Windows 2.1x

Last updated

Windows 2.1x
Version of the Microsoft Windows operating system
Windows logo and wordmark - (1985-1989).svg
Windows 2.1.png
Screenshot of Microsoft Windows 2.1
Developer Microsoft
OS family Microsoft Windows
Source model Closed source
Released to
manufacturing 		May 27, 1988;35 years ago (1988-05-27)
Latest release 2.11 / March 13, 1989;34 years ago (1989-03-13)
License Commercial software
Preceded by Windows 2.0x (1987)
Succeeded by Windows 3.0 (1990)
Support status
Unsupported as of December 31, 2001

Windows 2.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on May 27, 1988, as a successor to Windows 2.0.

Contents

It was released with two different variants with differing CPU compatibility, also known as Windows/286 and Windows/386, so the versions are considered to be similar to its predecessor. In comparison, the Windows/386 variant is considered to be better than Windows/286, since it provides support for EMS emulation and is designed to use both conventional and extended memory. Changes to the user interface did not occur in this version, and rather, its performance was increased and enhanced memory management was added. The version is also noted to be the first one to require a hard disk drive. A minor update version, Windows 2.11, was released in March 1989.

Enhancements that were introduced were considered to have improved the operating environment, while the Windows/386 variant was noted to have a good level of functionality. It was considered to be one of the most popular 80386-based systems. The sales of Microsoft Windows continued to go up after its release, and in May 1990, it was succeeded by Windows 3.0, which is considered to be the first Windows version to perform well both critically and commercially. Microsoft ended its support on December 31, 2001.

Release versions

Windows 2.1

Like its predecessor, Windows 2.0, the operating environment was released with two different variants with differing CPU compatibility. However, the cosmetic naming convention was changed to "Windows/286" and "Windows/386". [1] It was released on May 27, 1988, and it was the first version of Windows to require a hard disk drive. [2] [3]

Despite its name, Windows/286 was fully operational on an 8088 or 8086 processor, although it would not use the high memory area since it did not exist on an 8086 processor. [4] [5] It is a rehash of its predecessor, Windows 2.03. The variant uses additional 64KB of the extended 286 KB memory in real mode. To access the additional memory, HIMEM.SYS is needed. [6] A few PC vendors shipped Windows/286 with Intel 8086 hardware; one such example was IBM's PS/2 Model 25, which included Windows/286, resulting in some customer confusion. [7] [8]

The other variant, Windows/386, is more advanced since it had introduced a protected mode kernel, and it allows several MS-DOS programs to run in a parallel in "virtual 8086" CPU mode, rather than suspending background applications. [9] It has also provided support for EMS emulation, to make the RAM beyond the 640 KB limit. [10] It has spruced-up rendering of the 80386 version, and its setup program is considered to be better than the Windows/286 one. [6] Windows/386 is designed to use both conventional and extended memory, although it ignores expanded memory. [11] : 121  The facilities for converting extended memory into expanded memory are built into Windows/386, although, any EMS that is separately controlled would not be available on Windows/386. [12] : 329  To customize Windows/386, users would have to manually change the CONFIG.SYS file. [12] : 336  Microsoft ended its support for Windows 2.1 on December 31, 2001. [13] [14]

Windows 2.11

Windows 2.11 was released on March 13, 1989. [15] As the successor of Windows 2.1, it was also released in Windows/286 and Windows/386 editions, with some minor changes in memory management and updates regarding printing options. [16] [17] It was noted that costs for organizations that ran Windows 2.11 were lower. [18]

Features

Changes to the user interface did not occur in this version, and instead, Microsoft had increased its performance and added enhanced memory management. [19] The Windows/286 variant introduced LIM 4.0 boards to store and swap executable code. Both variants had also introduced support towards more devices, while its printer support has been improved. [6] Windows/386 allows sharing a single printer to multiple windows. Microsoft has also introduced a disk-caching program, SmartDrive, [11] : 124  while third-party developers had introduced more apps to Windows 2.1 and 2.11. [20] [21]

