Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft’s Windows NT operating system.
It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users, and is available for any devices running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows Me that meet the new Windows XP system requirements.
Windows XP was the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel. It was succeeded by Windows Vista in 2007.