A few weeks ago we published a special article in which we reviewed what were arguably the worst versions of Windows released by Microsoft. The above article received a great response, so today we decided to publish another one that perfectly complements it, where we will find out what was the best version of Windows which the Redmond giant launched.

I’m not going to accept any type of hierarchy, so the list you’ll see below is limited to the following chronological order, that is, we’ve ordered the best versions of Windows from oldest to newest, no more. The selection is based both from own experience with the mentioned operating system and from the evaluation of experts and user groups over the years so it’s not based on a purely subjective basis.

All the versions of Windows that we have selected are considered “universally” good, do not admit of discussion, and at the end of the article I will tell you which one is the best that exists today. As usual, I encourage you to leave us your thoughts in the comments, because you told us which version of Windows was the best for you. Without further ado, get comfortable and let’s get started.

The best version of Windows

windows 3

Was the best version and the most important one before Microsoft sanctified with Windows 95an operating system that represented a huge leap, but ultimately had too much merit to be included in the list of the worst versions of Windows, right alongside Windows 1.

Done with Windows 3 at Microsoft important unification from their previous product family and created a version that had fantastic support and scalability, so much so that it could actually run both computers on a modest 8088 as in other more modern based on 286 and 386 processors.

Microsoft has significantly improved the graphical interface, introduced new icons designed by Susan Kare, as well as major new features that would mark the future of Windowssuch as click, drag and drop, TrueType font system, new customization options, improvements at the multimedia level and surprised by including popular games such as solitaire and mine search.

It is true that Windows 3 it was still a layer that depended on MS-DOS, but it brought huge improvements which laid the groundwork for future versions of Windows and many of which still exist today. On the other hand, it also kept getting better with updates released by Microsoft, which upgraded its version to Windows 3.11.

Windows 98

It was a version that started from the base of Windows 95 and which showed that in Microsoft sThey had to learn from their mistakes. It is considered to be one of the most popular versions and what a higher degree of adoption it achieved, taking into account the historical moment and the situation on a global level when it was launched and I was able to use it on my first PC after upgrading to 32MB of RAM.

With Windows 98, Microsoft improved the interface and maintained support for 16-bit MS-DOS-based applications. He managed to outline it as the best operating system for gaming with DirectX support already the support of 16-bit “legacy” games, and with the arrival of the SE (second edition) update introduced even more improvements that completed the maturation of this operating system.

Windows 98 Second Edition Fixed a few minor issues which were present in the first version, improved USB drive supportreplaced Internet Explorer 4 with Internet Explorer 5, which was one of the mainstays of web browsing at the time, and also brought other important features such as Internet Connection Sharing, Microsoft NetMeeting 3.0, and support for DVD optical drives.

On a negative note, Windows 98 SE it was not a free update, and therefore we have to choose between it and Windows 98. Of course, we are left with the latter, since compared to Windows 95 it represented an important development, both in terms of stability and reliability, as well as support and advanced features. Among them we can highlight improved FAT32 and AGP and USB supportconnectivity support FireWire and ACPI and was also the first to support Windows Driver Model (WDM).

Windows XP

I think this operating system needs no introduction. Not only is it one of the best versions of Windows, but it is also one of the most popular and highly rated operating systems of all time. His success was so great that, as many of our readers will remember, even the fantastic Windows 7 had trouble scrolling.

The transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 was so slow that even with Windows 10, which was already on the market, the share of the former still had a significant presence. In this sense, it should be noted that also heavily influenced the fiasco that was Windows Vistaan operating system that was the successor to Windows XP, yet had minimal adoption, meaning it barely reduced its market share.

Windows XP saw a significant jump in requirements over previous versions, but that was understandable since it was ultimately Microsoft’s first consumer operating system (Windows 2000 was aimed at businesses). that it used the NT 5.1 kernel and therefore abandoned the MS-DOS kernel. To move it, we needed a much more powerful computer than we needed to move Windows ME, the latter operating system, which, as we told you before, is probably the worst thing Microsoft has released.

