Dec 07
2007The Windows 3.1 family
Filed Under (Windows Xp) by Admin on 07-12-2007
Tagged Under : api, Microsoft, Microsoft Mail, Minesweeper, networking and file, ntfs, printer sharing, Schedule+, TrueType font system, windows, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.1, Windows NT
In 1992, Microsoft released Windows 3.1, which addressed many user and developer brickbats. For the developer, Microsoft gave a big, comprehensive API (Application Programming Interface), which simplified the task of creating user interfaces and let them focus more time on developing the core functionality of software. On the visual front, Microsoft introduced the TrueType font system, which led it to be taken seriously for Desktop Publication. They also brought us another favorite—Minesweeper. It also integrated the multimedia support which had only been offered as a separate add-on to Windows 3.0.
In 1993, Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was released, which added support for networking and file and printer sharing. It also added Microsoft Mail—a program to send and receive e-mail over the network, and Schedule+, which could be used to schedule people’s tasks over the network.
The entire series of Windows so far stood between the application and hardware for Windows applications, but they still allowed DOS programs to talk to the hardware directly. Also, because programs did not run in their own ‘protected’ memory, it often happened that programs would inadvertently change each others’ data, crashing either each other, or the OS itself. This wasn’t such a big deal for the home user, who didn’t run that many programs at once, but it did become a big concern for organizations, who couldn’t afford to have their OS crashing at random intervals. The Control Freak—Windows NT Since 1988, Microsoft had been developing Windows NT; the NT stands for ‘New Technology’.
This was a whole new kernel, built for data and application security. Applications ran in their own secure memory, which couldn’t be touched by other applications. Even the OS kernel ran in its own private memory, so theoretically, nothing could crash the system. All this, and in the familiar look and feel of Windows 3.1.
Unlike the Windows versions before it, Windows NT did not run ‘on top’ of DOS—it did not need DOS to run—but existed as a separate entity altogether.
Windows NT no longer allowed applications to access hardware directly. To speak to hardware, they required explicit permission from the OS. Game developers had always written their games to access hardware directly, which meant that NT would not allow games to run any more.
In addition to all this, Microsoft also gave us the NTFS (New Technology File System) which organized data using a ‘journal’ or log to track changes that were made to data. The NTFS also allowed for data security, restricting users from accessing files they were not allowed to.
Even with all its new features, NT lacked decent support for new hardware, and this was its shortcoming. And because it was an operating system for enterprises, it came with very little support for sound and video devices.