After 18 Years Windows 3.1 Is Officially Retired

[Saint_Michael 3]

Wow is all I have to say just because of the fact I thought they gave up giving licenses for this old, outdated, slow, useless operating system. I guess not as November 1st, 2008 Windows 3.1 is officially dead and the funny thing is didn't support for this operating system end at windows 98 or something like that? Either way I wonder when they will stop issuing liscenses for 95, 98, ME, 2000 because those operating systems are just as outdated and can not even run most of the web technologies that ae out there today and so if your going to cut off support you might as well cut off everything.

Source

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7707016.stm

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Wow is all I have to say just because of the fact I thought they gave up giving licenses for this old, outdated, slow, useless operating system. I guess not as November 1st, 2008 Windows 3.1 is officially dead and the funny thing is didn't support for this operating system end at windows 98 or something like that? Either way I wonder when they will stop issuing liscenses for 95, 98, ME, 2000 because those operating systems are just as outdated and can not even run most of the web technologies that ae out there today and so if your going to cut off support you might as well cut off everything.

 

Source

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7707016.stm

 

wow 18 years ago! gee Thanks Saint, Now I really feel old. I remember when it 1st came out. back then everyone was saying it was the bomb. if you had Windows 3.1 and Norton Cammador you had a top of the line system. How times have changed. From the days of a Cassette drive to huge gig hard drives.

 

As for 95 98 ME 2000 and even XP, Most likely all will be dropped withine 5 to 15 yes in the order that they came out.

[rvalkass 5]

Wow is all I have to say just because of the fact I thought they gave up giving licenses for this old, outdated, slow, useless operating system.

What?!?! Windows 3.11 for Workgroups was the most stable and fastest Windows OS I ever used! 14" monochrome CRT screen, IBM Model II Personal Computer, huge clunky power switch, ah, happy days...

I guess not as November 1st, 2008 Windows 3.1 is officially dead and the funny thing is didn't support for this operating system end at windows 98 or something like that?

I think that computer is still up and running I'm thinking I should try phoning for support...

[anwiii 17]

windows 3.1 wasn't even an operating system. it still ran under dos. the format was gui though. i loved 3.1. i was using it even after windows 98 came out.and yup! haha although i love remembering the good old days, makes me feel ooooold. i was so windows resistant though and so used to dos.anyway, i thought when 95 and 98 hit the market, THEY sucked. not 3.1....3.1 was the bomb! hahai have spoken!

[Spyda 0]

All I can say is about time. Windows 3 is dead.... I think that pretty soon Windows 98 will be done, and Microsoft will be issuing a statement just like with Windows 3, saying it is done with it as well.

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

I think my dad still has one of these. I remember playing games on it, nd it was so fast back then (it was like 55mhz or something like that).I figured they weren't selling the OS anymore, so they retired it, but I guess they didn't until now.

[jlhaslip 4]

*** News Flash ***If you look under the hood of Vista/XP/200/98, etc, guess what you find?Relics of MS-DOS in action. All the Windows Operating Systems that are running today support the features of MS-DOS, only now they are done by a Graphical interface. But under the hood is MS-DOS

[galexcd 0]

All I can say is about time. Windows 3 is dead....

Dead? Windows 3 was far from dead. Sure nobody used it for personal computing anymore but plenty of cashwraps, and other basic devices that were complex enough to run a windows OS used it. It is still used because of its stability and efficiency. Who needs a fancy GUI when ringing out inventory in a retail chain? Edited November 22, 2008 by galexcd (see edit history)

[anwiii 17]

yup! why i prefer to always use the command prompt when i can....especially when changing attributes of files and folders at times when the current operating systems wont allow you to. i will be a dos fan forever. i also found out quick that going through dos with certain functions is a lot safer than going through the operating system above dos. i'll still format my hard drives through dos directly and use fdisk and the dos programs. also, if windows crashes, you can still backup your files through dos. i personally live by it. i wish i can get over my fear though of switching operating systems. i'm tired of putting money in bill's pocket.

what i don't understand though is how 3.1 is officially retired. is it that they no longer offer any support for it and that's it? because if ya still got the program, you can still install it as long as you have the correct version of dos installed first. haha that's why despite how microsoft made people believe 3.1 was an operating system, it wasn't. dos always ran above below the windows program and if it wasn't for dos, widows 3 wouldn't have even installed. microsoft was saying windows 3.1 was dead a long long time ago after nt came out and 95. why is it officially retired now? there are third world countries still lucky enough to have old computers donated to them that still doesn't have the ram needed to support even windows 95.

i'm curious though how windows 3.1 or 3.11(what i was familiar with) was supported to this day. what was microsoft doing to support the 3.1 users after more than a decade? we are at windows vista now for gosh sakes. all 3.1 really did was give the newbies an easier way to navigate and use dos commands that windows ran under.

*** News Flash ***
If you look under the hood of Vista/XP/200/98, etc, guess what you find?

Relics of MS-DOS in action. All the Windows Operating Systems that are running today support the features of MS-DOS, only now they are done by a Graphical interface. But under the hood is MS-DOS

[Saint_Michael 3]

wow 18 years ago! gee Thanks Saint, Now I really feel old. I remember when it 1st came out. back then everyone was saying it was the bomb. if you had Windows 3.1 and Norton Cammador you had a top of the line system. How times have changed. From the days of a Cassette drive to huge gig hard drives.
As for 95 98 ME 2000 and even XP, Most likely all will be dropped withine 5 to 15 yes in the order that they came out.

