Windows has Windows
A window is what you're viewing this article in. It is a display area containing a user interface and some form of functionality, typically an application. The window is one of most important features of a GUI-based operating system, and an important feature which contributed to why GUIs overcame text-based operating systems. With a window, you can contain an application in one area of your display's usable space. Previous to the concept of a window, multi-tasking was either handled through a clumsy function allowing a user to flip through active programs, with one displayed on-screen at a time, or wasn't possible at all. Programs could not be moved across the screen, minimized, or maximized, because in a operating system that does not make use of a window, these concepts have no meaning.
The rise of the window came with the rise of Windows 3.0 and its later siblings. Previous versions of Windows had contained similar ideas, but they had lacked software support and used MS-DOS as their base. Windows 3.0 did as well, but was far less obvious about it, and was capable of keeping the user separated from DOS in most cases. Microsoft, of course, wasn't the only one with a GUI-based interface, as Apple had its own operating system, and there were numerous small-time alternatives. But Windows is, due to its popularity, generally regarded as the operating system that defined what a window is. The modern user owes a lot to Windows. The modern desktop, with web browsers, flash games, and instant messengers all displayed at one time, would only be possible through a GUI-based operating system making use of windows.
The Future
These days, all operating systems with a GUI are using some form of windows. Windows (obviously) OS-X, Ubuntu, and many more all use the basic concept of a window, along with other GUI concepts like icons and menus. This basic format has served users well for the last decade, but many are wondering what the next step will be.
That is hard to say, but there is evidence where GUI operating systems will go already available in both Windows Vista and OS-X. Both of these operating systems have methods for lining up windows in a 3D view, and for quickly clearing a desktop. Apple's Expose is a particularly good example, as it has various functions that can clear a screen of all windows, show all windows as a sort of thumb-nail, or show all windows related to a currently active application. More likely than not, the use of 3D will be the most obvious direction to take the concept of a window, as that concept has traditionally been 2D. It is nearly certain, however, that both Microsoft's Windows and Apple's OS will continue to use the basic concept of the window for decades to come.
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