directory Application Mode |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... |
| Domain controller Domain controller On Windows Server Systems, a domain controller is a server that responds to security authentication requests within the Windows Server domain... |
DC Domain controller On Windows Server Systems, a domain controller is a server that responds to security authentication requests within the Windows Server domain... , PDC Primary Domain Controller A Primary Domain Controller is a server computer in a Windows domain. A domain is a group of computers , where access to a variety of computer resources is controlled by the PDC. Various account types exist in the domain, the most basic is the "guest" or "anonymous login" account... , BDC Backup Domain Controller In Windows NT 4 server domains., the Backup Domain Controller is a computer that has a copy of the user accounts database. Unlike the accounts database on the Primary Domain Controller , the BDC database is a read only copy... |
A server Server (computing) In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"... that responds to security authentication requests (logging in, checking permissions, etc.) within a Windows Server domain. Prior to Windows 2000, a domain controller was either a Primary Domain Controller Primary Domain Controller A Primary Domain Controller is a server computer in a Windows domain. A domain is a group of computers , where access to a variety of computer resources is controlled by the PDC. Various account types exist in the domain, the most basic is the "guest" or "anonymous login" account... (PDC), of which there could only be one with this role; or a Backup Domain Controller Backup Domain Controller In Windows NT 4 server domains., the Backup Domain Controller is a computer that has a copy of the user accounts database. Unlike the accounts database on the Primary Domain Controller , the BDC database is a read only copy... (BDC). In Windows 2000 and later the concept of primary and secondary domain controllers were eliminated, partially to emphasize the multi-master replication technology available in Windows. |
All Windows NT-based versions |
| Group Policy Group Policy Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems. Group Policy is a set of rules that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and... |
GP, GPO | Provides centralized management of user and computer settings in an Active Directory environment. Group policy can control a target object's registry Windows registry The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user... , NTFS NTFS NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.... security, audit and security policy Computer security audit A computer security audit is a manual or systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application. Manual assessments include interviewing staff, performing security vulnerability scans, reviewing application and operating system access controls, and analyzing physical access to the... , software installation Installation (computer programs) Installation of a program is the act of putting the program onto a computer system so that it can be executed.... , logon Login Login is the method whereby a user obtains access to a computer system.Login may also refer to:*Magazines:** LOGiN, published by Enterbrain** ;login:, published by USENIX* Login, Carmarthenshire, an hamlet in Carmarthenshire... /logoff scripts, folder redirection Folder redirection In computing, and specifically in the context of Microsoft Windows operating systems, Microsoft refers to Folder Redirection when automatically re-routing I/O to/from standard folders to use storage elsewhere on a network... , and Internet Explorer Internet Explorer Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year... settings. Policy settings are stored in Group Policy Objects (GPOs), and may be linked to one or more sites, domains or organizational units. Related topics: Administrative Template Administrative Template Administrative Templates are a feature of Group Policy, a Microsoft technology for centralised management of machines and users in an Active Directory environment.Administrative Templates facilitate the management of registry-based policy... s |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... and later |
| Internet Information Services Internet Information Services Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,... |
IIS | Web server Web server Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet.... |
Windows NT family |
File systems
| Component | Acronym | Description | |Supported by |
|---|---|---|---|
| File Allocation Table File Allocation Table File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of... |
FAT, FAT12, FAT16 | The original file systems used with MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... . The standard file systems used with Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... through Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... . |
All versions |
| FAT32 | FAT32 | Extensions to FAT supporting larger disk sizes. The standard file system for Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... and Me. |
Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| NTFS NTFS NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.... |
NTFS | Standard file system of Windows NT; supports security via access control list Access control list An access control list , with respect to a computer file system, is a list of permissions attached to an object. An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects. Each entry in a typical ACL specifies a subject... s, as well as file system journaling Journaling file system A journaling file system is a file system that keeps track of the changes that will be made in a journal before committing them to the main file system... and file-system metadata. Windows 2000 added support for reparse points (making NTFS junction point NTFS junction point An NTFS junction point is a feature of the NTFS file system that provides the ability to create a symbolic link to a directory which then functions as an alias of that directory... s and Single instance storage possible), Hard link Hard link In computing, a hard link is a directory entry that associates a name with a file on a file system. . The term is used in file systems which allow multiple hard links to be created for the same file. This has the effect of creating multiple names for the same file, causing an aliasing effect: e.g... s, file compression, and Sparse file Sparse file In computer science, a sparse file is a type of computer file that attempts to use file system space more efficiently when blocks allocated to the file are mostly empty. This is achieved by writing brief information representing the empty blocks to disk instead of the actual "empty" space which... s. Encryption of data is provided by Encrypting File System Encrypting File System The Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption... . Symbolic link Symbolic link In computing, a symbolic link is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory in the form of an absolute or relative path and that affects pathname resolution. Symbolic links were already present by 1978 in mini-computer operating systems from DEC and Data... s and transactioning of file operations via Transactional NTFS Transactional NTFS Transactional NTFS is a component of Windows Vista and later operating systems. It brings the concept of atomic transactions to the NTFS file system, allowing Windows application developers to write file output routines that are guaranteed either to succeed completely or to fail completely.-... are features new to Windows Vista Features new to Windows Vista Windows Vista has many new features compared with previous Microsoft Windows versions, covering most aspects of the operating system.This article discusses the changes most likely to be of interest to non-technical users... . Windows 95 also supports reading NTFS partitions, over a network. |
Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... , Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... , Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| ISO 9660 ISO 9660 ISO 9660, also referred to as CDFS by some hardware and software providers, is a file system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization for optical disc media.... |
ISO 9660 ("CDFS") | The predominant file system for CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... and DVD-ROM media. Windows includes support for Joliet extensions Joliet (file system) Joliet is the name of an extension to the ISO 9660 file system. It has been specified and endorsed by Microsoft and has been supported by all versions of its Windows OS since Windows 95 and Windows NT... and the ISO 9660:1999 standard. ISO 9660:1999 is supported since Windows XP. |
MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... and Windows 9x Windows 9x Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel... via extensions, such as MSCDEX.EXE (Microsoft CDROM Extension), natively in Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... |
| Universal Disk Format Universal Disk Format Universal Disk Format is an implementation of the specification known as ISO/IEC 13346 and ECMA-167 and is an open vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660... |
UDF | A file system File system A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the... for storing files on optical media. It is an implementation of the ISO/IEC 13346 standard (also known as ECMA Ecma International Ecma International is an international, private non-profit standards organization for information and communication systems. It acquired its name in 1994, when the European Computer Manufacturers Association changed its name to reflect the organization's global reach and activities... -167). It is considered to be a replacement of ISO 9660 ISO 9660 ISO 9660, also referred to as CDFS by some hardware and software providers, is a file system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization for optical disc media.... . Successive versions of Windows have supported newer versions of UDF. |
Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... , Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| HPFS | HPFS | High-Performance File system, used on OS/2 OS/2 OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal... computers. Read and write capability in Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... (where it also listed network computer NTFS-formatted drives as "HPFS", even though it had no direct NTFS capabilities). HPFS write support was dropped in Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... and Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , and dropped altogether shortly before the release of Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... . |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... (Read/write), Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... (read), 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 is the first release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server and business desktop operating systems, and was released to manufacturing on 27 July 1993. The version number was chosen to match the one of Windows 3.1, the then-latest operating environment from Microsoft, on account of... /3.51 Windows NT 3.51 Windows NT 3.51 is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on 30 May 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the... (read/write/boot) |
