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Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions
November 18, 2021Minimum requirements
DOS-based Windows
| Microsoft Windows version | Release date | End of support | Editions | Latest version | Minimum DOS version | CPU | RAM | Disk space | Graphics | Additional requirements | Maximum IE version | Installation medium | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | |||||||||
| Windows 1.0x | November 20, 1985 | December 31, 2001 | None | Windows 1.0.4 | DOS 2.0 | 8088 | 8086 | 256 KB | 640 KB | 720 KB | CGA, Hercules | EGA | None | N/a | Floppy disk | |
| Windows 2.0x | September 8, 1987 | December 31, 2001 | Windows 2.0x, Windows/386 2.0x | Windows 2.0.3 | DOS 3.0 | 8088 | i286 (16-bit), i386SX (32-bit) | 512 KB | 1 MB | 720 KB | CGA, Hercules | VGA | None | N/a | Floppy disk | |
| Windows 2.1x | May 27, 1988 | December 31, 2001 | Windows/286 2.1x, Windows/386 2.1x | Windows 2.11 | DOS 3.0 | 8088 | i286 (16-bit), i386SX (32-bit) | 512 KB | 1 MB | 720 KB | 2 MB | CGA, Hercules | VGA | Hard disk drive | N/a | Floppy disk |
| Windows 3.0x | September 22, 1990 | December 31, 2001 | Windows 3.0x, Windows 3.0x with Multimedia Extensions | Windows 3.0a | DOS 3.1 | 8088 | i286 (16-bit), i386SX (32-bit) | 640 KB | 2 MB | 6 MB | 30 MB | CGA, Hercules | VGA | Hard disk drive | N/a | Floppy disk |
| Windows 3.1x | April 6, 1992 | December 31, 2001 (retail), November 1, 2008 (Windows for Workgroups 3.1x embedded) | Windows 3.1x, Windows for Workgroups 3.1x, Modular Windows | Windows 3.11 | DOS 3.3 | i286 | i386SX | 1 MB | 4 MB | 6.5 MB | 30 MB | EGA1 | VGA | Hard disk drive + network connection (Windows for Workgroups 3.1x) | N/a (16-bit), Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (32-bit) | Floppy disk, CD-ROM (Windows for Workgroups 3.1x) |
Notes
1. CGA and Hercules graphics supported in Windows 3.1x with driver from Windows 3.0
Windows 9x
| Microsoft Windows version | Release date | End of Mainstream Support | End of Extended Support | Releases | DOS version | CPU | RAM | Disk space | Graphics | Additional requirements | Maximum IE version | Installation medium | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | |||||||||
| Windows 95 | August 15, 1995 | December 31, 2000 | December 31, 2001 | RTM, OSR 1, OST 2, OSR 2.1, OSR 2.5 | MS-DOS 7.0 (RTM, OSR 1), MS-DOS 7.1 (OSR 2.x) | i386SX | i486 | 4 MB | 8 MB | 50 MB | 120 MB | VGA2 | SVGA | Hard disk drive | Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 | Floppy disk, CD-ROM |
| Windows 98 | May 15, 1998 | June 30, 2002 | July 11, 2006 | First Edition, Second Edition | MS-DOS 7.1 | i486DX @ 66 MHz 3 | Pentium | 16 MB (First Edition), 24 MB (Second Edition) 3 | 24 MB | 120 MB | 250 MB | VGA2 | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 | CD-ROM |
| Windows Me | June 19, 2000 | December 31, 2003 | July 11, 2006 | None | MS-DOS 8.0 | Pentium @ 150 MHz 4 | Pentium II @ 300 MHz | 32 MB4 | 64 MB | 320 MB | 400 MB | VGA2 | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 | CD-ROM |
Notes
2. EGA graphics supported in Windows 9x with driver from Windows 3.1x.
3. Run setup /nm to bypass the hardware checks. This allows Windows 98 to be installed on systems with specs as low as a i386SX and 6 MB of RAM.
4. Run setup /nm to bypass the hardware checks. This allows Windows Me to be installed on systems with specs as low as a i486SX and 8 MB of RAM.
