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Windows Vista Platform Update

Windows Vista
A version of the Windows NT operating system
Windows Vista logo and wordmark.svg
Windows Vista.png
Screenshot of Windows Vista Ultimate, showing its desktop, taskbar, Start menu, Windows Sidebar, Welcome Center and glass effects of Windows Aero
Developer Microsoft
Source model Closed source / Shared source
Released to
manufacturing
8 November 2006; 10 years ago (2006-11-08)
General
availability
30 January 2007; 10 years ago (2007-01-30)
Latest release Service Pack 2 (6.0.6002) / 26 May 2009; 7 years ago (2009-05-26)
Update method Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM
Platforms IA-32 and x86-64
Kernel type Hybrid
License Proprietary commercial software
Preceded by Windows XP (2001)
Succeeded by Windows 7 (2009)
Support status
Mainstream support ended on 10 April 2012
Extended support ended on 11 April 2017

Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) is an operating system by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs. Development was completed on 8 November 2006, and over the following three months, it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers and retail channels. On 30 January 2007, it was released worldwide and was made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace. The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems. It was succeeded by Windows 7, which was released to manufacturing on 22 July 2009 and released worldwide for retail on 22 October 2009.

New features of Windows Vista include an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Aero, a new search component called Windows Search, redesigned networking, audio, print and display sub-systems, and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker. Vista aimed to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices. Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs.


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