Fergie's Tech Blog

22 May 1990: Microsoft Windows 3.0 Released

Windows 3.0 was the 3rd major release of Microsoft Windows, and came out on May 22, 1990. It was the first widely successful version of Windows (see history of Microsoft Windows), enabling Microsoft to compete with Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front.

Windows 3.0 succeeded Windows 2.1x and included a significantly revamped user interface as well as technical improvements to make better use of the memory management capabilities of Intel's 80286 and 80386 processors. Text-mode programs written for MS-DOS could be run within a window (a feature previously available in a more limited form with Windows/386 2.1), making the system usable as a crude multitasking base for legacy programs. However, this was of limited use for the home market, where most games and entertainment programs continued to require raw DOS access.

The MS-DOS Executive file manager/program launcher was replaced with an icon-based Program Manager and a list-based File Manager, thereby simplifying the launching of applications. The MS-DOS Executive was still included as an alternative user interface program. The Control Panel, previously available as a standard-looking applet, had been re-modeled after the one in Mac OS. It centralized system settings, including limited control over the color scheme of the interface. A number of simple applications were included, such as the text editor Notepad and the word processor Write (both inherited from earlier versions of Windows), a macro recorder (new; later dropped), and a calculator (also inherited). The earlier Reversi game was complemented with a card game named Solitaire.

Windows 3.0 was the last version of Windows to advertise 100% compatibility with older Windows applications.

posted by Fergie @ 5/21/2006 10:01:00 PM