Windows 3.1 still going.

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just a few years ago, the Hospital my brother works for in Dallas, University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, was still using an ATARI 800 For one of their in house TV Channels(mostly Text based stuff, community calendar, cafeteria menu, Etc.)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.


Yes, much of the hardware present at the time of Windows 3.xx and prior was not Plug and Pray, you had to manually address memory and IRQ's.

Much of the hardware that came out shortly after would do both. You had a setting to disable/enable PnP and could either do manual resource allocation or let the BIOS (or Windows.... *shudder*) handle it.

There was actually a bit of skill involved in putting a PC back together then. Things are MUCH simpler now.
 
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.


I used win95 for years, without stability issues at all. I've heard of the BSOD though....
 
we only just retired a 13 year old server. a physical server i know. it was finally converted into a vm to chug along into infinity. it was one of the last good dell machines too before they started blowing capacitors like cotton candy.
 
We have a few 21 year old test stands at work that are still running windows 3.1. It's been 10 years since I worked on them, but I'm thinking they are industrial 486s.
 
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Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
we only just retired a 13 year old server. a physical server i know. it was finally converted into a vm to chug along into infinity. it was one of the last good dell machines too before they started blowing capacitors like cotton candy.


Yup, I've had to do the same with some old medical and dental software to support access to legacy apps with old patient data that couldn't be migrated to the new software. They are now VM's and will just chug along as you state.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


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.


to my recollection USB arrived around the same time as win 98, but the drivers weren't built in.
MY First PC(My own, not shared with the family) was a Sony Vaio with a screaming 200Mhz Pentium w/MMX. It came with 98, and a couple USB ports, but i clearly remember having to install USB drivers from a disk to enable the Ports.( all so i could use a new printer that didn't have an LPT port.)
 
Originally Posted By: Subdued
virtualization is seriously the best thing ever for ongoing support of legacy applications


thumbsup2.gif
agreed!
 
step into my line of work and then a 3.1 box still in use is just another day at the office.
just fixed an apple IIe that runs a tubing bender.
and an sco unix box that runs an entire glass shop.
theres a ton of this old stuff out there and in many cases its more reliable than new stuff because it is simpler and of higher quality.
most of the cnc controls i repair run dos!
 
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
step into my line of work and then a 3.1 box still in use is just another day at the office.
just fixed an apple IIe that runs a tubing bender.
and an sco unix box that runs an entire glass shop.
theres a ton of this old stuff out there and in many cases its more reliable than new stuff because it is simpler and of higher quality.
most of the cnc controls i repair run dos!


CNC! Yeah, I've done a bit of IT for a kitchen place that has a couple of CNC rigs (Thermwood). The one runs Windows 95 IIRC, the other, newer one, runs Win2K.

He has an older piece of equipment there that runs DOS.
 
Ahh the days when the CD-ROM drivers just refused to work on a dos boot. Many hours crying myself to sleep lol.

There is certainly no crashing of DOS machines. Brings back the days of running multiplayer games on a Null Modem cable.

RIP 486DX/2 You were loved!
 
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