Windows 3.0 is 30 years old

Thirty years ago, in May, Microsoft released Windows 3.0 with a graphical interface that represented a dramatic leap over its predecessors in terms of capability and popularity. This is what made Windows 3.0 stand out.

Windows 3.0: The first successful version of Windows
Τις πρώτες μέρες οι υπολογιστές που ήταν συμβατοί με IBM διέθεταν το Microsoft MS-DOS, ένα λειτουργικό σύστημα που βασιζόταν στο Command Prompt και συνήθως μπορούσε να εκτελεί μόνο ένα at a time. As computers evolved in power in the early 1980s, multitasking was a giant leap in technology. Magazines talked about the productivity boost that came from being able to run two applications at the same time.

At the time, computer-based graphics and mouse ideas were pioneered in Xerox Alto, were beginning to enter the personal computer industry. After trying several early GUI-based operating system approaches, in 1985 Microsoft released its own graphical mouse-based, Windows 1.0. It ran on top of MS-DOS and provided a bitmap display with non-overlapping application windows.

Neither Windows 1.0 nor Windows 2.0 proved successful in the market. Then came in 1990 Windows 3.0, another GUI that ran on top of MS-DOS. It allowed multitasking of both MS-DOS programs and specially written Windows applications. Unlike previous versions of Windows, it proved successful, selling over 10 million copies. Third-party application support followed, and so Microsoft strengthened its dominance in PC operating systems.

But what made Windows 3.0 unique and successful?

The New Program Manager

Στα σημερινά Windows, το μενού Έναρξη παρέχει έναν γρήγορο και εύκολο τρόπο οργάνωσης και εκof installed applications. In Windows 3.0 this task was performed by the Program Manager, which was also the main interface (shell) for Windows.

As a shell, Windows 2.0 used MS-DOS Executive, which was basically a list of files without support for application icons. By comparison, the "big" 16-color icons in Windows 3.0 looked like a revelation, bringing in details that matched expensive Macintosh color computers to relatively inexpensive PCs.

Also, the management program was easy to use. Compared to MS-DOS by itself, or the MS-DOS Executive shell of Windows 2.0, the management program provided a very friendly interface. The they could easily find and launch applications while being mostly protected from accidental file corruption.

If you wanted to manage files in Windows 3.0, you had to start a separate one which was called File Manager. Today, File Explorer serves as both the main interface and file manager of Windows 10.

The debut of Microsoft Solitaire

Solitaire has associated its name with Windows. The famous collaboration took place for the first time in 1990 when Microsoft released its first Solitaire version with Windows 3.0. With its detailed cards, Solitaire provided a good example of the graphics capabilities of Windows. And of course, it was also a great way to kill time at work.

Solitaire featured card faces designed by Suzanne Kare, which previously designed many graphics and fonts for the Macintosh. He also designed many icons for Windows 3.0. Microsoft used Kare card graphics until , eventually replacing them in Vista.

Windows 3.0 also included Reversi. While Microsoft dropped Reversi on Windows 3.1 (in favor of Minesweeper), the Solitaire stayed in Windows up to Windows 7.

Better memory management and real multitasking
Windows 3.0 included advanced memory management that allowed them to use large amounts of RAM, so they could run larger programs and multiple tasks (for the first time). In Windows 3.0, users could run multiple MS-DOS applications simultaneously, which was magical at the time.

What kind of MS-DOS applications did users use in 1990? Thanks to the previous compatibility, anything and everything. From lotus 1-2-3 to Captain comic.

A new "XNUMXD" look

It may seem strange nowadays, but the Windows 3.0 buttons represented serious steps in the graphics of a computer at that time. They included shadows and highlights that gave the illusion of depth, and as a result, most people referred to those buttons as "3D".

Overall, the appearance of Windows 3.0 was clean and professional, with detailed icons, careful window settings and nice fonts. For the first time, Windows matched (and undoubtedly surpassed) the visual aesthetics of Mac OS, which was considered the GUI benchmark of the time. This visual sense helped make Windows 3.0 so popular.

Economical compared to Macs
Τα Windows 3.0 αποτέλεσαν σημείο καμπής στην εξέλιξη των συμβατών υπολογιστών, καθώς ήταν εγκατεστημένα σε ικανά μηχανήματα, είχαν μια καλή γραφική εμφάνιση, όλα τα εregionally and overall they had fairly low costs. In 1990, you could buy a low-end PC capable of running Windows 3.0 for less than $1000, while the cheaper Macintosh cost about $ 2400. With a computer, a mouse and a copy of Windows for $ 149, you could build a machine that looks almost like a Mac, but much cheaper.

When more people buy into a platform, more companies want to build on it, and that's exactly what happened with Windows 3.0. While third-party support was small at first, many manufacturers they finally supported Windows 3.0, including Aldus with the popular software Aldus PageMaker. For office productivity, Microsoft itself has released some excellent versions of PowerPoint, Word and Excel for Windows 3.0. You could do a real job in Windows 3.0.

And finally, CHESS.BMP

Anyone who has worked with Windows 3.0 can not forget the then wonderful high-resolution 16-color wallpaper (640 × 480!).

Based on the 640x480 resolution, Microsoft included CHESS.BMP, a graphic "video" depicting some chess pieces flying in the air over a seemingly endless chessboard. Screen saver came in Windows 3.1 so CHESS.BMP in Windows 3.0 was a little fun.

Happy Birthday, Windows 3.0!

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Written by Dimitris

Dimitris hates on Mondays .....

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