- The name 'NT' originated from the Intel i860 code-name 'N-Ten', which was initially targeted for NT.
- NT development began in April 1989 with a small team from DEC, including Mark Lucovsky and Steve Wood.
- By late 1989, the team expanded and switched from the i860 to the MIPS R3000 chip due to performance issues.
- NT's portable architecture was proven when the move to MIPS hardware was accomplished with minimal changes.
- The team avoided early targeting of the Intel i386 to maintain portability for future architectures.
- The success of Windows 3.0 in 1990 led to the decision to create a 32-bit Windows API (Win32) instead of continuing OS/2.
- Win32 was designed to be similar to 16-bit Windows APIs, making it easy for developers to migrate applications.
- Dropping OS/2 for Windows permanently damaged Microsoft's relationship with IBM.
- In September 1990, the team grew from 28 to about 300 people as Dave Thompson joined.
- Windows NT 3.1 was released in July 1993, featuring desktop and server editions with domain-based security.
- Windows NT 3.5 (codenamed Daytona) shipped in 1994, focusing on performance, size, and Netware compatibility.
- Windows NT 3.51 was a bug-fix release delayed due to IBM's Power PC hardware delays.
- Windows NT 4.0 integrated the Windows 95 shell and improved performance by running GUI components in-process.
- The name 'Windows NT' was dropped with Windows 2000, merging the NT and 9x product lines.
- Microsoft split client and server releases with Whistler, leading to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.