Windows NT (x86 and x86-64)
Versions for non-x86 architectures are not included.
| Microsoft Windows version | Release date | End of Mainstream Support | End of Extended Support | Editions | Service Packs | NT kernel version | CPU | RAM | Minimum disk space | Minimum graphics | Additional requirements | Maximum IE version | Installation medium | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recomm. | Minimum | Recomm. | ||||||||||||
| Windows NT 3.1 | July 27, 1993 | December 31, 2000 | December 31, 2000 | Workstation, Advanced Server | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3 | NT 3.1 | i386 @ 25 MHz | 8 MB | 16 MB | 75 MB | VGA | Hard disk drive | Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (32-bit) | Floppy disk, CD-ROM | |
| Windows NT 3.5 | September 21, 1994 | December 31, 2001 | December 31, 2001 | Workstation, Server | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3 | NT 3.50 | i386 @ 25 MHz | 8 MB | 16 MB | 75 MB | VGA | Hard disk drive | Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (32-bit) | Floppy disk, CD-ROM | |
| Windows NT 3.51 | May 30, 1995 | September 30, 2000 (Server), December 31, 2000 (Workstation) | December 31, 2001 (Workstation), September 30, 2002 (Server) | Workstation, Server | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5 | NT 3.51 | i386 @ 25 MHz | 8 MB | 16 MB | 90 MB | VGA | Hard disk drive | Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (32-bit) | Floppy disk, CD-ROM | |
| Windows NT 4.0 | July 31, 1996 | June 30, 2002 (Workstation), December 31, 2002 (Server), June 30, 2003 (Embedded) | June 30, 2004 (Workstation), December 31, 2004 (Server), June 11, 2006 (Embedded) | Workstation, Server, Server Enterprise, Terminal Server, Embedded | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, SP6a | NT 4.0 | i486 @ 33 MB | 12 MB | 16 MB | 110 MB | VGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 (RTM-SP6), Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (SP6a) | CD-ROM | |
| Windows 2000 | December 15, 1999 | June 30, 2005 | July 13, 2010 | Professional, Server, Advanced Server, Datacenter Server, Powered (Embedded) | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4 | NT 5.0 | Pentium @ 133 MB | Pentium II @ 300 MHz | 32 MB | 128 MB | 1 GB | VGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (SP6a) | CD-ROM |
| Windows XP | August 24, 2001 | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 | Home, Professional, Media Center, Tablet PC, Starter, Embedded | RTM, SP1, SP2, SP3 | NT 5.1 | Pentium + MMX @ 233 MB | Pentium II @ 300 MHz | 64 MB | 128 MB | 1.5 GB | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (RTM & SP1), Internet Explorer 8 SP1 (SP2 & SP3) | CD-ROM |
| Windows Server 2003 | April 24, 2003 | January 13, 2010 (most editions), April 12, 2011 (Small Business Server), October 11, 2011 (Storage Server) | January 14, 2015 (most editions), April 12, 2016 (Small Business Server), October 9, 2016 (Storage Server) | Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, Storage, Small Business Server, Compute Cluster | RTM, SP1, SP2 | NT 5.2 | Pentium @ 133 MHz | Pentium II @ 300 MHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 128 MB | 256 MB | 1.5 GB | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (RTM & SP1), Internet Explorer 8 SP1 (SP2) | CD-ROM |
| Windows XP Professional x64 Edition | April 25, 2005 | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 | Home, Professional | RTM, SP1, SP2 | NT 5.2 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 256 MB | 1 GB | 1.5 GB-5 GB | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (RTM & SP1), Internet Explorer 8 SP1 (SP2) | CD-ROM | |
| Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | July 8, 2006 | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 | None | RTM | NT 5.1 | Pentium + MMX @ 233 MHz | Pentium II @ 300 MHz | 64 MB | 128 MB | 610 MB | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 8 SP1 | CD-ROM |
| Windows Vista | November 8, 2006 | April 10, 2012 | April 11, 2017 | Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate | RTM, SP1, SP2 | NT 6.0 | Pentium III @ 800 MHz (32-bit) | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 384 MB (Starter), 512 MB (other editions) | 2 GB | 16 GB (32-bit), 20 GB (64-bit) | SVGA (w/o Aero) + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support (w/ Aero) | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 8 SP1 (RTM & SP1), Internet Explorer 9 (SP2) | CD-ROM, DVD-ROM |
| Windows Home Server | November 4, 2007 | January 8, 2013 | None | RTM | NT 5.2 | Pentium III @ 800 MHz (32-bit) | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 512 MB | 80 GB | SVGA | Hard disk drive + CD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 8 SP1 | DVD-ROM | ||