Core components
| Component | Acronym | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows kernel (Windows NT) |
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| Ntoskrnl.exe Ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.exe is the kernel image for the family of Microsoft Windows NT operating systems... |
The Windows kernel image. Provides the kernel and executive layers of the kernel architecture, and is responsible for services such as hardware virtualization, process and memory management, etc. | |||
| hal.dll | HAL | Provides and handles the interaction between software and hardware via the Hardware Abstraction Layer. | ||
| Core processes (Windows NT) | ||||
| System idle process System idle process In Windows NT operating systems, the System Idle Process contains one or more kernel threads which run when no other runnable thread can be scheduled on a CPU. For example, there may be no runnable thread in the system, or all runnable threads are already running on a different CPU... |
SIP | A counter which measures how much idle capacity the CPU has at any given time. The process runs in the background and monitors processing bandwidth, occupied memory and the Windows virtual paging file. | ||
| Session Manager Subsystem Session Manager Subsystem Session Manager Subsystem, or smss.exe, is a component of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system and successor operating systems. It is executed during the startup process of Windows NT, Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista. At this time it:... |
SMSS | Performs several critical boot-time operations, such as the creation of environment variables, starting CSRSS, and performing file-copy operations that were queued up from before the system was booted (pending file rename operations). During system operation, it handles Windows File Protection Windows File Protection Windows File Protection , a sub-system included in Microsoft Windows operating systems of the Windows 2000 and Windows XP era, aims to prevent programs from replacing critical Windows system files. Protecting core system files mitigates problems such as DLL hell with programs and the operating system... and the creation of logon sessions via Winlogon Winlogon In computing, Winlogon is the component of Microsoft Windows operating systems that is responsible for handling the secure attention sequence, loading the user profile on logon, and optionally locking the computer when a screensaver is running... . |
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| Client/Server Runtime Subsystem | CSRSS | User-mode side of the Win32 subsystem. Provides the capability for applications to use the Windows API Windows API The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft's core set of application programming interfaces available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was formerly called the Win32 API; however, the name "Windows API" more accurately reflects its roots in 16-bit Windows and its support on... . |
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| Local Security Authority Subsystem Service Local Security Authority Subsystem Service Local Security Authority Subsystem Service , is a process in Microsoft Windows operating systems that is responsible for enforcing the security policy on the system. It verifies users logging on to a Windows computer or server, handles password changes, and creates access tokens... |
LSASS | Responsible for enforcing the security policy on the system. Verifies users logging on to the computer and creates security tokens. | ||
| Winlogon Winlogon In computing, Winlogon is the component of Microsoft Windows operating systems that is responsible for handling the secure attention sequence, loading the user profile on logon, and optionally locking the computer when a screensaver is running... |
Responsible for handling the secure attention key Secure attention key A secure attention key is a special key or key combination to be pressed on a computer keyboard before a login screen must be trusted by a user. The operating system kernel, which interacts directly with the hardware, is able to detect whether the secure attention key has been pressed... , loading the user profile on logon, and optionally locking the computer when a screensaver Screensaver A screensaver is a type of computer program initially designed to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer monitors by blanking the screen or filling it with moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use... is running. On Windows NT systems prior to Windows Vista, Winlogon is also responsible for loading GINA Graphical identification and authentication The graphical identification and authentication library is a component of some Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides secure authentication and interactive logon services.... libraries which are responsible collecting logon credentials from the user. |
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| Svchost.exe Svchost.exe In the Windows NT family of operating systems, svchost.exe is a system process which hosts multiple Windows services. Its executable image, %SystemRoot%\System32\Svchost.exe or %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\Svchost.exe runs in multiple instances, each hosting one or more services... |
A generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). Several Svchost processes are typically present on a Windows machine, each running in a different security context, depending on what privileges the contained services require. | |||
| Windows on Windows Windows on Windows In computing, Windows on Windows - commonly referred to by its acronym WOW or WoW - is a software component of 32-bit versions of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that provides limited support for running legacy Win16 applications - applications written for Windows 3.x... and WOW64 WoW64 WoW64 is a subsystem of the Windows operating system that is capable of running 32-bit applications and is included on all 64-bit versions of Windows—including Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, IA-64 and x64 versions of Windows Server 2003, as well as 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, Windows... |
WoW | An abstraction layer that allows legacy code to operate on more modern versions of Windows; typically this means running 16-bit Windows applications on 32-bit Windows, and 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows. | ||
| Virtual DOS machine Virtual DOS machine Virtual DOS machine is Microsoft's technology that allows running legacy DOS and 16-bit Windows programs on Intel 80386 or higher computers when there is already another operating system running and controlling the hardware.-Overview:... |
NTVDM | Allows MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... programs to run on Intel 80386 Intel 80386 The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386, was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors and were used as the central processing unit of many workstations and high-end personal computers of the time... or higher computers when there is already another operating system running and controlling the hardware. Introduced in Windows 2.1; not available in any 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s... edition of Windows. |
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| System startup (Windows NT) |
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| NTLDR NTLDR NTLDR is the boot loader for all releases of Windows NT operating system up to and including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. NTLDR is typically run from the primary hard disk drive, but it can also run from portable storage devices such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or floppy disk... , IA64ldr, Winload |
The boot loader; performs basic system initialization options such as loading the hardware abstraction layer and boot-time device drivers, prior to passing control to the Windows kernel. In versions prior to Vista, NTLDR and IA64ldr also display menus to the user if multiple operating systems are defined in boot.ini, or if F8 is pressed. | |||
| Recovery Console Recovery Console The Recovery Console is a feature of the Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. It provides the means for administrators to perform a limited range of tasks using a command line interface. Its primary function is to enable administrators to recover from situations... |
Provides the means for administrators to perform a limited range of tasks using a command line interface, primarily to aid in recovering from situations where Windows does not boot Booting In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the... successfully. |
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| ntdetect.com Ntdetect.com ntdetect.com is a component of Microsoft Windows NT-based operating systems that operate on the x86 architecture. It is used during the Windows NT startup process, and is responsible for detecting basic hardware that will be required to start the operating system.Though it has the .COM extension,... |
Used during the boot process to detect basic hardware components that may be required during the boot process. | |||
| Windows Boot Manager | In Windows Vista and later operating systems, displays boot menus to the user if multiple operating systems are configured in the system's Boot Configuration Data. | |||
| Graphical subsystem | ||||
| Desktop Window Manager Desktop Window Manager Desktop Window Manager is the window manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that enables the Windows Aero graphical user interface and visual theme. The Desktop Window Manager requires video cards supporting DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 2.0. DWM is not included with Windows Vista Starter edition... |
DWM | The compositing manager Compositing window manager A compositing window manager is a type of window manager. A window manager is software that draws a graphical user interface on a computer display – it positions windows, draws additional elements on windows , and controls how windows interact with each other, and with the rest of the desktop... introduced in Windows Vista that handles compositing and manages special effects on screen objects in a graphical user interface. |
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| Graphics Device Interface Graphics Device Interface The Graphics Device Interface is a Microsoft Windows application programming interface and core operating system component responsible for representing graphical objects and transmitting them to output devices such as monitors and printers.... |
GDI/GDI+ | The kernel graphics component for representing graphical objects and transmitting them to output devices such as monitors and printers. | ||
| Windows USER | The Windows USER component provides core user interface, messaging and visual elements. | |||
Services
This list is not all-inclusive (see also: Windows ServicesWindows Service
On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...
