Windows XP: The Early Returns
PC Mag | at | by Mike
After months--if not years--of hype, Microsoft has finally shipped Windows XP, the long-awaited release that finally brings the Windows NT kernel to consumer operating systems. Formally introducing Windows XP in New York last week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates symbolically typed "exit" and logged out of DOS for the last time, marking the end of an era for Microsoft's DOS-based operating systems, from version 1.0 in 1981 all the way through Windows 95 and Windows Me. This is a huge step for the computer industry. According to Gates, 400 million people use products built on the DOS code base, compared with 70 million people on the Windows 2000 and Windows NT code base. This move to a new, more stable code base is long overdue. In fact, Microsoft's original plan was to combine the Windows NT and Windows 9x code bases back in 1998. (You can still type "cmd" into the Run dialog of Windows XP or Windows 2000 to access the familiar command-line interface, but the underlying OS isn't DOS.)