Tech Spotlight

This being the last day of the year, I decided on doing a little reminiscing on the Windows Operating System and take a brief look back how this virtually unknown company called Microsoft came into power with its dominant force called Windows.

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Microsoft was known for developing Programming Languages.  After seeing the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of Apple’s software, Bill Gates and company set out on a mission to develop a similar OS which we all know as Windows.  Versions 1 and 2 of Windows were basically a flop, but in the year 1992, Windows 3.1 was released and caught on very quickly.

Major Windows versions and release dates:

1. 12/93 - Windows 3.11 For Workgroups
2. 08/95 - Windows 95
3. 07/96 - Windows NT 4.0
4. 06/98 - Windows 98
5. 05/99 - Windows 98 SE
6. 02/00 - Windows 2000
7. 09/00 - Windows ME
8. 10/01 - Windows XP
9. 04/03 - Windows Server 2003
10. 01/07 - Windows Vista
11. 07/07 - Windows Home Server
12. 02/08 - Windows Server 2008

Heading into the year 2009, we are on the cusp of getting a Public Beta version of Windows 7.  This next version of Windows has no release date as of yet, although it has been well talked about on the web of a probable release sometime in the Summer of 2009.

Microsoft has just recently updated their excellent online backup tool called Windows Live SkyDrive from 5 GB (Gigabytes) to 25 GB, which will accommodate an abundant supply of files, videos, pictures and music, all stored on the web on Microsoft’s servers for free.

SkyDrive gives you complete access to your files anywhere you are as long as you have Internet access.  You can even share certain folders or files with friends, or make your files completely secure by locking them down with a password.  SkyDrive is so easy to use also, simply drag-n-drop files from your computer to the online folders, just as you do on your PC.

This is an amazing amount of storage capacity for free.  25 gigabytes is a lot of data that can be stored indefinitely.  I highly recommend you backup your computer system often, to prevent computer failures and crashes from wiping out all of your precious documents.  Don’t bother using Mozy or Carbonite by paying monthly or yearly fees for online storage.  Give Windows Live SkyDrive a try, I think you will be impressed.  You can get to SkyDrive’s main web page by visiting this link.