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25 Years Today - Windows 3.0

Posted by timothy on from the hindsight-is-warm-and-fuzzy dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Windows 3.0 was launched on 22 May 1990 — I know, 'coz I was there as a SDE on the team. I still have, um, several of the shrink-wrapped boxes of the product — with either 3.5 inch and 5.25 floppies rattling around inside them — complete with their distinctive 'I witnessed the event' sticker!

It was a big deal for me, and I still consider Win 3 as *the* most significant Windows' release, and I wonder what other Slashdotters think, looking back on Win 3?

10 of 387 comments (clear)

  1. *shrug* by msobkow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Amiga did it better and earlier.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re: *shrug* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That would be so awesome. .. if Amiga programming could have gotten anyone a job outside of a few sparse cities.

      It had to be a trusted business upgrade path to be viable. It had to run on big blue hardware.

    2. Re: *shrug* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Bollocks. The Amiga did get quite a bit of business use. They failed because of inept management.

    3. Re:*shrug* by turbidostato · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "IBM's PC strategy from the mid '80s to mid '90s could be summed up as using their influence to prevent networking, multi-tasking and file permissions from happening on the same platform at the same time."

      Of course yes.

      That explains why in the mid '80s to mid 90's IBM was busy in a joint venture with Microsoft first and alone afterwards... to produce a PC system with networking, multi-tasking and file permissions and even 32 bits (OS/2).

      Or maybe you are wrong.

  2. Big deal for MS, shit for the rest of the world by the_B0fh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It obviously helped make Microsoft a lot of money, and I've read about how the one guy managed to make that one thing work, that made this possible.

    But Windows is full of crap, and full of "If you can't make it work right, make it look good - Bill Gates" that it basically caused IT to be shit. This is the start of the 3 Rs of Windows. Retry, Reboot and Reinstall.

    That is a fucked up legacy to leave behind.

    1. Re:Big deal for MS, shit for the rest of the world by Stormwatch · · Score: 1, Insightful

      But Windows is full of crap, and full of "If you can't make it work right, make it look good - Bill Gates" that it basically caused IT to be shit.

      What was he talking about? Windows has never worked right, but it has never looked good either.

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
  3. When I knew OS/2 was toast by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In 94 I went to Comdex, after having used OS/2 for a year or two. Microsoft had just announced Win95 would be released in 1995, giving IBM a 9 month + window to Do Something. At Comdex I found the IBM booth and asked them something about OS/2. Got a blank look. Asked someone else. Got a blank look. Nobody in the IBM booth had even heard of OS/2, let alone was able to answer questions about it.

    I knew that day that OS/2 was doomed.

  4. Re:I was working at IBM at the time by 0xdeaddead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    IBM shot OS/2 in the head when they announced it alongside the PS/2 in April of 1987.

    Microsoft had Windows/386 in November/December 1987. Think about that, 'EU DOS 4.0' aka where OS/2 came from was still in real mode, while MS had a 386 hypervisor that they were shipping out the Compaq before the end of '87. By forcing MS to keep OS/2 on the 286 without any 386 based features, and charging $2000+ for a SDK OS/2 was dead before 1.0 was even close to GA. And releasing 1.0 without the UI was a major disaster, 1.1 should have been the first public offering. 1.0 should have been given out for free along with the SDK to developers.

    But that's IBM thinking they can squeeze both ends of the toothpaste, dreaming they were the only game in town. Windows 3.0 showed Microsoft that they didn't need an IBM partnership anymore, and that their 'good enough' software was 'good enough' to sell on their own, and in their own direction.

  5. Yet looks more modern than 8/10 by Billly+Gates · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I see buttons, shadows, depth, higher colors, etc.

    All ruined in the name of anti skuemorphism which was the most advanced progress made in gui development since win 3.0. What a shame sigh

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
  6. Sorry, Unix then too by markdavis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    >" I wonder what other Slashdotters think, looking back on Win 3?"

    I was using Interactive Unix and SunOS Unix.