System requirements

The official system requirements for Windows 2.1 include the following:

Windows/286 [6] Windows/386 [6] [11] : 124  [22] [23] : 34 
CPU 80286 processor 80386 processor
RAM512 KB of memory1 MB of memory
StorageA hard disk2 MB of hard disk space
VideoEGA or VGA adapters
OS MS-DOS 3.0 or higher MS-DOS 3.1 or higher
MouseA Microsoft-compatible pointing device is recommended, but not required

Windows 2.1 is shipped with 1.2 MB 5¼-inch or 720K 3½-inch floppy disks. [6] The Windows/386 variant also comes with user's guides, a quick-reference card and a manual that explains the features of the 386 variant. [22]

Reception

The enhancements that were introduced in Windows 2.1 are considered to have had improved the operating environment. [6] The Windows/386 variant has good level of functionality, and it lets applications run in full- or partial-screen windows, while the operating environment also slows down when running graphic-based applications. InfoWorld rated Windows/386 an excellent value. [22] Alongside DESQview 386, they were considered to be the most popular 386 environments by 1989, although DESQview 386 is considered to be more flexible than Windows/386. [12] : 329–336  Compared to other 80386-based systems, Windows/386 requires less DOS memory. [23] : 33 

The price tag for Windows/286 sat at $99, while the Windows/386 variant cost $195. [6] By January 1990, the sales of Microsoft Windows had reached less than two million. [24] It was succeeded by Windows 3.0 released in 1990, and after that, Windows 3.1 in 1992, and is considered to be the first version of Microsoft Windows to perform well both critically and commercially. [25] [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lattice C</span>

The Lattice C Compiler was released in June 1982 by Lifeboat Associates and was the first C compiler for the IBM Personal Computer. The compiler sold for $500 and would run on PC DOS or MS-DOS. The first hardware requirements were given as 96KB of RAM and one floppy drives. It was ported to many other platforms, such as mainframes (MVS), minicomputers (VMS), workstations (UNIX), OS/2, the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and the Sinclair QL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Am5x86</span> 486 computer chip made by AMD

The Am5x86 processor is an x86-compatible CPU announced in November of 1995 by AMD for use in 486-class computer systems. It began shipping in December of 1995, with a base price of $93 per unit in bulk quantities. Before being released, it was in development under the codename "X5".

DataFlex is an object-oriented high-level programming language and a fourth generation visual tool for developing Windows, web and mobile software applications on one framework-based platform. It was introduced and developed by Data Access Corporation beginning in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyrix Cx486SLC</span>

The Cyrix Cx486SLC is a x86 microprocessor that was developed by Cyrix. It was one of Cyrix's first CPU offerings, released after years of selling math coprocessors that competed with Intel's units and offered better performance at a comparable or lower price. It was announced in March of 1992, and released 2 months later in May, with a price of $119. It was priced competitively against the Intel 486SX, causing Intel to lower the price of their chip from $286 to $119 in just days.


Merge is a software system which allows a user to run DOS/Windows 3.1 on SCO UNIX, in an 8086 virtual machine.

LOADALL is the common name for two different, undocumented machine instructions of Intel 80286 and Intel 80386 processors, which allow access to areas of the internal processor state that are normally outside of the IA-32 API scope, like descriptor cache registers. The LOADALL for 286 processors is encoded 0Fh 05h, while the LOADALL for 386 processors is 0Fh 07h.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imaging for Windows</span> Software product for scanning paper documents

Imaging for Windows from Global 360 is document imaging software. Earlier versions of Imaging for Windows were available for Windows 95-98/Me/NT/2000. Global360 Imaging for Windows is the upgrade to this Imaging software, which was discontinued as of Windows XP. Its image viewing, editing and scanning functions are superseded by Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and Microsoft Paint, both of which are based on GDI+ in Windows XP. However, the multi-page picture editing functions are gone with the Imaging software.

