> ************ WWiinnddoowwss 33..xx ************ ********** aann iinnttrroodduuccttoorryy oovveerrvviieeww ********** bbyy BBllaazzkkoo,, _m_a_i_l_@_n_e_v_e_p_r_i_s_e_._d_e VVeerrssiioonn::1.0, 2001-03-26 >A small introduction on the aged operating system Microsoft Windows 3.11 For Workgroups. > ******** TTaabbllee ooff ccoonntteennttss ******** * _1_._0_ _i_n_t_r_o_d_u_c_t_i_o_n o _1_._1_ _h_i_s_t_o_r_y * _2_._0_ _2_._0_ _f_e_a_t_u_r_e_s o _2_._1_ _g_e_n_e_r_a_l o _2_._2_ _h_i_g_h_ _r_e_s_o_l_u_t_i_o_n_ _g_r_a_f_x o _2_._3_ _g_e_n_e_r_i_c_ _G_U_I o _2_._4_ _g_e_n_e_r_i_c_ _d_r_i_v_e_r_ _m_o_d_e_l o _2_._5_ _1_6_b_i_t_ _A_P_I > ************ 11..00 iinnttrroodduuccttiioonn ************ _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e ********** 22..00 hhiissttoorryy ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e After Apple had introduced it's MacOS with the powerfull and easy-to-use GUI, the future of desktop computing was this way. Microsoft - still just providing DOS - was under pressure and began to develop an own "operation system" Windows. Compared to MacOS relatively poor and slow, Windows became well-supported by a broad spectre of software and was also good to handle. Until Windows 3.11 including, Windows was not a real operation system but only some kind of a large application for DOS providing and own generic graphical user interface (GUI) and a general driver modell. > ************ 22..00 ffeeaattuurreess ************ _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e ********** 22..11 ggeenneerraall ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e The driver modell and the GUI allowed programmers to develop high-resolution software also using multimedia features and printing capabilities without dealing with the wide spectre of hardware. The developer was thus independent from hardware, cos Windows offered the API (Application Programming Interface) that was used generic and independent of current system settings or the hardware configuration. This was the main key for the success of Windows, cos development did not require that hardware testing. En plus, the provided controls like buttons, lists, text-controls etc. did not demand time-intensive custom creations. As a result, the user has one GUI, so that many different programms are controlled the same way - this increased the working speed. Using a console prompt, the user still had access to the command-line and was even able to run most DOS based applications under the Windows GUI. But system resources were rare in these times, so not all DOS programs - especially games - could be run under Windows, exiting to a pure DOS mode was nessessary. Since Windows 3.11, the Windows family is optimized for network use, may it be LAN, WAN or even internet. Not that the previous versions did not know networking, but 3.11 has been updated with many important features important for a network use. Cos Windows up to 3.0 processed 16bit data, 3.11 received another interesting feature in 1993: hard drive access was enlarged to virtual 32bit that speeded up read / write operations on the HD. Also, there has been released a patch called Win32s that enabled many 32bit sofware to work under 16bit Kernel of Windows 1x-3x. ********** 22..22 hhiigghh rreessoolluuttiioonn ggrraaffxx ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e * resolutions up to 1280x968 pixels and more allowed extended capabilities of the computer, such as DTP (desktop publishing) ********** 22..33 ggeenneerriicc GGUUII ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e * rapid application development using common and reuseable controls such as buttons, lists, text controls etc. * user is familiar with the interface, this and design guidelines guarantee generic interaction with applications ********** 22..44 ggeenneerriicc ddrriivveerr mmooddeell ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e * developers can easily create graphical and multimedial applications without creating custom drivers, thus hardware testing is not nesessary anymore ********** 22..55 1166bbiitt AAPPII ********** _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e * the WinAPI (Application Programming Interface) offers a generic interface to Window's system tasks, resources, hardware etc.; programming is not anylonger dependent from user's computer configuration > _>_ _t_o_p_ _o_f_ _p_a_g_e > _C_o_p_y_l_e_f_t (C)2001 by _B_l_a_z_k_o. This document is licensed under the terms of the _G_P_L. > >