The latest versions support x86 (including IA-32 and 圆4) and ARM. Initially, it supported several instruction set architectures, including IA-32, MIPS, and DEC Alpha support for PowerPC, Itanium, 圆4, and ARM were added later. It is a multi-architecture operating system. NT was the first purely 32-bit version of Windows, whereas its consumer-oriented counterparts, Windows 3.1x and Windows 9x, were 16-bit/32-bit hybrids. Starting with Windows 2000, 'NT' was removed from the product name and is only included in the product version string along with several low-level places within the system.

'NT' was formerly expanded to 'New Technology' but no longer carries any specific meaning. Gradually, the Windows NT family was expanded into Microsoft's general-purpose operating system product line for all personal computers, deprecating the Windows 9x family. It was intended to complement consumer versions of Windows that were based on MS-DOS (including Windows 1.0 through Windows 3.1x).

The first version of Windows NT was Windows NT 3.1 and was produced for workstations and server computers. It is a processor-independent, multiprocessing and multi-user operating system. Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released on July 27, 1993. RSX-11, VAXELN, OpenVMS, MICA, MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.1xĭepending on version, edition or customer choice: Trialware, commercial software, volume licensing, OEM-only, SaaS, S+S IA-32, x86-64, ARM and ARM64 (and historically Intel i860, DEC Alpha, Itanium, MIPS, and PowerPC)

Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services

Windows xp i386