Heck I was an EVIL spammer back then collecting baseball cards and watching cartoons and so that is really old for me and if I remember correctly I only begun ot hear about computers with the Apple II so yeah now we are talking ancient days .

What?!?! Windows 3.11 for Workgroups was the most stable and fastest Windows OS I ever used! 14" monochrome CRT screen, IBM Model II Personal Computer, huge clunky power switch, ah, happy days... :DI think that computer is still up and running I'm thinking I should try phoning for support...

If I remember correctlu that like 1-2% of the world's population still have working 3.1 machines and so your not alone.

windows 3.1 wasn't even an operating system. it still ran under dos. the format was gui though. i loved 3.1. i was using it even after windows 98 came out.
and yup! haha although i love remembering the good old days, makes me feel ooooold. i was so windows resistant though and so used to dos.

anyway, i thought when 95 and 98 hit the market, THEY sucked. not 3.1....3.1 was the bomb! haha

i have spoken!

Well you could say that about Windows 95, 98 and ME since all three still used MS-DOS as its core and believe 2000 as well since XP finally got rid of MS-DOS as its core and use it for basic commands.

All I can say is about time. Windows 3 is dead.... I think that pretty soon Windows 98 will be done, and Microsoft will be issuing a statement just like with Windows 3, saying it is done with it as well.

About time?, Windows 3.1 should have been dead since 2000 or at least XP and the funny thing is Microsoft wants to kill XP a lot quicker then they did Windows 3.1

I think my dad still has one of these. I remember playing games on it, nd it was so fast back then (it was like 55mhz or something like that).
I figured they weren't selling the OS anymore, so they retired it, but I guess they didn't until now.

Well you can still find copies around the net I know amazon has copies of all the operating systems that you can purchase from there, just think Vista could be worth $20 in 10-15 years .

Dead? Windows 3 was far from dead. Sure nobody used it for personal computing anymore but plenty of cashwraps, and other basic devices that were complex enough to run a windows OS used it. It is still used because of its stability and efficiency. Who needs a fancy GUI when ringing out inventory in a retail chain?

The problem is though 3.1 cannot even run any of the web technologies out there, and I don't even think it can run a browser correctly without crashing the system or something like that.

yup! why i prefer to always use the command prompt when i can....especially when changing attributes of files and folders at times when the current operating systems wont allow you to. i will be a dos fan forever. i also found out quick that going through dos with certain functions is a lot safer than going through the operating system above dos. i'll still format my hard drives through dos directly and use fdisk and the dos programs. also, if windows crashes, you can still backup your files through dos. i personally live by it. i wish i can get over my fear though of switching operating systems. i'm tired of putting money in bill's pocket.
what i don't understand though is how 3.1 is officially retired. is it that they no longer offer any support for it and that's it? because if ya still got the program, you can still install it as long as you have the correct version of dos installed first. haha that's why despite how microsoft made people believe 3.1 was an operating system, it wasn't. dos always ran above below the windows program and if it wasn't for dos, widows 3 wouldn't have even installed. microsoft was saying windows 3.1 was dead a long long time ago after nt came out and 95. why is it officially retired now? there are third world countries still lucky enough to have old computers donated to them that still doesn't have the ram needed to support even windows 95.

i'm curious though how windows 3.1 or 3.11(what i was familiar with) was supported to this day. what was microsoft doing to support the 3.1 users after more than a decade? we are at windows vista now for gosh sakes. all 3.1 really did was give the newbies an easier way to navigate and use dos commands that windows ran under.

Heck people still chose to go old school and do most of their work at the command prompt because of the fact its quicker and they do not have to any of this excessive clicking just to get some where on the computer.

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

Vista may be a freebie with all these bugs

[hertonsils 0]

Jesus Christ! I really can't believe they sold licenses for that long! Can't even believe they still gave support up until 2001.Still kinda sad really, I'll always remember Windows 3.1 with fond memories.

[bluedragon 0]

I still remember it had one of the best card games and Minesweeper :)I even tried installing it on my Ming but it didn't work properly .. NEways.. I'll Miss Win 3.1 @willielwgg - Vista will be a freebie .. I wish Linux ppl build an awesome OS that kicks Vista's *bottom* ..

[miladinoski 1]

Wow, that was quite a news you said there, I had no idea that MS still sold licences of that ancient OS and I wonder who would want to buy one when GNU/Linux exists? Anyways I didn't have the time to get a grip of Win 3.1 on my hands though I can remember playing a game on it at a friend and I remember that windows' could be closed by double clicking on the little minus on the top left of the window, and you can still close windows by that method in every single Windows OS from then! You can see that MS still caters for old users! Good it's gone. Dear god how I hate Windows.

Edited December 18, 2008 by miladinoski (see edit history)

[Aspiration 0]

Lol, the operating system is so old. Does that mean Microsoft will stop issuing licenses for Windows 95 in the year 2013 and Windows 98 in the year 2016? =). At the bottom of that article, it says that many people today still rely on old operating systems (that are likely to fail anytime).