).
| Display name | |Service key name | Description | |Introduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Directory Service | NTDS | Network Authentication Management | Windows 2000 Server |
| Alerter service Alerter service The Alerter service is a Microsoft Windows service which is used to send administrative alerts. It alerts users about security, access, and user session problems... |
Alerter | Sends administrative alerts over the network to client computers, administrators and users. | Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... |
| Application Layer Gateway service Application-level gateway In the context of computer networking, an application-level gateway consists of a security component that augments a firewall or NAT employed in a computer network... |
ALG | Provides support for plugins that allow network protocols to pass through Windows Firewall Windows Firewall Windows Firewall is a software component of Microsoft Windows that provides firewalling and packet filtering functions. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003... and work behind Internet Connection Sharing Internet Connection Sharing Internet Connection Sharing is the use of a device with Internet access such as 3G cellular service, broadband via Ethernet, or other Internet gateway as an access point for other devices... . |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Application Management | AppMgmt | Processes requests to enumerate, install, and remove applications that are installed on the computer or deployed through an organization’s network. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Background Intelligent Transfer Service Background Intelligent Transfer Service Background Intelligent Transfer Service is a component of Microsoft Windows XP and later operating systems that facilitates prioritized, throttled, and asynchronous transfer of files between machines using idle network bandwidth... |
BITS | Transfers files between machines using idle network bandwidth. Used by Windows Update Windows Update Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer... , Windows Server Update Services Windows Server Update Services - External links :* * * – contains many detailed documents on WSUS operation, known issues, and troubleshooting* - German WSUS-Community * - Control installation of WSUS updates from command line... , and Systems Management Server to deliver software update Software Update Software Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update.... s to clients, as well as by Windows Messenger Windows Messenger Windows Messenger is a client by Microsoft that is included in the Windows XP operating system. Designed for use by corporate users as well as home users, it was originally created as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger... . |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Computer Browser Browser service Browser service or Computer Browser Service is a feature of Microsoft Windows to let users easily browse and locate shared resources in neighboring computers. This is done by aggregating the information in a single computer 'Browse Master'... |
Browser | Crawls neighboring computers on the network and locates shared resource Shared resource In computing, a shared resource or network share is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer, typically via a local area network or an enterprise Intranet, transparently as if it were a resource in the local machine.Examples are shared file... s. One of the computers acts as the Master Browser and supplies this information to other computers designated as browsers. |
Windows for Workgroups |
| Distributed Link Tracking | TrkWks, TrkSrv | Used to track links to files on NTFS volumes. Windows uses these services to find linked files if they are renamed or moved (locally or to another machine). | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Distributed Transaction Coordinator Distributed Transaction Coordinator The Distributed Transaction Coordinator service is a component of modern versions of Microsoft Windows that is responsible for coordinating transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems... |
MSDTC | Allows transactional components to be configured through COM+ by coordinating transactions that are distributed across multiple computers and/or resource managers, such as databases, message queues, file systems, and other transaction–based resource managers. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... and later NT-based |
| DNS Client and Server Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.- Overview :... |
DNSCache/DNS | The client service resolves and caches DNS names. The DNS server performs DNS name resolution. | Client in Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... and later NT-based, Server in Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... and later NT-based |
| Event Log | EventLog | Stores and retrieves events that can be viewed in the event viewer. Part of services.exe Service Control Manager Service Control Manager is a special system process under Windows NT family of operating systems, which starts, stops and interacts with Windows service processes. It is located in %SystemRoot%\services.exe executable... . |
Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... |
| Extensible Authentication Protocol Extensible Authentication Protocol Extensible Authentication Protocol, or EAP, is an authentication framework frequently used in wireless networks and Point-to-Point connections. It is defined in RFC 3748, which made RFC 2284 obsolete, and was updated by RFC 5247.... |
EAPHost | Provides EAP authentication to connecting clients | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Indexing Service Windows indexing service Indexing Service was a Windows service that maintained an index of most of the files on a computer to improve searching performance on PCs and corporate computer networks. It updated indexed without user intervention... |
CISVC | Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... and later NT-based |
| Network Location Awareness | NLA | Manages network configurations and information, and notifies applications of changes. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Network Store Interface Service | NSIS | Collects routing information of active network interfaces, shares this with other services and notifies applications of changes. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| NTLM Security Support Provider NTLMSSP NTLMSSP is a binary messaging protocol used by the Microsoft Security Support Provider Interface to facilitate NTLM challenge-response authentication and to negotiate integrity and confidentiality options... |
NTLMSSP | Uses the NTLM NTLM In a Windows network, NTLM is a suite of Microsoft security protocols that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users.... MS-CHAP MS-CHAP MS-CHAP is the Microsoft version of the Challenge-handshake authentication protocol, CHAP. The protocol exists in two versions, MS-CHAPv1 and MS-CHAPv2... protocol to encapsulate and negotiate options in order to provide signed and sealed communication. Deprecated now in favor of Kerberos authentication. |
Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... |
| PNRP Peer Name Resolution Protocol Peer Name Resolution Protocol is a peer-to-peer protocol designed by Microsoft. PNRP enables dynamic name publication and resolution, and requires IPv6.PNRP was first mentioned during a presentation at a P2P conference in November 2001... |
PNRPSvc | Resolves domain names using PNRP. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Plug and Play | PlugPlay | Enables autodetection and configuration of hardware. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Print Spooler | Spooler | Manages printer devices and moves files into memory for printing. | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... |
| Secondary Logon (Run As...) | SecLogon | Allows users to run programs with a different account than the one they logged in with. Allows non-administrative accounts to perform administrative tasks. | |
| Security Account Manager Security Account Manager The Security Accounts Manager is a registry file in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It stores users' passwords in a hashed format... |
SamSs | Manages user account security information. | Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... family |
| System Event Notification | SENS | Monitors system events, such as network, power, logon, logoff, terminal services session connection and disconnection, and delivers these to applications and other system components. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Task Scheduler Task Scheduler Task Scheduler is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals. It was first introduced in the Windows 95 Plus! pack as System Agent but was renamed to Task Scheduler in Windows 98... |
Schedule | Lets users setup and schedule automated tasks. | Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications... for Windows 95 |
| TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper | LmHosts | Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS NetBIOS NetBIOS is an acronym for Network Basic Input/Output System. It provides services related to the session layer of the OSI model allowing applications on separate computers to communicate over a local area network. As strictly an API, NetBIOS is not a networking protocol... name resolution. |
Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... family |
| Windows Audio | AudioSrv | Manages audio devices for Windows-based programs. Controls all audio functions. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Windows Error Reporting Windows Error Reporting Windows Error Reporting is a crash reporting technology introduced by Microsoft with Windows XP and included in later Windows versions and Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0. Not to be confused with the Dr... |
WERSvc | Generates error logs and reports errors. On Windows Vista and later, it notifies of solutions. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Windows Image Acquisition Windows Image Acquisition Windows Image Acquisition is a Microsoft driver model and application programming interface for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras and Digital Video-equipment... (WIA) |
STISvc | Handles scanner and camera inputs. | Windows Me Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
| Windows Time | W32Time | Synchronizes the system time with external time servers. From Windows Server 2003 forward, full and compliant NTP Network Time Protocol The Network Time Protocol is a protocol and software implementation for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. Originally designed by David L... support is provided. |
Windows 2000 |
| Windows Update Windows Update Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer... |
WUAUServ | Provides updates for the operating system and its installed components. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| Wireless Zero Configuration Wireless Zero Configuration Wireless Zero Configuration , also known as Wireless Auto Configuration, or WLAN AutoConfig is a wireless connection management utility included with Microsoft Windows XP and later operating systems as a service that dynamically selects a wireless network to connect to based on a user's preferences... |
WZCSvc (XP), WLANSvc | Configures and manages 802.11 IEEE 802.11 IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent... wireless adapters. |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Server 2003 only |
| Messenger service Messenger Service Messenger Service is a network-based system notification service included in some versions of Microsoft Windows. This service, although it has a similar name, is not related in any way to the .NET Messenger Service or the Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger instant messaging... |
Messenger | Allows users to send pop-up messages to other computers over the network. | Windows NT family |
| MSRPC MSRPC Microsoft RPC is a modified version of DCE/RPC. Additions include support for Unicode strings, implicit handles, inheritance of interfaces , and complex calculations in the variable-length string and structure paradigms already present in DCE/RPC.- Example :The DCE 1.0 reference implementation... |
RpcSs | Provides Remote Procedure Call Remote procedure call In computer science, a remote procedure call is an inter-process communication that allows a computer program to cause a subroutine or procedure to execute in another address space without the programmer explicitly coding the details for this remote interaction... (RPC) technique via remotely accessible Named Pipes. |
Windows NT Windows NT Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement... family |
| Volume Shadow Copy Service Volume Shadow Copy Service Shadow Copy , is a technology included in Microsoft Windows that allows taking manual or automatic backup copies or snapshots of data, even if it has a lock, on a specific volume at a specific point in time over regular intervals... |
VSS | Create multiple versions of files that change. Gained ability to store persistent snapshots in Windows Server 2003. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| WebClient | Enables Windows-based programs to create and interact with Internet-based files. | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
|
| Windows Firewall Windows Firewall Windows Firewall is a software component of Microsoft Windows that provides firewalling and packet filtering functions. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003... / Internet Connection Sharing Internet Connection Sharing Internet Connection Sharing is the use of a device with Internet access such as 3G cellular service, broadband via Ethernet, or other Internet gateway as an access point for other devices... |
SharedAccess | Internet Connection Sharing (Firewall) | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
Games
| Component | Description | Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Chess Titans Chess Titans Chess Titans is a chess video game developed by Oberon Games and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium, Business/Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate.-Graphics:... |
A version of Chess Chess Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player... . |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| FreeCell FreeCell (Windows) FreeCell, as included in Microsoft Windows, is a computer implementation of the card game FreeCell.-History:The first computer version of the game is believed to have been created by Paul Alfille in 1978 for the PLATO system. Microsoft developer Jim Horne, who learned the game from the PLATO... |
A version of FreeCell FreeCell FreeCell is a solitaire-based card game played with a 52-card standard deck. It is fundamentally different from most solitaire games in that nearly all deals can be solved... . |
Win32s Win32s Win32s is a 32-bit application runtime environment for the Microsoft Windows 3.1 and 3.11 operating systems. It allowed some 32-bit applications to run on the 16-bit operating system using call thunks.- Concept and Characteristics :... |
| Hearts | A version of Hearts using Black Lady Black Lady Black Lady is an extremely combative variant of the card game Whist, similar to the popular game Hearts, that is popular in the United Kingdom... scoring. |
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 |
| Mahjong Titans Mahjong Titans Mahjong Titans is a computer game version of mahjong solitaire developed by Oberon Games and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium, Business/Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate, but it can run in Windows XP, too... |
A version of Mahjong solitaire Mahjong solitaire Mahjong solitaire is a solitaire matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles rather than cards. It is also known as Shanghai solitaire, electronic or computerized mahjong, MahJong solitaire, solitaire Mahjong and, erroneously, as Mahjong... . |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Minesweeper Minesweeper (Windows) Windows Minesweeper is a variant of the computer game Minesweeper, created by Curt Johnson, originally for OS/2, and ported to Microsoft Windows by Robert Donner, both Microsoft employees at the time... |
A version of Minesweeper Minesweeper (computer game) Minesweeper is a single-player video game. The object of the game is to clear an abstract minefield without detonating a mine. The game has been written for many system platforms in use today.... . |
Windows 3.1 |
| Purble Place Purble Place Purble Place is a suite of computer games, developed by Oberon Games and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that offers an environment for children to practice pattern recognition, represented by the schoolhouse at the left of Purble Place. The object is to clear the tableau in the fewest... |
An educational game for children, teaching pattern recognition, shapes, and colors. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
| Solitaire | A version of Klondike Solitaire Klondike (solitaire) Klondike is a Patience game . Many people refer to Klondike as patience or solitaire .- Rules :... . |
Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
| Spider Solitaire Spider Solitaire (Windows) Spider Solitaire is a card game that is included in Microsoft Windows. It is a version of Spider. It was first included in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 98.-Features:... |
A version of Spider Solitaire Spider (solitaire) Spider is a type of Patience game. It is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games.-The game:The main purpose of the game is to remove all cards from the table, assembling them in the tableau before removing them. Initially, 54 cards are dealt to the tableau in ten piles, face down except... . |
Microsoft Plus! 98 Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications... |
DirectXDirectXMicrosoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
- Direct3DDirect3DDirect3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
- DirectDrawDirectDrawDirectDraw is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. DirectDraw is used to render graphics in applications where top performance is important. DirectDraw also allows applications to run fullscreen or embedded in a window such as most other MS Windows applications. DirectDraw uses hardware acceleration if...
