Microsoft Discontinues Windows 3.x

rugatero writes "The BBC reports that, as of last Saturday, Microsoft is no longer issuing licenses for the 18-year-old Windows 3.x. Many here may well be surprised to learn that anyone still has use for the antiquated software, but it seems to have found a home in a number of embedded systems — including cash registers and the in-flight entertainment systems on some long-haul passenger jets (Virgin and Qantas are cited). Considering Linux's credentials as an embedded OS, this news could very well indicate the possibility of more migrations in the pipeline."

Comments

China Airlines uses Linux on their in-flight

[vovin]

Just in case you were interested China Airlines uses Linux on their in-flight.
I flew another airline that also used Linux but I don't recall which one. It's not very often you get to see the boot up but in one case they rebooted the system after they landed and in the other my partners crashed when we were trying to change the default language.

Re:China Airlines uses Linux on their in-flight

[antifoidulus]

I think more use Linux then use Windows. Every airline that I have flew on internationally that had an in flight entertainment system(Delta and Continental for sure, probably others) used the same in flight entertainment system that was linux based. I got to see the penguin a lot when my system repeatedly rebooted on a flight from Atlanta to Munich..... Now that the companies saved money by going Linux, maybe they can invest it in some touch screens that can actually take abuse.

Re:China Airlines uses Linux on their in-flight

[2Bits]

Just about every in-flight or on-board system in China used Linux by now. Those in the subway (Shanghai), on the bus, on the train, etc. Sometimes, you are on a bus, the bus runs over a hole or a bump, it shakes too much, the system flickers, and then you see a Linux boot up screen. Boot up time is pretty short, from black screen to fully animated screen with sound in less than 15 seconds.

Re:China Airlines uses Linux on their in-flight

[mpe]

I flew Cathay Pacific recently, and they were using Linux for their in-flight entertainment too (my screen was stuck in standby at the start of the flight, so I got to see it reboot).

Probably because it's powered from the cabin bus, which is the dirtiest and least reliable power supply on the aircraft. It will also glitch by design when switched between external and internal power.

ATM machines

[PCM2]

OS/2 1.3 lived on for many years in ATM machines. Unlike Windows 3.1x, it was considered the most rock solid 16 bit OS out there. What did a majority of the machines get replaced with?... oh Windows.

And as I've said in earlier stories, that's a bummer.

Here in California we still have two types of Bank of America ATM machines. The older models, with the amber monochrome screens, I am told still run OS/2. The newer ones, with the color LCD screens, run Windows, and they are MUCH slower than the old ones and their interface is much less streamlined and intuitive.

Now I ask you: It's an ATM machine. What was gained by the transition? The new ones allow you to do some fancy things -- such as setting preferences, so you can hit a "Quick Cash" button and get a predetermined amount with one keypress -- but most folks are just trying to get money out of the things and never spend the time to configure their own preferences. Really the only benefit of the new machines was the ability to show color ads during the transaction, but otherwise the OS/2 software was perfectly capable of handling the required operation (and even more so).

Sometimes I wish more applications developers had experience with the embedded systems world. Know what I mean?

Re:ATM machines

[cgenman]

They also use the windows default sounds... Incorrectly! The ATM's use the "Error Beep" to confirm proper operation. After years of conditioning, it drives me nuts.

At least do a little legwork.

Re:ATM machines

[DragonWriter]

Now I ask you: It's an ATM machine. What was gained by the transition?

If they are like the color BofA ATMs I've seen in Northern California, they play full motion video ads, which are maybe not what customers want, but presumably very significant to banks.

Re:I still have it.

[Anonymous Coward]

we have lumber cut optimizer which is not available for new platforms. it optimizes the number of boards the lumber cutting saw can slice for a given varying shape of wooden log.

Re:I still have it.

[nmb3000]

On a funny level, I'm curious what you think is a useful application on windows 3.1 that we magically somehow don't have an equivalent of. What do you have in mind?

One word (well, two words really, but only one when smashed together like marketing people like to do): SkiFree.

Sure you can get a 32-bit version that runs under XP and even Vista, but come on! That's nothing like playing it the way it was meant to be played - 16 bits, 100% CPU usage, and Windows 3.1. Everything else is just a poor copy.

win 3x on Stress test machine in wafer fab

[danwat1234]

I used to work at ON Semiconductor in Gresham OR, and they have win3x on a wafer stress testing machine as of 2008. Its an old machine, but still perfectly good because as the feature sizes get smaller with Photolithography, stress testing is the same (as far as testing the flatness of the surface). So yeah, there are still uses for that OS I suppose.

Re:How dare they!

[Gordonjcp]

Surprised to learn that Win3.1 is still in use?

I've got an old Compaq Portable II, which has Windows 3.0 installed on it. It's got an 8MHz 286 CPU, and a whopping 1.5M of RAM.

Now, surprisingly enough, it doesn't feel slow. Complex windows take a noticeable amount of time to draw, but it does have unaccelerated graphics (I don't mean 3D, I mean even graphics primitives in hardware - it's just an EGA card, which is a plain vanilla framebuffer). I can only imagine how responsive it would be on a more modern CPU...

Re:I still have it.

[Bert64]

PCI slots? Don't you mean ISA?

On the other hand, you spent $200,000 on a piece of proprietary equipment that depends on a single piece of proprietary software? Being forced to keep win3.1 (you'l never be able to get a new copy legitimately) and a stockpile of antiquated hardware to run it on is the price you pay... Perhaps you should press for open specs and open code next time you buy a $200,000 piece of hardware, if your spending that much the company should bend over backwards to provide what you need...
Or was it just a lack of forward thinking? Never thought about long term support for the equipment you bought?