The history of Windows XP (III): the long life of an unrepeatable system

Windows XP has lasted longer than any other Microsoft operating system. Ten years after its release, few remembered Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me. Even the later Vista has been consigned to oblivion before. On the other hand, with thirteen years behind it and about to definitively end its life cycle, XP continues to be on everyone's lips, demonstrating extraordinary longevity and maintaining almost a 30% market share.

At its peak time Windows XP was used by more than 80% of personal computer usersThe figure is so high that we will probably never see an operating system with such dominance in the PC market again. But it all ends and Microsoft has decided to stop supporting a system that has earned its fame in spades during its long history. lifetime.

Windows XP Presentation

"

On October 25, 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP The Redmonds celebrated the occasion with a presentation in New York to coincide with with the &39;Professional Developers Conference&39; of that year (PDC 2001). In it, Bill Gates began by making the end of MS-DOS official by executing the exit command on the command line and began the new era with a complete review of all the new features offered by the new version of the operating system. "

"The presentation of Windows XP had everything. There was a very young Joe Belfiore guiding the American presenter Regis Philbin through the different functions of the system while Bill Gates took a walk down Fifth Avenue and displayed his sense of humor.The founder of Microsoft even went so far as to undergo a simulation of the popular television program Who wants to be a millionaire? . Quite an irony for someone who was already the richest person in the world."

In the almost two hours that the presentation of Windows XP lasted, it was clear that the new version was a fundamental change in the most used operating system in the world. Windows XP was destined to be a milestone in Microsoft's history and would eventually become what is probably its most important product over the years.

The timid initial reception and subsequent success

Despite all the impact that Windows XP had, the system ended up reaching the market in a more ste althy way than expected. The attacks of September 11 changed the agenda in the weeks before the release of Windows XP and Microsoft under the level of promotion of its new system.The billion dollars that Redmond and its partners had prepared for the initial marketing campaign thus had less effect on sales.

The lower exit promotion partly explains the low initial sales. In the first months its sales rate was lower than that of Windows 98 Windows XP also did not imply such significant novelties, beyond the visual aspect, for the Windows 2000 users. To this we must also add some criticisms that are not always positive.

The initial start of Windows XP was more timid than expected and Microsoft had to dedicate efforts trying to convince a market that is always reluctant to change the benefits of the new system.

In the beginning, the Luna interface was harshly criticized by more professional users for its colorful and carefree appearance, seen as less serious for an environment such as a business.Even the security of the system was the subject of complaints due to its failures, as well as the lack of compatibility with certain hardware and software. All of the above caused many users to decide to stay on Windows 98 longer than would have been recommended.

Thus, during the first months of life of Windows XP Microsoft had a lot of work trying to convince the market of the benefits of the new system. Users have always been reluctant to change and with Windows XP things were not going to change. Despite everything Windows XP was an undoubted evolution and time would prove it

The system was more stable than any of its predecessors and maintained enviable compatibility considering its new NT kernel. Every new computer for sale came with Windows XP installed making it the de facto dominant operating system when millions of users were joining the internet.And things will only get better in the months to come.

Service Packs and the longevity of Windows XP

If something helped to improve Windows XP and its consolidation in the market, it was the three Service Packs that Microsoft published for its operating system. Each of them fixed major bugs and contained new features that improved the system step by step.

Service Pack 1 didn't even take a year to arrive. Microsoft introduced it on September 9, 2002. It fixed more than 300 small bugs and brought with it all security patches released to date. It added standard support for USB 2.0 and for certain technologies that would soon be used by the Media Center and Tablet PC editions of Windows XP. It also contained a new concession from Redmond after the decisions of the United States antitrust authorities, with a configuration menu that made it easy to change or disable access to Microsoft programs such as Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player.

Service Pack 2 was a little more demanding but introduced even more significant changes to the system. It would arrive on August 25, 2004 and would bring new features to Windows XP, highlighting the improvements in the security section. With Service Pack 2 came Windows Security Center, a tool capable of providing an overview of system security, including monitoring of the firewall, antivirus or updates. Far from stopping there, Service Pack 2 also served to improve the general operation of Windows XP, with better WiFi support, the inclusion of Bluetooth natively and an endless number of small improvements.

The previous one worked so well that we had to wait another four years for the arrival of Service Pack 3 This would arrive on April 21, 2008 into the hands of the manufacturers and on May 6 it would be released publicly through the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update.With it, thousands of errors were corrected and all security updates to date were included again. And with it came three Service Packs that helped extend the long life of Windows XP.

Windows XP, an unrepeatable system

Windows XP lasted longer than any other Microsoft operating system. Its novelties and the evolution that it entailed easily explain such a long success. In Redmond, it also took years to find a replacement at its level and even today they are struggling to finish convincing all those users and companies that remain in the old XP to abandon it.

Its overwhelming and undoubted success, together with Microsoft's delay in finding a replacement at its height, explain why Windows XP lasted longer than any other operating system in the company's history.

After Windows XP in Redmond they decided to embark on Longhorn, an ambitious project that aimed to rebuild Windows with a completely renewed set of APIs and a new file system.There were years of failed attempts until it became clear that things were not going well and, after many delays, the project was finally abandoned completely.

In its place, Microsoft set the machinery in motion for a new version of its operating system that would eventually hit the market under the name of Windows VistaA less ambitious and more conservative version of the system that would hit the market in 2006. By then Windows XP had carved out a huge gap, with more than 80% market share, and no one seemed to want to jump to another system. Windows XP was so dominant that Vista had a hard time trying to convince users. Nor did its higher requirements help, nor its incompatibilities, nor other bulk errors. Windows Vista never gained traction and Steve Ballmer would end up defining it as his biggest mistake during his years at the helm of Microsoft.

It would be the next version, Windows 7, which would start to scratch the old XP market.But it would arrive 8 years later, in 2009. With it, Microsoft managed to find the key to replace the old XP and many users and companies decided to update their equipment at once. Windows 7 has been and is an undoubted success for those in Redmond but it will probably never reach the heights of Windows XP Although it has reached 40-odd percent to be close to From 50% of the market, the spectacular marks of XP remain in their best times, which will probably never be repeated again.

No system has come to dominate the market as much as Windows XP did. The good work of Microsoft and the lack of a replacement explain its success, but the key that explains everything is simply that the system worked And it did it just as users expected. During its years of life, the system proved to be robust and modern enough to last years installed on all types of computers, aging well and providing great service to whoever used it.

But the years do not pass in vain and Microsoft has decided to end support for the old XP. After more than a decade running on computers around the world, the time has come to let an operating system that has left its mark on more than a generation die. Windows XP says goodbye conveying the general feeling that it leaves a good memory for its users Something as simple and straightforward as that is what, without a doubt, best explains your success.

Fonts | Microsoft | Wikipedia | Channel 9 | Ars Technica Images | Wikipedia | GUIdebook

In Xataka Windows | The history of Windows XP I, II