- DirectInputDirectInputIn computing, DirectInput is a Microsoft API for collecting input from a computer user, via input devices such as the mouse, keyboard, joystick or other game controllers. It also provides a system for action mapping, which allows the user to assign specific actions within a game to the buttons and...
- DirectMusicDirectMusicDirectMusic is a deprecated component of the Microsoft DirectX API that allows music and sound effects to be composed and played and provides flexible interactive control over the way they are played. Architecturally, DirectMusic is a high-level set of objects, built on top of DirectSound, that...
- DirectPlayDirectPlayDirectPlay is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. DirectPlay is a network communication library intended for computer game development, although its general nature certainly allows it to be used for other purposes....
- DirectShowDirectShowDirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...
- DirectSoundDirectSoundDirectSound is a software component of the Microsoft DirectX library for the Windows operating system. DirectSound provides a low-latency interface to the sound card driver and can handle the mixing and recording of multiple audio streams....
- DirectX Media Objects
- DirectX pluginDirectX pluginIn computer music and professional audio creation, a DirectX plugin is a software processing component that can be loaded as a plugin into host applications to allow real-time processing, audio effects, mixing audio or act as virtual synthesizers...
- DirectX Video Acceleration
Networking
- Administrative share
- Distributed File SystemDistributed File System (Microsoft)Distributed File System is a set of client and server services that allow an organization using Microsoft Windows servers to organize many distributed SMB file shares into a distributed file system...
- My Network PlacesMy Network PlacesIn the Microsoft Windows operating systems, My Network Places is the network browser feature in Windows Explorer from Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows Me onwards...
(formerly Network Neighborhood) - Network Access ProtectionNetwork Access ProtectionNetwork Access Protection is a Microsoft technology for controlling network access of a computer host based on the system health of the host, first introduced in Windows Server 2008....
- Remote Installation ServicesRemote Installation ServicesRIS, Remote Installation Services is a Microsoft-supplied server that allows PXE BIOS-enabled computers to remotely execute boot environment variables.-Background:...
- Server Message BlockServer Message BlockIn computer networking, Server Message Block , also known as Common Internet File System operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an...
- Windows Rights Management ServicesWindows Rights Management ServicesWindows Rights Management Services is a form of Information Rights Management used on Microsoft Windows that uses encryption and a form of selective functionality denial for limiting access to documents such as corporate e-mail, Word documents, and web pages, and the operations...
Scripting and command-line
- Batch fileBatch fileIn DOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows, batch file is the name given to a type of script file, a text file containing a series of commands to be executed by the command interpreter....
- CHKDSKCHKDSKCHKDSK is a command on computers running DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems that displays the file system integrity status of hard disks and floppy disk and can fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix.The command is implemented as an executable...
- Cmd.exeCmd.exeCommand Prompt is the Microsoft-supplied command-line interpreter on OS/2, Windows CE and on Windows NT-based operating systems...
- ComSpecComSpecComSpec is one of the environment variables used in MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, which normally points to the command line interpreter, which is by default command.com in MS-DOS or cmd.exe in Windows NT...
- IpconfigIpconfigipconfig in Microsoft Windows is a console application that displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values and can modify Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP and Domain Name System DNS settings....
- Net
- Net Send
- Netdom.exe: Windows Domain Manager
- NetshNetshIn software, netsh, or network shell, is a utility included in Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems beginning with Windows 2000. It allows local or remote configuration of network devices such as the interface....
- NetstatNetstatnetstat is a command-line tool that displays network connections , routing tables, and a number of network interface statistics...
- QBasicQBasicQBasic is an IDE and interpreter for a variant of the BASIC programming language which is based on QuickBASIC. Code entered into the IDE is compiled to an intermediate form, and this intermediate form is immediately interpreted on demand within the IDE. It can run under nearly all versions of DOS...
- Regsvr32
- RobocopyRobocopyRobocopy, or "Robust File Copy", is a command-line directory replication command. It has been available as part of the Windows Resource Kit starting with Windows NT 4.0, and was introduced as a standard feature of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008...
- Win32 consoleWin32 consoleWin32 console is a text user interface implementation within the system of Windows API, which runs console applications. A Win32 console has a screen buffer and an input buffer, and is available both as a window or in text mode screen, with switching back and forth available via Alt-Enter...
- Windows Script HostWindows Script HostThe Microsoft Windows Script Host is an automation technology for Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides scripting capabilities comparable to batch files, but with a greater range of supported features...
- Windows PowerShellWindows PowerShellWindows PowerShell is Microsoft's task automation framework, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on top of, and integrated with the .NET Framework...
- XCOPYXCOPYIn computing, Xcopy is a command used on PC DOS, MS-DOS, OS/2, Microsoft Windows, and related operating systems for copying multiple files or entire directory trees from one directory to another and for copying files across a network...
Kernel
- Commit chargeCommit chargeIn computing, commit charge is a term used in Microsoft Windows operating systems to describe the total amount of pageable virtual address space for which no backing store is assigned other than the pagefile. On systems with a pagefile, it may be thought of as the maximum potential pagefile usage...
