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Microsoft Windows 3.0 Is 20 Years Today
siliconbits writes "Some say that the Windows 3.0 GUI (remember, it needed MS-DOS or DR-DOS to work) was the single most important version, as it allowed Microsoft to get its day. The first truly successful Windows operating system is 20 years old today; Windows 3.0 was launched on 22 May 1990 and was the successor to Windows 2.1x."
So an overtly advertised secret booth? Sounds like MS alright ;)
"DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
The version of Windows that made you wish your 286 was a 386 and 640KB of ram certainly was n't more than you would ever need. Fond memories of wondering where 150K of memory had disappeared to only to realise that lovely desktop background image you set sucked 15% of your free memory. I also remember if you typed fast enough MS Write could n't keep up and you would fill the input buffer, let alone running MS Word. I can n't say I'ill miss those days.
People didn't want high end work though, they wanted Good Enough(tm) and didn't want to spend a fortune to do it.
I think everyone should give those Windows 3.x emulators a try. They are great demonstrations for why many of us chose to buy Atari STs, Commodore Amigas, or Apple Macintoshes instead.
I hated using Windows 3.x.
Multitasking was an exercise in masochism (and also sadism when you pounded your keyboard). On Mac it was as easy as clicking Apple in the top corner, which would produce a dropdown of all running programs. On Amiga it was even easier. The Amiga-M and Amiga-N keys rapidly flipped through the running programs. I typically ran JRterm, a file manager, WordPerfect, C compiler, and the Workbench all at once.
Windows 3.x multitasking was like stepping 10 years back in time. It felt as if I was using a slow C64 again. I avoided using that OS as much as possible. Not until Windows 95 did they finally get a decent interface, which was basically just a clone of the Mac desktop (trashcan, shutdown procedure, finder, et cetera).
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Damn you misconfigured autoexec.bat! You led me down this path to the cubical I now live in!
Insightful. Woefully, tragically, OMG what have I done with my life, insightful.
Loose lips lose spit.
Obviously you never knew the joys of writing C (not C++) for the Real Mode API.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
"Dollars are votes. We the People hold power to bankrupt corporations out of existence. No such power exists over Gov't."
No, dollars are not votes. We the People have no power to bankrupt corporations, and you are delusional if you think that.
However, we do have real power over Gov't - it's called actual votes.
Of course, the real problem is the power that the corporations have over Gov't.
The idea of dollars as votes is extremely un-democratic.
Please explain, why is this important
Try using Windows on a touchscreen. Until the last couple of years, when multitouch started to become mainstream, this was amazingly painful. Then try the same screen connected to a Mac. On the Mac, you'll find that all of the apps are easily usable, but when you plug in a multi-button mouse some things become faster. With the Windows machine, you need a floating window that contains a button that you press to mean 'interpret the next touch as a right click.'
Remember, the question was not whether a one button mouse is better (you'll find few people who think it is - even Jef Raskin changed his mind), but whether supporting a one-button mouse is important. If you support a one button mouse, you will work with pretty much any pointing device, including touchscreens, electronic whiteboards, tablets, light pens, and so on.
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