Harry McCracken (right), the former editor-in-chief PC World magazine, writes on his Technologizer blog, "Windows isn't one product. Over its twenty-three year history, it's been available in dozens of variations. Some got glowing reviews; others still cause those who remember them to wince at the mere thought of them."

As McCracken notes, Windows 7 is expected to ship in early 2010, which will mark the 25th year Windows has been available. Windows Vista is in fact Windows 6.0, whereas Windows XP is designated as Windows 5.1 -- the latter designation was a minor bump over Windows 5.0 (aka Windows 2000) in order to maximize application compatibility, according to a Microsoft spokesperson.

The polling on the Technologizer website will be used for the basis of an article but is mostly for entertainment purposes, McCracken concedes. As candidates, he has nominated 20 different desktop versions of the OS that run on x86 processors.

McCracken adds, "I haven't included each and every version, just the major ones and some others with a reputation for being particularly outstanding or excruciating. You can also cast write-in votes if you're an aficionado or enemy of Windows/286 or Windows XP SP1 or another version we skipped."

Unfortunately for those of us who consider Windows Embedded operating systems to be particularly worthy, the polling excludes Windows Embedded Standard, Windows XP Embedded, Windows Mobile, and Windows CE -- plus products for non-x86 desktops such as Windows NT for DEC Alpha. Still, it's worth a look.

Sample candidates in a crowded field, with release dates cited by McCracken, include:

• Windows 1.01 (November 1985)
  
• Windows 3.0 (May 1990)
  
• Windows 3.1 (March 1992)
  
• Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (November 1993)
  
• Windows NT 3.5 (September 1994)
  
• Windows 95 (August 1995)
  
• Windows 98 (March 1998)
  
• Windows 2000 (February 2000)
  
• Windows XP (October 2001)
  
• Windows Vista (January 2007)
  
• Windows 7 (???)

Further information

To read Harry McCracken's blog entry -- and cast your own vote for the "best" and "worst" versions of Windows -- visit the Technologizer website, here.

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