Interactive Systems Corporation was a US-based software company and the first vendor of the Unix operating system outside AT&T, operating from Santa Monica, California. It was founded in 1977 by Peter G. Weiner, a RAND Corporation researcher who had previously founded the Yale University computer science department and had been the Ph.D. advisor to Brian Kernighan, one of Unix's developers at AT&T. Weiner was joined by Heinz Lycklama, also a veteran of AT&T and previously the author of a Version 6 Unix port to the LSI-11 computer.

CommSuite 95 is a communications software suite launched in 1995 by Canadian software company Delrina.

XDB Enterprise Server is a relational database management system (DBMS), which was available for DOS, Windows NT and OS/2, and was compatible with IBM's DB2 database. DOS version was released in 1988 as one of the earliest DOS-based SQL database servers. The system was developed by XDB Systems, Inc., which was acquired by Micro Focus International group in 1998. It is still shipped with Micro Focus' COBOL software.

Simeon was an IMAP4 email client by The Esys Corporation with support for IMSP and LDAP.

LiveWire Professional is a MS-DOS program made by CableSoft. It was first introduced in 1988 as software/expansion board combination, which allowed to convert Financial News Network ticker from television receivers into ASCII for further analysis. The software is designed for stock brokers and financial analysts, allowing them to record and analyse the stock market, through the use of live feeds. However, its user interface was criticized as cumbersome.

Meeting Maker is a cross-platform personal calendar and group scheduling software application from PeopleCube. First released in 1991 for Macintosh by ON Technology, support for other platforms followed in 1993 with Meeting Maker XP. Alongside Windows and Mac, native clients were released for OS/2 and Solaris, and later also for other platforms. Some support was also introduced for mobile platforms like Apple Newton, PalmPilot and Windows CE. Although powerful, its user interface - aiming at uniformity across multiple platforms — was criticized as weak and not supporting all features of target platforms.

Aldus PhotoStyler was a graphics software program developed by the Taiwanese company Ulead. Released in June 1991 as the first 24 bit image editor for Windows, it was bought the same year by the Aldus Prepress group. Its main competition was Adobe Photoshop. Version 2.0 introduced a new user interface and improved color calibration. PhotoStyler SE - lacking some features of the version 2.0 - was bundled with scanners like HP ScanJet. The product disappeared from the Adobe product line after Adobe acquired Aldus in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows 3.1x</span> Major release of Microsoft Windows

Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows 2.0x</span> Second major release of Microsoft Windows

Windows 2.0 is a major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical operating systems for personal computers developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on December 9, 1987, as a successor to Windows 1.0.

The Zinc Application Framework is an application framework, intended for the development of cross-platform software applications with graphical user interface (GUI), using a widget toolkit. Zinc targets both embedded and desktop platforms.

PerfectDisk is a defragmentation software product for Windows developed by Raxco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM ThinkPad 365</span> Notebook computer series by IBM

The IBM ThinkPad 365 is a notebook computer series developed by IBM and manufactured by ASE Group. It was released in North America in November 1995, and was the successor of the ThinkPad 360 series. The series had 8 models that were released before being discontinued, and was succeeded in 1997 by the ThinkPad 380 series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM ThinkPad 700</span>

The IBM ThinkPad 700 is the first notebook computer for the ThinkPad brand that was released by IBM on October 5, 1992. Another series was released alongside it, the ThinkPad 300 series. The 300 series was meant to be a cheaper, lower performance model line over the 700. It was developed as a successor to the L40SX.

