Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I can remember using Win 3.1 back in the 'nineties.
It was in most ways a better OS than the Win 95 that replaced it.
3.1 always seemed very stable. You rarely got a blue screen of death.
From what I recall of it, it was also a lot harder to get stuff to work. I remember trying to juggle IRQs when trying to get Sound Blaster and video cards to work, and get your dip switches right, etc. Nothing was plug and play, which sort of leads to stability -- you have to get it set up exactly right for it to work.
I think USB and Windows 95 came about sort of at the same time, and Windows 95 had a lot of growing pains supporting that then-new mainstream connectivity option. I'm not sure that MS-DOS with Windows 3.1 on top of it would have handled that new age of connectivity much better.
I did enjoy that version of Windows, though. Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was about the pinnacle of development for that version. Very reliable for sure. I really missed File Manager for the longest time.