- Kernel Transaction ManagerKernel Transaction ManagerKernel Transaction Manager is a component of the Windows operating system kernel in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that enables applications to use atomic transactions on resources by making them available as kernel objects...
- Win32 Thread Information BlockWin32 Thread Information BlockIn computing, the Win32 Thread Information Block is a data structure in Win32 on x86 that stores info about the currently running thread. This structure is also known as the Thread Environment Block ....
.NET Framework.NET FrameworkThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
- .NET assembly.NET assemblyIn the .NET framework, an assembly is a compiled code library used for deployment, versioning, and security. There are two types: process assemblies and library assemblies . A process assembly represents a process that will use classes defined in library assemblies...
- .NET Languages
- .NET metadata.NET metadata.NET metadata, in the Microsoft .NET framework, refers to certain data structures embedded within the Common Intermediate Language code that describes the high-level structure of the code. Metadata describes all classes and class members that are defined in the assembly, and the classes and class...
- .NET Remoting.NET Remoting.NET Remoting is a Microsoft application programming interface for interprocess communication released in 2002 with the 1.0 version of .NET Framework. It is one in a series of Microsoft technologies that began in 1990 with the first version of Object Linking and Embedding for 16-bit Windows...
- ADO.NETADO.NETADO.NET is a set of computer software components that programmers can use to access data and data services. It is a part of the base class library that is included with the Microsoft .NET Framework. It is commonly used by programmers to access and modify data stored in relational database systems,...
- ASP.NETASP.NETASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
- Base Class LibraryBase Class LibraryThe Base Class Library is a standard library available to all languages using the .NET Framework. .NET includes the BCL in order to encapsulate a large number of common functions, such as file reading and writing, graphic rendering, database interaction, and XML document manipulation, which makes...
- Common Intermediate LanguageCommon Intermediate LanguageCommon Intermediate Language is the lowest-level human-readable programming language defined by the Common Language Infrastructure specification and is used by the .NET Framework and Mono...
- Common Language InfrastructureCommon Language InfrastructureThe Common Language Infrastructure is an open specification developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO and ECMA that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft .NET Framework and the free and open source implementations Mono and Portable.NET...
- Common Language RuntimeCommon Language RuntimeThe Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as just-in-time compilation, the CLR compiles the intermediate language code known as CIL into the machine instructions...
- Common Type SystemCommon Type SystemIn Microsoft's .NET Framework, the Common Type System is a standard that specifies how Type definitions and specific values of Types are represented in...
- Virtual Execution SystemVirtual Execution SystemThe Virtual Execution System provides an environment for executing managed code. It provides direct support for a set of built-in data types, defines a hypothetical machine with an associated machine model and state, a set of control flow constructs, and an exception handling model...
- Windows CardSpaceWindows CardSpaceWindows CardSpace , is Microsoft's now-canceled client software for the Identity Metasystem. CardSpace is an instance of a class of identity client software called an Identity Selector. CardSpace stores references to users' digital identities for them, presenting them to users as visual...
- Windows Communication FoundationWindows Communication FoundationThe Windows Communication Foundation , previously known as "Indigo", is an application programming interface in the .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented applications.-The architectures:...
- Windows FormsWindows FormsWindows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...
- Windows Presentation FoundationWindows Presentation FoundationDeveloped by Microsoft, the Windows Presentation Foundation is a computer-software graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0. Rather than relying on the older GDI...
- Windows Workflow FoundationWindows Workflow FoundationWindows Workflow Foundation is a Microsoft technology that provides an API, an in-process workflow engine, and a rehostable designer to implement long-running processes as workflows within .NET applications...
Security
| Component | Description | Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| AppLocker | AppLocker uses rules and the properties of the files to provide access control for applications. | Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT 6.1, the same core... |
| BitLocker Drive Encryption BitLocker Drive Encryption BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature included with the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop operating systems, as well as the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 server platforms. It is designed to protect data by... |
A full disk encryption, designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... Enterprise and Ultimate editions, Windows Server 2008 |
| Data Execution Prevention Data Execution Prevention Data Execution Prevention is a security feature included in modern operating systems.It is known to be available in Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating systems and is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. This helps... |
A security feature that is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... Service Pack 2 |
| Encrypting File System Encrypting File System The Encrypting File System on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption... |
A file system driver that provides filesystem-level encryption. | Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
| Security Account Manager Security Account Manager The Security Accounts Manager is a registry file in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It stores users' passwords in a hashed format... |
A database stored as a registry file | Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 is the first release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server and business desktop operating systems, and was released to manufacturing on 27 July 1993. The version number was chosen to match the one of Windows 3.1, the then-latest operating environment from Microsoft, on account of... |
| SYSKEY SYSKEY SYSKEY is a utility that encrypts the hashed password information in a SAM database in a Windows system using a 128-bit encryption key.SYSKEY was an optional feature added in Windows NT 4.0 SP3. It was meant to protect against offline password cracking attacks so that the SAM database would still... |
A utility that encrypts the hashed password information in a SAM database using a 128-bit encryption key. |
Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... Service Pack 3 |
| User Account Control User Account Control User Account Control is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, with a more relaxed version also present in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2... |
A technology and security infrastructure utility aims to improve the security of Microsoft Windows by limiting application software to standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes an increase. |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... , Windows Server 2008 |
| Windows Firewall Windows Firewall Windows Firewall is a software component of Microsoft Windows that provides firewalling and packet filtering functions. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003... (wf.msc) |
A utility designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. An earlier edition known as Internet Connection Firewall that was disabled by default was included with the original Windows XP release. |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... Service Pack 2 |
| Windows Defender Windows Defender Windows Defender, formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware, is a software product from Microsoft to prevent, remove, and quarantine spyware in Microsoft Windows... |
A security utility to prevent, remove and quarantine spyware in Microsoft Windows. This utility is superseded by Microsoft Security Essentials, available as a free download. |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... download |
| Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection is a feature in Windows Vista that replaces Windows File Protection. It protects registry keys and folders in addition to critical system files. The way it protects resources differs entirely from the method used by Windows File Protection.- Overview :Windows File... |
A feature that protects registry keys and folders in addition to critical system files. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Deprecated components and programs
| Component | Description | Category | Introduced | Last OS Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... included |
Superseded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3D Pinball | A pinball video game version from Full Tilt! Pinball. | Game | Plus! 95 for Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
No |
| ActiveMovie ActiveMovie ActiveMovie is a streaming media technology now known as DirectShow, developed by Microsoft to replace Video for Windows. ActiveMovie allows users to view media streams, whether distributed via the Internet, an intranet and CD-ROMs.... |
Streaming media technology | API | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
--- | DirectShow DirectShow DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology... |