| Windows Server 2008 | February 4, 2008 | January 13, 2015 | January 14, 2020 | Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Small Business Server, Essential Business Server | RTM, SP1, SP2 | NT 6.0 | Pentium III @ 800 MHz (32-bit) | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 512 MB | 2 GB | 10 GB (Foundation), 20 GB (32-bit), 32 GB (64-bit) | SVGA | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 8 SP1 (RTM & SP1), Internet Explorer 9 (SP2) | DVD-ROM |
| Windows 7 | July 22, 2009 | January 13, 2015 | January 14, 2020 | Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate | RTM, SP1 | NT 6.1 | Pentium III @ 1 GHz (32-bit before March 2018 update), Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit after March 2018 update), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 1 GB (32-bit), 2 GB (64-bit) | 4 GB | 16 GB (32-bit), 20 GB (64-bit) | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 | July 22, 2009 | January 13, 2015 | January 14, 2020 | Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server | RTM, SP1 | NT 6.1 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 512 MB | 2 GB | 10 GB (Foundation), 32 GB (other editions) | SVGA | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows 8 | August 1, 2012 | January 12, 2016 | January 12, 2016 | Core, Pro, Enterprise | RTM | NT 6.2 | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 1 GB (32-bit), 2 GB (64-bit) | 4 GB | 16 GB (32-bit), 20 GB (64-bit) | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows Server 2012 | August 1, 2012 | October 9, 2018 | October 10, 2023 | Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter | RTM | NT 6.2 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 512 MB | 1 GB | 32 GB | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows 8.1 | August 27, 2013 | January 9, 2018 | January 10, 2023 | Core, Pro, Enterprise | RTM | NT 6.3 | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 1 GB (32-bit), 2 GB (64-bit) | 4 GB | 16 GB (32-bit), 20 GB (64-bit) | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | August 27, 2013 | October 9, 2018 | October 10, 2023 | Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter | RTM | NT 6.3 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 512 GB | 1 GB | 32 GB | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | |
| Windows 10 | July 25, 2015 | October 14, 2025 | October 14, 2025 | Home, Pro | None (annual update model) | NT 10 | Pentium 4 @ 1 GHz (32-bit), x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz (64-bit) | 1 GB (32-bit), 2 GB (64-bit) | 4 GB | 32 GB | SVGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM, USB | |
| Windows Server 2016 | September 26, 2016 | January 11, 2022 | January 12, 2027 | None (annual update model) | NT 10 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 512 MB, 2 GB (w/ desktop experience) | 2GB | 32 GB | XGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | ||
| Windows Server 2019 | October 2, 2018 | January 9, 2024 | January 9, 2029 | None (annual update model) | NT 10 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 512 MB, 2 GB (w/ desktop experience) | 2 GB | 32 GB | XGA + WDDM 1.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 9 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive | Internet Explorer 11 (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM | ||
| Windows Server 2022 | August 18, 2021 | October 13, 2026 | October 14, 2031 | Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Azure Datacenter | None (annual update model) | NT 11 | x86-64 @ 1.4 GHz | 2 GB | 32 GB | XGA + WDDM 2.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 12 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive + UEFI boot + TPM 2.0 | None (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM, USB | ||
| Windows 11 | October 5, 2021 | Home, Pro | None (annual update model) | NT 11 | Intel 8th Gen or AMD Zen 2 | 4 GB | 64 GB | XGA + WDDM 2.0-compliant driver w/ DirectX 12 support | Hard disk drive + DVD-ROM drive + UEFI boot + TPM 2.0 | None (supports Microsoft Edge) | DVD-ROM, USB | ||||
Latest browser version compatibility
Windows 3.1x and Windows NT 3.x
- Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 - Released May 16, 2001
- Netscape Communicator 4.08 - Released June 1998
- Opera 3.62 - Released March 10, 2000
See also
- Windows Torture Test in German on Winhistory. Tests to see the lowest possible hardware each version of Windows can boot and run. Of course, the results aren't going to be optimal.
- History of BIOS and IDE limits
- Wikipedia