A system which serves as a Graphical User Interface between machines, users, files, and programs. Supports networks and interfacing between machines and files, programs and peripherals attached to the machines. Provided as the initially installed system on many PCs. -- www.microsoft.com 
Q: Is Windows an Operating System? That's the important question.
A: Those who use Windows are more aware of the ease of operation and the intuitive interface which allows use of the computer, its files, programs and peripherals and having a low barrier of entry. It employs a graphical user interface. Underlying this is a system which supports such usage. A Command Line Interface is also available.
A: In the days of the OS/2 (Ibm Os Two) wars, IBM referred to Windows through the 9x line as "a popular line of DOS extenders". There's no reasonable question that NT/2K/XP and CE are operating systems. The more interesting question is, are they Real Operating Systems?
A: It is now, yes. Windows Nt, Windows Two Thousand, and Windows Xp remove the 16-bit Ms Dos code and replace it with a fully 32-bit kernel based on that originally developed for the Vms Operating System. The DOS shell is now confined to a window running in an emulation mode; they've even changed the default shell from command.com to cmd.exe. There is no way to boot into DOS mode. (Not that there was under Windows Me, but Windows Me was still Ms Dos on the inside. God, that OS sucked.)
To be honest, yes it did. The XP Command Prompt wasn't much better than none at all in the way of Batch Files, but would be challenging Dos Box at overall emulation. Get any later OS's Command Prompt, and although it processes Batch Files better, it has ZERO emulation. --Simon Mould
A: Windows was once famously described as "32 bit extensions and a graphical shell [on top of] a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that can't stand 1 bit of competition." This was attributed to Art Bahrs (an HP guy) in Aug 1997, although it probably predates that.
While humorous, it's inaccurate: neither DOS nor its predecessor QDOS were a patch to any flavor of CP/M (presumably the "8-bit operating system"), and no flavor of CP/M never targeted a 4-bit microprocessor.
Q: How can something that manages files, memory, threads & processes, security, and network i/o not be an operating system?
A: Not everything labeled "Windows" manages files, memory, threads & processes, security, and network I/O. Huh? Are you making a historical argument (that Win95 wasn't an OS)? Win2000, WinXP, and Win2003 are operating systems.
Q:Is there a wiki version running locally on a Windows system?
A:Try Eddie Edwards's Wiki Server, which can be run as a localhost. It doesn't require a local Web server. If you do run a Web server on your machine, many Wiki Engines will do the job.
In the MS-Windows GUI, the window or widget with current focus receives mouse scroll-wheel movements. This keeps tripping me up. It would be more natural for the window/widget under the mouse-pointer to receive scroll-wheel movements.
This has been fixed, now the behaviour is what you describe
Not for me. Both work and home machines (Windows 7) still do this.
thumbs.db - annoying little files that always get locked up etc. and clutter things up. A separate parallel folder set should perhaps have been used instead. A good idea done wrong.
See original on c2.com