References

  1. ↑ "High-Impact Graphics". PC Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 16. Ziff Davis, Inc. September 27, 1988. p. 38. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  2. ↑ Purcaru, Bogdan Ion (2014). Games vs. Hardware. The History of PC video games: The 80's. p. 415.
  3. ↑ Sexton, Michael Justin Allen (November 12, 2016). "History of Microsoft Windows". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  4. ↑ "High-Impact Graphics". PC Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 16. Ziff Davis, Inc. September 27, 1988. p. 38. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  5. ↑ Patton, Carole; Mace, Scott (July 4, 1988). "Windows Gets More Memory With Upgrade". Info World. Vol. 10. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 1. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "High-Impact Graphics". PC Magazine. Vol. 7. Ziff Davis, Inc. September 27, 1988. p. 38. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  7. ↑ IBM Personal System 2 and IBM Personal Computer Product Reference. 4. New York: IBM. 1988. p. 78.
  8. ↑ Miller, Michael (August 17, 1987). "First Look". Info World. Vol. 9. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 44. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Graphical: The Better Interface". PC Magazine. Vol. 8. Ziff Davis, Inc. September 12, 1989. p. 115. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  10. ↑ "PC labs tests 24 VGA monitors". PC Magazine. Vol. 9. Ziff Davis, Inc. May 15, 1990. p. 240. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 "The Software Side of the 386 Equation: PC Labs Test Five 386-based Multitasking Solutions". PC Magazine. Vol. 8. Ziff Davis, Inc. February 28, 1989. pp. 121–131. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 "PC Labs Tests Every 80386". PC Magazine. Vol. 8. Ziff Davis, Inc. May 30, 1989. pp. 329–341. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Obsolete Products". Support. Microsoft. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original on August 14, 2005.
  14. ↑ Cowart, Robert (2005). Special edition using Microsoft Windows XP home. Brian Knittel (3 ed.). Indianapolis, Ind.: Que. p. 92. ISBN   0-7897-3279-3. OCLC   56647752. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  15. ↑ Schreuder, Duco A. (2014). Vision and visual perception: the conscious base of seeing. Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing. p. 428. ISBN   978-1-4808-1294-9. OCLC   898160678. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  16. ↑ Timacheff, Serge; Miller, Michael (June 4, 1990). "Microsoft Windows 3.0: The Graphics Interface Grows up". Info World. Vol. 12. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 113. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  17. ↑ Brownstein, Mark (May 28, 1990). "Windows Drivers For Printers". Info World. Vol. 12. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 33. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Stuart (September 17, 1990). "Hidden Windows Costs Worthwhile". InfoWorld. Vol. 12. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 13. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  19. ↑ "High-end Windows going corporate with graphics, multitasking abilities". Computerworld. IDG Enterprise. June 20, 1988. p. 4. ISSN   0010-4841. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  20. ↑ Quinn, Stephen R. (October 25, 1993). "FileMaker Pro eases interface". InfoWorld. Vol. 15. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 108. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Small-Office Software: The Essentials". PC Magazine. Vol. 14. Ziff Davis, Inc. June 13, 1995. p. 120. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  22. 1 2 3 "Other Multitasking, Multiuser Environments Capable of Running MS-DOS Applications". InfoWorld. Vol. 11. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. February 13, 1989. p. 58. ISSN   0199-6649. Archived from the original on June 5, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  23. 1 2 Rosch, Winn (December 22, 1987). "Windows/386 Juggles DOS Tasks in Every Bit of RAM". PC Magazine. Vol. 6. Ziff Davis, Inc. pp. 33–34. ISSN   0888-8507. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  24. ↑ McCracken, Harry (May 7, 2013). "A Brief History of Windows Sales Figures, 1985-Present". Time. ISSN   0040-781X. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Vision for the Future". The Making of Microsoft: How Bill Gates and His Team Created the World's Most Successful Software Company. Prima Publishing. 1991. p. 239. ISBN   1-55958-071-2 . Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Windows 3.0 ends the wait". Computerworld . Vol. 24, no. 31. July 30, 1990. p. 33. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  27. ↑ Venditto, Gus (July 1990). "Windows 3.0 Brings Icons, Multitasking, and Ends DOS's 640K Program Limit". PC Magazine . Vol. 9, no. 13. pp. 33–35. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.