| Cardfile Cardfile Cardfile is a personal information manager that was distributed with Microsoft Windows starting from the original version 1.01 until Windows NT 4.0 Server. Cardfile is also included with Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, but has to be installed manually from the installation CD-ROM.... |
A personal information manager software. | Personal organizer | Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
Windows ME Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
Outlook Express Outlook Express Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9... , or Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
| DriveSpace | A disk compression utility. | Data compression | MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... |
Windows ME Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
No |
| File Manager | A file manager program. | File manager | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... |
Windows Explorer Windows Explorer This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface... |
| HyperTerminal | A communication utility on a low end version of HyperACCESS. | Communication | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
No |
| Hover Hover Hover may refer to:*Hovering , the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contactIn transport* Hover , nearly stationary flight in a helicopter... |
A video game in a combination of bumper cars and capture the flag. | Game | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
--- | No |
| Internet Mail and News Microsoft Internet Mail and News Microsoft Internet Mail and News is a freeware e-mail and news client and ancestor of Outlook Express. The version 1.0 was released in 1996 following the Internet Explorer 3.0 release.... |
A e-mail and news client. | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
--- | Outlook Express Outlook Express Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9... , or Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
|
| Media Control Interface Media Control Interface The Media Control Interface — MCI for short — is a high-level API developed by Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia peripherals connected to a Microsoft Windows or OS/2 computer, such as CD-ROM players and audio controllers.... |
A program which can play media files and record sound by passing commands as strings. | API | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
--- | No |
| Media Player | A media player software. | Media player | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Media Player Windows Media Player Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices... |
| Microsoft Calendar Microsoft Calendar Calendar is a personal organiser program that was distributed with Microsoft Windows from version 1.01 until Windows 3.11. It was superseded by the calendar in Microsoft Schedule+, which was included in Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT... |
A personal organizer program. | Personal organizer | Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
Windows Calendar Windows Calendar Windows Calendar is a calendar application that is included with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. It natively supports the iCalendar file format, and has the ability to publish and subscribe to web-based calendars by using HTTP and WebDAV... , or Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
| Microsoft Diagnostics Microsoft Diagnostics 275px|thumb|Screenshot of the MSD utility displaying operating system information.MSD was a software tool developed by Microsoft, to assist in the diagnostics of 1990s era computers... |
A tool provide detailed technical information about user's software and hardware. | Diagnostics | MS-DOS MS-DOS MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating... |
Plus! 95 for Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Microsoft System Information |
| Microsoft Fax | A fax application | Fax | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan is an integrated faxing and scanning application included in some versions of the Windows Vista operating system and all versions of Windows 7. Windows XP includes Fax Console instead.-Features:... |
| Microsoft WinHelp | A proprietary format for online help files that can be displayed by the Microsoft Help browser winhelp.exe or winhlp32.exe. | Online help | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Microsoft Help Microsoft Compressed HTML Help Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format. It was introduced as the successor to Microsoft WinHelp with the release of Windows 98, and is still supported in Windows 7.-History:... |
| NTBackup NTBackup NTBackup is the built-in backup application introduced in Windows NT around 1997 and part of all subsequent versions up to and including Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It uses a proprietary backup format to back up files. Files can be backed up to tape, ZIP drives, floppy... |
A built-in backup command of Microsoft Windows. | Backup | Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... |
Windows Backup and Restore Center, Windows Server Backup |
| Outlook Express Outlook Express Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9... |
A e-mail client application. | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Mail Windows Mail Windows Mail is an email and newsgroup client included in Windows Vista, that was superseded by Windows Live Mail. It is the successor to Outlook Express. Microsoft previewed Windows Mail on Channel 9 on October 10, 2005.... or, Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
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| Program Manager Program Manager Program Manager is the shell of Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x operating systems. This shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface , consisting of icons arranged into program groups. It replaced MS-DOS Executive, a file manager, as the default Windows shell.The program derives from the... |
A shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface, consisting of icons (shortcuts for programs) arranged into program groups. | GUI | Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Explorer Windows Explorer This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface... |
| Recorder (Macro Recorder) |
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| Reversi Reversi Reversi is a board game involving abstract strategy and played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. Pieces typically are disks with a light and a dark face, each face belonging to one player... |
A version of Reversi. | Game | Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front... |
Internet Reversi only on Windows ME Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... and Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
| System File Checker System File Checker System File Checker is a utility in Microsoft Windows that allows users to scan for and restore corruptions in Windows system files. This utility is available on Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003... |
A utility that allows users to scan for and restore corruptions in Windows system files. | Security | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... |
Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... |
Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection is a feature in Windows Vista that replaces Windows File Protection. It protects registry keys and folders in addition to critical system files. The way it protects resources differs entirely from the method used by Windows File Protection.- Overview :Windows File... |
| Video for Windows Video for Windows Video for Windows was a multimedia framework developed by Microsoft that allowed Microsoft Windows to play digital video.-Overview:... |
A multimedia framework program. | API | Windows 3.1 | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
DirectShow DirectShow DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology... |
| Windows Address Book Windows Address Book Windows Address Book is a component of Microsoft Windows that lets users keep a single list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. It is most commonly used by Outlook Express. It was introduced with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996 and improved in subsequent versions. The Windows Address... |
A list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. | Contact manager | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Contacts Windows Contacts Windows Contacts is a contact manager which is included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which replaced and retained most of the functionality of Windows Address Book. Windows Mail integrates with it. Windows Contacts uses a new XML-based schema format where each contact appears as an... , or Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
| Windows Calendar Windows Calendar Windows Calendar is a calendar application that is included with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. It natively supports the iCalendar file format, and has the ability to publish and subscribe to web-based calendars by using HTTP and WebDAV... |
A calendar application. | Personal information | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
| Windows File Protection Windows File Protection Windows File Protection , a sub-system included in Microsoft Windows operating systems of the Windows 2000 and Windows XP era, aims to prevent programs from replacing critical Windows system files. Protecting core system files mitigates problems such as DLL hell with programs and the operating system... |
A sub-system in the operating system, aims to prevent programs from replacing critical Windows system files. | Security | Windows Me Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... as System File Protection |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection Windows Resource Protection is a feature in Windows Vista that replaces Windows File Protection. It protects registry keys and folders in addition to critical system files. The way it protects resources differs entirely from the method used by Windows File Protection.- Overview :Windows File... |
