Microsoft operating systems almost never actually die, preferring instead to fade away into the mists of antiquity, but as of November 1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is finally, officially, totally dead at the age of 15 (though we can bump that backwards if you prefer to count from the original Windows 3.0). Long after it was supplanted on the desktop by the likes of NT 4.0 and/or Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 lived on in the embedded market, powering various point-of-sale terminals, cash registers, and long-haul entertainment systems in certain Virgin and Quantas jets. All of this has come to an end, and Microsoft will no longer sell embedded licenses for the operating system.
It's doubtful that anyone out there will long miss the ancient operating system, but it seems at least a handful of people still experiment with it from time to time. In an interview with the BBC, Stefan Burka, of the GUI Documentation Project, was surprised at how functional the OS still was. 'With patched SVGA driver for 1024x768 resolution, Internet Explorer 5, WinZIP, VfW and Video Player, it was still useful,' he said. 'The desktop was ready after a few seconds loading time.'
That last bit is scarcely surprising, considering the entire DOS kernel + Windows 3.11 GUI could probably fit in a modern processor's L2 cache, with room to spare for drivers. Surfing the Internet on IE5, meanwhile, might turn out to be surprisingly safe. That particular browser might have more security holes than a sieve, but what malware these days would properly recognize and function in a Windows 3.11 environment—and if it did, would the computer in question be fast enough to run it? Such questions might even lead to a new trend, call it 'security through antiquity.'
- Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Windows 3.1x (codenamed Janus) is a series of 16-bit operating environments produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during April 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0.
- Unlike 'Windows for Workgroups 3.11', Windows 3.1 does NOT include the network drivers itself, it has to use DOS-network drivers. Step 1: Install the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS. Step 2: Configure Windows 3.1 to use the DOS-drivers when looking at.
- Nov 21, 2016 Windows 3.11 for workgroups came on several 1.44 MB floppies. Windows 95C is the first version of Windows to ship on CD media. In addition to Windows 3.11, you will also need to prepare a floppy disk. This will be hard to setup, you will probably need to use the original Virtual PC and use XP to create the virtual machine.
- Windows 3.11 The successor of Windows 3.10 was Windows 3.11 for Workgroups (WfW) with network abilities for use as a client in an network. The operating systems supports now beside Netbeui for the first time TCP/IP too.
The final gasps of Windows 3.11 don't just signal the end of an era, they raise questions regarding the long-term security of next-generation embedded systems. Part of what protects the security of the embedded systems still using WfW 3.11 is the fact that they (and the OS they use) were not designed in an age when device networking and interdevice communication was even half as common as it is today. If you listen to Intel or Microsoft's definition of an embedded system today, the user experience (and the terminal's capabilities) are light-years beyond simple ASCII screens and a menu of four push-button options.
Home German page DVD. Pioneer Device Driver Download MS-DOS/Windows 3.1x DVD-ROM Treiber (ATAPI/SCSI) Panasonic PC DOS and MS-DOS DVD Device Driver (also supports Windows 3.1 / Windows For Workgroups 3.11).
These 'rich' access points/devices offer significantly more features and better displays than what came before them, but updating and securing the operating system that powers such devices could be a decades-long task. The fact that companies have continued to buy WfW 3.11 some 15 years after launch implies that some part of the lifecycle for the devices that run it is extremely long. This could be because the devices themselves remain in good operational order for decades, because software updates and OS switches are extremely slow, or because the cost of acquiring newer, upgraded systems is prohibitively high.
WIndows 7 is currently set to arrive in the late-2009/early-2010 timeframe, so it's fair to ask if we'll be seeing similar end-of-life notices for it (or Windows XP Embedded) come 2023. Some of you readers, I know, have a great deal of experience in the embedded market—do you think the growth of what I'll call rich embedded devices will require longer security cycles and careful planning to insure that the increased security requirements of later years don't overwhelm initial hardware? Alternatively, is there any argument for security through antiquity—specifically, that as these devices deprecate and are shifted into low-end, low-security functions, they become less desirable as targets, and therefore maintain a level of safety regardless of how easy they are to penetrate?
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␡- Windows 3.0, 3.1, and Windows for Workgroups
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From the author of Easy Computer Basics, Windows 7 Edition
Easy Computer Basics, Windows 7 Edition
Windows 3.0
The third time was a charm. Windows 3.0, released in 1990, was the first commercially successful version of the operating system, selling 10 million copies in the two years before the 3.1 upgrade. This was the first version of the operating system to incorporate true multitasking, thus providing a real alternative to the dominant DOS operating system of the time. After the success of Apple's Macintosh, the PC world was ready for a multitasking OS with a graphical user interface.
Figure 4 Windows 3.0—the version that put Windows on the map
It helped, of course, that Windows 3.0 was a big improvement over the previous version. The interface was a lot nicer looking with 3D buttons and such, and users could, for the first time, change the color of the underlying desktop. (No wallpaper yet, however.) Programs were launched via the new icon-based Program Manager, and a new File Manager replaced the old MS-DOS Executive for basic file management. This was also the first version of Windows to come with Solitaire built in, contributing to an incredible amount of wasted time worldwide. Equally important, Windows 3.0 included a Protected/Enhanced mode that enabled native Windows applications to make use of more memory than their DOS counterparts.
After the release of Windows 3.0, applications written for Windows thrived while non-Windows apps eventually died on the vine. It was Windows 3.0 that made Word and Excel the dominant apps in their spaces, beating out WordPerfect, 1-2-3, and other entrenched DOS-compatible competitors.
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.11 Workgroups Disk Images
Windows 3.1, released in 1992, was more than a simple point upgrade. Version 3.1 not only included the requisite bug fixes, it was the first version of Windows to display TrueType scalable fonts—which turned Windows into a serious platform for desktop publishing. Also new to Windows 3.1 were screensavers and drag-and-drop operation.
Windows for Workgroups
Also released in 1992 was Windows for Workgroups (WFW), the first networkable version for Windows. Originally developed as an add-on for Windows 3.0, WFW added the necessary drivers and protocols (including TCP/IP) for peer-to-peer networking. This made WFW the first version of Windows suitable for a corporate environment.
Figure 6 Windows for Workgroups—the first networkable version of Windows
With WFW, Windows releases split into two paths: The consumer path, designed for use on single PCs, represented by Windows 3.1 and the upcoming Windows 95, and the corporate path, designed for use on multiple networked PCs, represented by WFW and the upcoming Windows NT.
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