However, these claims at the hardware level were rewarded an improved interface that has undergone a deep facelift, and which gave the operating system a much more attractive appearance. It also had a huge list of improvements and new features, and was the launch platform for the Internet and such important applications as MSN Messenger, which marked an entire generation, and others such as Kazaa and eDonkey.

Windows Movie Maker and Windows Media Player were also great enhancements to the multimedia capabilities of Windows XP and with that operating system PC gaming has experienced a real revolutionbecause it received two versions of DirectX that defined the foundations of some of the most important games in all of history. I’m talking about DirectX 8 and DirectX 9, and its subsequent updates. In case anyone hasn’t finished it, I remind you that Half-Life 2, DOOM III, Resident Evil 6, Crysis 1 and GTA San Andreas 2, among many others, use DirectX 9.

Windows 7

They were aware of this after the Windows Vista fiasco at Microsoft they could not afford a new skid. I remember that in the time before Windows 7 was released, expectations were very low. There was a lot of uncertainty about what the Redmond giant was going to do, and some rumors said that it would be an operating system even worse than Windows Vista. The negativity around this operating system was very big, but luckily those bad predictions did not come true in the end.

Windows 7 is one of the best versions of Windows, one of the most important in history and a clear example of learning from mistakes again, in this case with Windows Vista. The new graphical interface that Microsoft introduced and its design changes were very successful and liked by almost all users, but undoubtedly the most important thing was that Microsoft managed to fix the stability and performance issues that Windows Vista was experiencing.

generally speaking Windows 7 performed better and offered better stability than Windows Vista on the same hardware.it had a much more attractive interface, maintained excellent backward compatibility, improved “old” functions and features that were still important, and introduced improvements at all levels, making it a true marvel capable of covering the needs of any user profile. .

It should also be remembered that this Windows was to blame another big revolution in the world of computer games, namely that it was the only one compatible with DirectX 11An API that came out in 2009 and still has a huge presence in the world of video games today, so much so that many current titles continue to be developed with its support and some work better with it than with DirectX 12. A more modern and better API.

This operating system also maintained everything things Microsoft did right with Windows Vista, among which we can highlight the changes in the start button, and it has improved significantly over its lifetime through upgrades which you received in the form of a “Service Pack”. Its life cycle ended in 2020, but it is still used by many people around the world.

Windows 10

Windows 7 was followed by Windows 8, the OS I used on a new generation Lenovo laptop (at the time) and frankly I didn’t like it at all because of the changes it introduced at the interface level and the forced touch control. touch that he adopted Microsoft, saturating the screen with “live tiles” and making it feel like the PC experience has expired.

Fortunately, Windows 10 showed that Microsoft has not lost its mind for “touch time”. In its early days, this operating system was widely criticized, but the truth is, it’s the best version of Windows I’ve tried, and it’s the one I still use on my personal computer. It was also the only version of Windows I can use it for five years without major problems and without the need to reinstall due to performance losses.

The changes at the interface level were completely successful, the performance offered by Windows 10 even on modest PCs is excellent, is undemanding on the hardware level and today it is a mature, stable and truly reliable operating system. It is true that Microsoft did wrong with this operating system, but most are limited to releasing updates, and we must not leave this cloud the real value that this operating system offers.

On the other hand, the criticized policy of offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade was a success for me because allowed me to upgrade from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro without spending a dimeand I was also able to update the Windows 8 Lenovo laptop I told you about for free.

Both for performance and for security, stability, advanced feature support, interface, maturity and stability I think Windows 10 is still overall the best version of Windows available today, even better than Windows 11, the operating system I’ve installed on a laptop and on a test bench that has yet to convince me.

There are two things that are holding me back from upgrading to the mentioned OS that I want to share with you before I finish this article. They are the first certain interface changes that do nothing but “slow me down” when I’m using Windows 11, and which I find deeply annoying, such as the new right-click that hides basic actions under the second click. They are in second place problems with updates and performance losses.

I won’t be making the jump to Windows 11 Until these two issues are resolved, and until then I won’t consider it a superior operating system to Windows 10. Nor is it something I need or rush to do, as Windows 10 more than meets my needs and will be supported until 2025.