Microsoft Windows NT is an operating system. The first published version was Windows NT 3.1 in 1993. It had a similar interface to Windows 3.1, with advanced networking capabilities and hardware support. In August 1996, Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0 with an interface similar to Windows 95. Windows NT was later replaced by Windows 2000; however, it still had the Windows NT kernel.

Windows NT system requirements

Windows NT 4.0 Intel system requirements

486 33 MHz or Pentium highly recommended 16 MB of RAM110 MB hard drive spaceCD-ROMstandard sound card for sound capability.VGA or higher resolution100% compatible Microsoft keyboard and mouseRequires the previous version of Windows NTShipped with DirectX 2.0

David Cutler is considered the father of Windows NT.

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Windows NT 4.0 RISC system requirements

Workstations with Alpha AXP, MIPS R4x00, or PowerPC16 MB RAM110 MB hard drive spaceCD-ROM Standard sound card for sound capability. VGA or higher-resolution 100% compatible Microsoft keyboard and mouse Windows 3.x, 3.1x, or Windows 95 to upgrade Includes DirectX 6.0

What is the “NT” short for in Windows NT?

The “NT” in Windows NT was originally officially short for “new technology.” However, today “NT” is no longer considered an acronym.

Some believe that after David Cutler was brought over from DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) to help develop Windows NT that he used “WNT” because it is each letter after “VMS.” VMS is an operating system he helped create at DEC. “WNT” may have been a way to pay homage to VMS, or maybe he was inspired by the story behind HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Backronyms sometimes used for “NT” include “network technology,” “non-trivial,” and “not tested.”

Windows NT in the user agent

When viewing statistics or the user agent online, you may see Windows NT 5.0 or higher to describe a Microsoft Windows operating system. Below are the different user agent versions of Windows NT and their corresponding versions of Windows names.

Windows NT 4.0 = Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 5.0 = Windows 2000 Windows NT 5.1 = Windows XP Windows NT 5.2 = Windows Server 2003 and XP x64 edition Windows NT 6.0 = Windows Vista Windows NT 6.1 = Windows 7 Windows NT 6.2 = Windows 8 Windows NT 6.3 = Windows 8.1 Windows NT 10.0 = Windows 10

Computer abbreviations, Operating system terms

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