EXTRA: Goodbye, Windows 3

Welcome to a special IT Blogwatch EXTRA: as Richi Jennings bids a tearful farewell to Windows 3.x -- was it really 18 years ago we first met? Not to mention PALINdrome...

Aunty's Mark Ward reports:

Windows 3.x has come to the closing moments of its long life. On 1 November Microsoft stopped issuing licences for the software that made its debut in May 1990.
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For many computer users 3.x was the first Windows-based operating system they used, and the software established the iconography of Microsoft's flagship product ... Microsoft maintained support for Windows 3.x until the end of 2001, and it has lived on as an embedded operating system until [now].
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As an embedded system, it was used to power such things as cash tills in large stores and ticketing systems. One of its more glamorous uses as an embedded operating system is to power the in-flight entertainment systems on some Virgin and Qantas long-haul jets.

Kelly Fiveash adds:

In July the company told electronics vendors that the 15-year-old OS would be put to bed at the start of this month. Presumably it made that announcement to give manufacturers still partying like it’s 1993 enough time to recover from the shock.
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Oddly, Windows 3.11 for Workgroups actually outlived its successor, Windows 95.
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The clunkily-named Windows for Workgroups 3.11 needed at least - wait for it - 640KB of RAM, seven megabytes of hard drive space and support for a CGA, EGA and VGA graphics card. It required an 8086/8088 processor or higher, with a clock speed of up to 10MHz.

Thom Holwerda collects manuals:

I have so many of them, that I'm starting to wonder where on earth I'm supposed to put them all ... However, none of them are as dear to my as my extensive, fully illustrated Dutch manuals for Windows 3.0, which accompanied my parents' first PC in 1990. An enormously detailed manual covering every aspect of Windows 3.0 - with special sleeves for the various floppy disks that held the Windows 3.0 operating system. I still have those original floppies, and they're still fully functional.
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Despite its limitations, I think many of us will look back on Windows 3.x with a bit of fondness (Stockholm Syndrome-induced or not). As I was reading through the manual ... I encountered many things that we take for granted now - the manual explains icons, windows, dialog boxes, menu bars, cursors, everything. How time flies.

Tom Warren looks back:

Windows 3.0 was originally released on May 22nd 1990. 3.0 came with a lot of improvements, but also with a lack of multimedia and network features, which led to 3.0 being replaced quickly by Windows 3.1. However, the improvements that Microsoft achieved with 3.0 were impressive. The platform offered 32-bit performance, advanced graphics, and full support of the more powerful Intel 386 processor.

New features included at the time were program, file, and print managers, a completely rewritten application development environment with modular virtual device drivers (VxDs), native support for applications running in extended memory and fully pre-emptive MS-DOS multitasking. Microsoft also improved the set of Windows icons.

The program manager and file manager gave users Macintosh-like big icons to click and drag-and-drop. Although it was replaced quickly, Windows 3.0 was widely accepted and respected among third-party hardware and software developers because Microsoft released a new Windows software development kit (SDK) which enabled the developers to focus on writing applications instead of device drivers.

DigiShaman makes the obvious in-flight-entertainment joke:

Ahh, so that's what they ment by "Every seat is a window seat."

And finally...

• PALINdrome

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 23 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Did somebody say, "election"?
• Microsoft SIR informs but offends
• AOL acts all foolish and juvenile