5.1. Microsoft Windows

With the same graphical interface as other versions of Windows and simple administration possible from the server console, Windows 2003 Server is possibly the most popular NOS in use today. Microsoft introduced Windows NT in 1993 with version 3.1 (about the same time Windows 3.1 was taking off as a desktop graphical interface for DOS). This NOS went pretty much unnoticed until version 3.51 was introduced about a year later. Windows NT 3.51 was quite stable, and by this time, hardware vendors had met the challenge with the 486 and Pentium processors. Because of its similarity to Windows 3.1 and its powerful networking features, Windows NT gained popularity. Microsoft began to put its significant marketing muscle behind ...

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