Windows URT

Windows URT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft. It was mainly designed for developers and people using high cost, powerful computers and it would perform very poorly on typical consumer computers. "URT" stands for Ultra Revolutionary Technology.

The first release was Windows URT 1.0 on June 15, 1997, followed by Windows URT 2.0 on October 10, 2000. While URT 1.0 greatly resembles Windows NT 4.0 other than it having an OOBE, URT 2.0 introduces visual styles, which would subsequently be introduced in Windows XP.

The kernel would later be reused for a new non-Windows OS codenamed Posterus, although this was scrapped.

Development
Development started in late 1995, where Microsoft decided to code a new kernel from scratch. Despite the company's ambitiousness, Microsoft were able to complete the project. Although URT isn't known for being particularly stable especially when compared to Windows NT, URT 2.0 is still considered more stable than Windows 98 and ME.

After URT 2.0, Microsoft ceased development of URT. However in 2002, Microsoft decided to start work on a new non-Windows OS codenamed Posterus. It was going to be built on the URT kernel, though it would use an entirely new shell named "Granda". It still had many Windows elements during development, however in terms of design it would mix flat design with some elements of skeuomorphism. It was also going to have two versions: a free version and a full, paid version. These would've been available for download from Microsoft's website. After its second beta release, the project was scrapped as Microsoft felt that it would not go anywhere, along with its instability comparable to that of later Longhorn builds.