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MS-DOS 1.x - 3.x

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Windows 3.0 was released in 1990 with improved GUI graphics and VGA support (Video Graphics Array, the latest in personal computer video technology at the time). The buttons and some of the window controls took on a three-dimensional (3D) effect similar to that of current versions of Windows, and the Program Manager and File Manager were introduced. Program Manager is what makes up the "desktop" of the PC; it allows the user to create program groups on the desktop that contain icons for accessing programs. File Manager is used to work with the files on the computer, and among other things allows the user to run programs, open files, rename files, move and copy files, delete files and create directories. It is the precursor to what is known as Windows Explorer in current versions of Windows. Windows Solitaire is also included for the first time. Windows 3.0 can be run in one of three modes: 8086 real mode, 286 standard mode and 386 enhanced mode. Real mode and standard mode have memory limits of 640 KB and 16 MB, respectively; and enhanced mode allows the use of a page file, which is a file on the hard drive that the operating system can use as a substitute for RAM when the RAM is full. This is known as virtual memory. At this point in time, Windows had become quite popular and was shipping with most new PCs.²⁶

In 1991, Windows 3.1 added several new features, including TrueType fonts, OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), the ability to "drag and drop" in File Manager, and multimedia support. TrueType fonts are scalable fonts that print out exactly as they appear on the screen. In earlier versions of Windows, the different font sizes are separate fonts in Windows, so the size can't be easily changed, and they are used only for display on the screen - when a document is printed, the printer uses its own fonts. OLE is made up of two parts, object linking and object embedding. Object linking allows an object, such as a text document, drawing, or sound file, to be linked to one or more documents. When the information in the object is updated, each document that it is linked to contains the updated information automatically. This saves both the time it would take to update that information in each document separately, and the extra hard drive space that each copy of the same information would take up. Object embedding places a copy of the object into a document instead of linking to the object. For example, a Windows Paintbrush picture could be embedded into a WordPerfect document. If there is a need to edit the object, it can be selected and the application used to create it will open and allow changes. This is still very commonly used in current versions of Windows. Drag and drop functionality is even more common, and is now the primary way many people work with files. In Windows 3.1, drag and drop allows users to move, copy or print files. The multimedia features in this version of Windows include support for sound, graphics, animation, video, and CD-ROM drives. Today, multimedia support is considered standard in all current Windows versions. A large number of applications take advantage of multimedia features, and many people currently use the many forms of digital media.¹⁵

Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was introduced in 1992, and the very popular version 3.11 in 1993. They provide full support for networking and include several network related programs and utilities.²⁴

©2001 Joe Hodsdon.  Page last updated