2 ms·
> The first successful iteration of Windows was not Win 95. It was Win 3.1. I would say Windows 3.0 -- because that was the version Microsoft started leaning o
by bitwize 3y ago
> The first successful iteration of Windows was not Win 95. It was Win 3.1.
I would say Windows 3.0 -- because that was the version Microsoft started leaning on OEMS to preinstall. Before it came preinstalled, Windows was an expensive, memory-hungry runtime nobody wanted; people got by just fine with Lotus and WordPerfect for DOS. After it came preinstalled, and every reasonable IBM-compatible computer you could buy could be expected to have it, it suddenly very obviously was the future and the Year of the Windows Desktop was upon us.
- KerrAvon 3y agoYou’re likely right. Anecdotally: I don’t recall anyone actually using Windows 3.0 as anything other than a temporary runtime for, like, DTP apps, which was also how Windows 2.0 had been used much of the time. Otherwise, they’d be in DOS. Windows 3.1 was a little closer to an environment you could live in. I don’t know when Microsoft Word for Windows overtook WordPerfect for DOS, but I’ll bet there’s some correlation between that and actual Windows usage.