Windows NT

Windows NT is a <a href="/facts/Proprietary_software/9zcskxYL">proprietary</a> <a href="/facts/Graphical_user_interface/wBlQFWDP">graphical</a> <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> produced by <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> as part of its <a href="/facts/Windows/bwhAhuSL">Windows</a> product line, the first version of which, <a href="/facts/Windows_NT_3.1/2mdmR1cL">Windows NT 3.1</a>, was released on July 27, 1993. Originally made for the <a href="/facts/Workstation/h5tK4hTt">workstation</a>, office, and <a href="/facts/Server_(computing)/dEaYFD7r">server</a> markets, the Windows NT line was made available to <a href="/facts/Consumer/dMflnQGX">consumers</a> with the release of <a href="/facts/Windows_XP/IozrkAYS">Windows XP</a> in 2001. The underlying technology of Windows NT continues to exist to this day with incremental changes and improvements, with the latest version of Windows based on Windows NT being <a href="/facts/Windows_Server_2025/1jWbj2K2">Windows Server 2025</a> announced in 2024.
The name "Windows NT" originally denoted the major technological advancements that it had introduced to the Windows product line, including eliminating the <a href="/facts/16-bit_computing/bTGS44Ne">16-bit memory access</a> limitations of earlier Windows releases such as <a href="/facts/Windows_3.1/zYnWyaC6">Windows 3.1</a> and the <a href="/facts/Windows_9x/f1zwlghw">Windows 9x</a> series. Each Windows release built on this technology is considered to be based on, if not a revision of Windows NT, even though the Windows NT name itself has not been used in many other Windows releases since <a href="/facts/Windows_NT_4.0/EcKYxrkx">Windows NT 4.0</a> in 1996.
Windows NT provides many more features than other Windows releases, among them being support for <a href="/facts/Multiprocessing/aDCfehDQ">multiprocessing</a>, <a href="/facts/Multi-user_systems/XeKcRNjA">multi-user systems</a>, a "pure" <a href="/facts/32-bit/TDMVce8s">32-bit</a> kernel with 32-bit memory addressing, support for <a href="/facts/Instruction_set_architecture/8p8vwUeE">instruction sets</a> other than <a href="/facts/X86/Kypq5fgu">x86</a>, and many other system services such as <a href="/facts/Active_Directory/VWd9HhjU">Active Directory</a> and more. Newer versions of Windows NT support <a href="/facts/64-bit_computing/AgvkQHkM">64-bit computing</a>, with a 64-bit kernel and 64-bit memory addressing.

Windows NT open-in-new

Windows NT