| Windows Mail Windows Mail Windows Mail is an email and newsgroup client included in Windows Vista, that was superseded by Windows Live Mail. It is the successor to Outlook Express. Microsoft previewed Windows Mail on Channel 9 on October 10, 2005.... |
A e-mail and newsgroup client. | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
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| Windows Messaging Windows Messaging Windows Messaging, initially called Microsoft Exchange, is an e-mail client that was included with Windows 95 , 98 and Windows NT 4.0.In Windows 98, it is not installed by default, but available as a separate program in the setup CD.... |
A e-mail client. | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Internet Mail and News, or Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is a free of charge email client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is intended to be a successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista... |
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| Windows Messenger Windows Messenger Windows Messenger is a client by Microsoft that is included in the Windows XP operating system. Designed for use by corporate users as well as home users, it was originally created as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger... |
A internet messaging client. | Internet messaging | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... |
Windows Live Messenger Windows Live Messenger Windows Live Messenger is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft that is currently designed to work with Windows XP , Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Xbox 360, Blackberry OS, iOS, Java ME, S60 on Symbian OS 9.x and Zune HD... |
| Windows Movie Maker Windows Movie Maker Windows Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software application, included in Microsoft Windows Me, XP, and Vista. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be... |
A video creating and editing software. | Video | Windows ME Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Live Movie Maker Windows Live Movie Maker Windows Live Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software that is a part of Microsoft's Windows Live initiative. It is intended to replace Windows Movie Maker that is currently included in Windows Vista... |
| Windows NetMeeting | A video conferencing client. | Web conference | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Meeting Space Windows Meeting Space Windows Meeting Space is the name of a peer-to-peer collaboration program in Windows Vista that supports 2–10 users. Meeting Space does not exist in any version of Windows 7... |
| Windows Photo Gallery Windows Photo Gallery Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista... |
A photo management, tagging, and editing tool client. | Photo | Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Photo Gallery is a photo management and photo sharing application released as a part of Microsoft's Windows Live initiative. It is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery, which is a part of Windows Vista.... |
| Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Windows Photo Viewer is an image viewer developed by Microsoft that is included with Windows 7. It was also included with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 under the name of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It was temporarily replaced with Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista, but has been... |
A image viewer application. | Photo | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
Windows Photo Gallery Windows Photo Gallery Windows Photo Gallery is a photo management, tagging, and editing tool developed by Microsoft, and is included with all editions of Windows Vista... , Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan is an integrated faxing and scanning application included in some versions of the Windows Vista operating system and all versions of Windows 7. Windows XP includes Fax Console instead.-Features:... or Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Photo Gallery is a photo management and photo sharing application released as a part of Microsoft's Windows Live initiative. It is an upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery, which is a part of Windows Vista.... |
| Windows Write Windows Write Microsoft Write is a basic word processor that came with Microsoft Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, and the Windows 3.x series. Throughout its lifespan it was minimally updated, and is comparable to early versions of MacWrite... |
A word processor application. | Word processor | Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows... |
Windows NT 3.5 Windows NT 3.5 Windows NT 3.5 is the second release of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. It was released on 21 September 1994.One of the primary goals during Windows NT 3.5's development was to increase the speed of the operating system; as a result, the project was given the codename "Daytona" in... |
WordPad WordPad WordPad is a basic word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Works Word Processor and Microsoft Word. It replaced Microsoft Write.... |
APIs
- ClearTypeClearTypeClearType is a trademark for Microsoft's implementation of subpixel rendering technology. ClearType attempts to improve the appearance of text on certain types of computer display screens by sacrificing color fidelity for additional intensity variation. This trade-off is asserted to work well on...
- Media FoundationMedia FoundationMicrosoft Media Foundation is a COM-based multimedia framework pipeline and infrastructure platform for digital media in Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8...
- Windows Driver FoundationWindows Driver FoundationWindows Driver Foundation is a set of Microsoft tools that aid in the creation of device drivers for Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows....
- Windows Imaging ComponentWindows Imaging ComponentThe Windows Imaging Component is a Component Object Model based imaging codec framework introduced in Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 3 for working with and processing digital images and image metadata...
- Windows Management InstrumentationWindows Management InstrumentationWindows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification...
Miscellaneous (to be categorized)
- ActiveSyncActiveSyncActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization technology and protocol developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer , and another technology,...
- I/O technologiesVista IO technologiesWindows Vista introduced a number of new I/O functions to the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. They are intended to shorten the time taken to boot the system, improve the responsiveness of the system, and improve the reliability of data storage....
- Microsoft AgentMicrosoft AgentMicrosoft Agent is a technology developed by Microsoft which employs animated characters, text-to-speech engines, and speech recognition software to enhance interaction with computer users. Thus it is an example of an embodied agent. It comes preinstalled as part of Microsoft Windows 2000 through...
- PrefetcherPrefetcherThe Prefetcher is a component of versions of Microsoft Windows starting with Windows XP. It is a component of the Memory Manager that speeds up the Windows boot process, and shortens the amount of time it takes to start up programs...
- ReadyBoostReadyBoostReadyBoost is a disk cache component of Microsoft Windows, first introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista in 2006 and bundled with Windows 7 in 2009...
- Sync Center
- Text Services FrameworkText Services FrameworkThe Text Services Framework , is a COM framework and API in Windows XP and later Windows operating systems that supports advanced text input and text processing. The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and word processing features to applications...
- Universal Audio ArchitectureUniversal Audio ArchitectureUniversal Audio Architecture is an initiative unveiled in 2002 by Microsoft to standardize the hardware and class driver architecture for audio devices in modern Microsoft Windows operating systems...
- Windows Color SystemWindows Color SystemWindows Color System is a platform for color management first included with Windows Vista that aims to achieve color consistency across various software and hardware, including cameras, monitors, printers and scanners. Different devices interpret the same colors differently, according to their...
- Windows Mobile Device CenterWindows Mobile Device CenterWindows Mobile Device Center is a synchronization software program developed by Microsoft, and the successor to ActiveSync. It is designed to synchronize various content including music, video, contacts, calendar events, web browser favorites, and other files between Windows Mobile devices and the...
- Windows RallyWindows RallyWindows Rally is a set of technologies from Microsoft intended to simplify the setup and maintenance of wired and wireless network-connected devices. They aim to increase reliability and security of connectivity for users who connect the devices to the Internet or to computers running Microsoft...
- Windows RegistryWindows registryThe Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
- Windows Speech RecognitionWindows Speech RecognitionWindows Speech Recognition is a speech recognition application included in Windows Vista and more recently, Windows 7.-Features:Windows Speech Recognition allows the user to control the computer by giving specific voice commands...
- XML Paper SpecificationXML Paper SpecificationOpen XML Paper Specification , is an open specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format originally developed by Microsoft as XML Paper Specification that was later standardized by Ecma International as international standard ECMA-388...