[Signalman]

Windows 1, Windows 2, and Windows 3.x were not true operating systems. They were “operating environments” that sat on top of DOS, which was a true OS.

[fireman15]

Windows 1, Windows 2, and Windows 3.x were not true operating systems. They were “operating environments” that sat on top of DOS, which was a true OS.

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME also were all still siting "on top of DOS". What exactly is your point?

[2111USMC]

Exactly.

I can remember ribbing my boss at the time that real computer users didn’t need a mouse.

[dayglored]

Quite true that pre-Win95 Windows was just an application that ran over MS-DOS. In fact I never considered the DOS family (up and including 98 and ME) to be real operating systems, even though the later ones reduced their dependence on the DOS sub-layer considerably.

IMO the NT family were the “real” operating systems.

Although arguably (and many original Microsoft engineers would agree), Microsoft’s true “serious” operating system was XENIX, I.e. UNIX.