Say It Ain't So: The Death Of Windows 3.x

Microsoft launched Windows 3.x in 1990 and set a minimum configuration level of 64K of RAM, 7 megabytes of hard drive storage, and a graphics card capable of handling CGA, EGA and VGA graphics. Contrast that with Windows Vista, which requires ... ahh, nevermind, we've beaten this dead horse before.

Microsoft stopped support for Windows 3.x in 1990, but the OS has quietly survived in the world of embedded systems, powering cash registers, ticketing systems and in-flight entertainment systems for Virgin and Qantas 747s, according to a recent report in the BBC News.

Microsoft channel partners were among the first to get their hands on Windows 3.x after its release, so its passing is generating a flood of emotional sentiment within the channel community. So, as Windows 3.x shuffles solemnly into the sunset, ChannelWeb asked solution providers to offer their eulogies for the OS, and we're presenting them here as a form of cathartic healing.

Travis Fisher, executive vice president at Inacom Information Systems, a Salisbury, Md.-based solution provider:

Goodbye, Windows 3.x. I never would have thought that when we met,16 years ago, that our 10 floppy disk installation would have created such a lasting friendship. Without you, I would have missed out on so many of our mutual friends, including RAMDISK and Trumpet Winsock. Heck, I still see Minesweeper and TrueType to this very day.

At first, I thought that you would never compare to TOS on my Atari 520ST. It was wrong of me to compare you to my ex-OS, but I was young and nave back then. In the end, you proved me wrong. My life was forever changed for the better because of you. Godspeed, and rest in peace, Windows 3.x.

Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Fairfax, Va.-based Microsoft Gold partner:

Windows 3.1 was the first real networkable Windows. DOS was an integral part of it all, and while an antique by today's standards, it was really the beginning of it all.

From 3.1 to 95 to XP, those jumps made each move an innovation. I still use Windows 3.1 in my examples on virtualization!

Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at twentysix New York, a New York-based IT consultancy:

I remember that Windows 3.x was the first version I learned to program against. Initially, I learned to do this in C using the Windows API, which was really hard. Then Visual Basic 1.0 came out and the whole development world changed.

Windows 3.x were the versions that enabled Windows to come into its own. No longer was Windows just an "operating environment" for Excel and PageMaker and Corel Draw. Now it was an OS that hosted real line-of-business applications. These were the salad days of Windows.

Michael Cocanower, president of Phoenix-based solution provider ITSynergy:

It is unbelievable to me that Microsoft JUST stopped issuing licenses for Windows 3.x. I would have assumed that happened about 10 years ago.

Thinking back, it is amazing we ever actually got anything done on Windows 3.x -- after all that was 'pre-start button.' How were we able to figure out where to start?

Kind of interesting that the introduction of Windows 3.x represented a major shift in human/computer interaction -- text based (DOS) to GUI. I don't know that we've seen a similarly large shift since.

Andrew Plato, president at Anitian Enterprise Security, a security specialist in Beaverton, Ore.:

I always liked that in Windows 3.1, you could just click cancel and log on to the system with no credentials. It was sort of a Jedi moment, in which you could just wave your hand and access was granted.

I remember spending three hours swapping floppy disks on my Packard Bell 386 to get Windows 3.1 installed ... and once it was up and running, I played solitaire and went to bed.

Tim Ulmen, principal at Midwest IT Solutions Group, a Wichita, Kan.-based solution provider:

Before 1990, my concept of a good GUI/OS was Tandy's Deskmate program packaged with MS-DOS 3.2. Then came Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1, which spurred the multimedia computer revolution, with CD-ROMs and Soundblaster cards becoming a staple in the PC.

Next was Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which allowed peer-to-peer networks to become commonplace within the multi-PC environment.

The fact that there has been demand for an "old" legacy product such as Windows 3.11 for 18 years speaks volumes for its stability and ease of integration.

Jeff Middleton, a Microsoft Small Business Server MVP in Metairie, La.:

One of the last copies of Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was one I bought by mistake on floppies instead of CDs. I remember being annoyed that it took 32 floppies to install it. I also recall the irony of explaining to a customer that they would need to buy a mouse to use Windows -- it was an up-sale combo.

Jay Tipton, vice president of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based solution provider Technology Specialists:

This wasn't an OS, but it was the last program Microsoft put out that I could just copy from one spot to another and still have it work.

Those were the good old days.