Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a family of proprietary graphical operating systems developed by Microsoft, which includes various products for different markets and industries that use a similar user interface and feature set. The original version of Windows was a graphical environment running on top of MS-DOS, although later versions increasingly took on the characteristics of a full operating system. Since Windows XP, all desktop versions of Windows use the portable NT hybrid kernel that does not rely on MS-DOS.
The Windows family currently encompasses the main consumer version named simply Windows, as well as Windows Server for the server market and Windows IoT for the embedded market, although they are all based on the common desktop Windows codebase. Internally, another variant called Windows Core OS is also currently in development, which is also based on the NT kernel, although it is not based on desktop Windows. In the past, the family also included Windows RT for ARM-based tablets, Windows Phone or Windows Mobile for smartphones, Windows Embedded Compact, or the MS-DOS based line.
