Windows XP

Windows XP is a version of Microsoft Windows released in 2001, which brought the Windows NT kernel to mainstream consumer markets (it was previously used in Windows versions intended for use in servers). Earlier consumer PC Windows systems were built on top of MS-DOS, originally as a separate addon to it as with Windows 3.1, and later more integrated as with Windows 95 but still with a separate DOS system within it; XP is fully integrated without a separate DOS.

XP was generally well received and stayed popular for many years, though some critics sneered at its pastel colors that made the PC look like a "toy computer". Eventually Microsoft ended support for XP, though they kept it going for users of specialized systems that depended on it for many years after mainstream consumer support ended; to this day, there are still some systems depending on it. On occasion you can see something out in public like an ATM screen or an airport departure monitor that has had a system crash and is displaying an error screen, where you can sometimes tell what operating system is in use, which is sometimes Windows XP.

Links

 * Wikipedia article