2002 – 2006retired
EMac
“Built for classrooms, shaped like a friendly toaster, gone but never graded down”
“Gave the Start menu a serious job, and it wore the suit with pride.”
Released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996, Windows NT 4.0 was Microsoft's workhorse operating system for data servers and personal workstations, the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51. Its most famous flourish was borrowing Windows 95's user interface, bringing the Start menu and taskbar to the NT line while keeping the stability improvements businesses counted on. It also packed in new machinery like a cryptograph
NT 4.0 collected service packs, new hardware support, and two post-launch editions — a modular variant for embedded systems and a Terminal Server edition. Even as Microsoft pressed customers to move to Windows 2000 and beyond, businesses held onto NT 4.0 for years, a quiet loyalty few operating systems earn. It finally wound down in 2006, after a decade of steady service.
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“Built for classrooms, shaped like a friendly toaster, gone but never graded down”
“The colorful laptop with a handle, gone but still opening like a lunchbox in our hearts”
“White plastic, big heart: the people's Mac went home smiling.”