Microsoft finally drops - er - Windows 3
On 1 November this year, Microsoft ceased to issue licences for a legacy version of Windows. If you asked most people which version, they'd probably say Windows XP, 2000, or even NT 4. They'd be wrong - the answer is much older than any of those.
02 December 2008
Released in May 1990, Windows 3 was – at the time – a major leap forward. In many ways, it was the version of Windows that assured Microsoft of global success. Windows 3’s support for the then cutting-edge 386 processor – in 386 Enhanced Mode, which needed more memory – combined with compatibility with older systems (in standard and real mode) meant that it could be installed on most modern PCs and deliver considerable benefits over the previous version of Windows.
But things have moved on considerably since then – Windows 3 didn’t even support long file names, for example (that came with Windows 95) or support large hard discs. We didn’t get particularly decent memory management until Windows NT and plug-and-play only became really dependable with Windows 2000. After that we’ve had Windows XP and Vista (you notice how we skated over Windows Me?) so why has Windows 3 hung around – and been licensed – for so long?
In some ways, it was a victim of its own success. It only needed 640KB of memory and an 8086 processor. True, as with all versions of Windows, it only performed really well when you chucked more resources at it, but it was very usable with a minimum spec machine.
As such, it found a lot of uses as an ‘embedded’ operating system within machines as diverse as tills and in-flight entertainment systems on some jet aeroplanes.
Unlike a home or business PC, it’s no small matter to update the operating system on such machines – in fact, doing so is often a non-starter. Once it’s in, it’s in – and to be honest, it’s a testimony to Microsoft’s engineering that such systems have been running for so long. What’s more, you’d need to significantly update the hardware too – you couldn’t get Windows Vista to go anywhere with an 8086 processor, 640KB or RAM and 6-7Mb of hard disc space.
So, embedded versions of Windows tend to live a long and useful life – and Microsoft only stopped issuing licences for Windows 3 this year, an astonishing 18 years after it came into being.
If you want to experience some nostalgia, you can take a look at what the bleeding edge of personal computing looked like back in 1990, courtesy of the Graphical User Interface Guidebook. And finally say goodbye to this long-lived operating system.
