Windows 3.1: Twenty Years Later

Two decades ago, Microsoft launched Windows 3.1. This first attempt to move beyond the operating system's DOS roots introduced many features we recognize in Windows today. Happy Birthday, Windows 3.1. Imagine a world without the Start button. No, I'm not talking about Windows 8. Dig deep into your memory, and you may recall a time when Windows 3.1 ruled the Earth. Twenty years ago this month, Microsoft released version 3.1 of its MS-DOS graphical-shell-turned-operating-system. Windows 3.1 became the first version of Windows to be widely distributed with new PCs, cementing the dominance of Microsoft's OS on the IBM PC platform and signaling the dawn of the Golden Age of Windows. In Windows 3.1 there are many of the innovations this colorful GUI brought to Windows for the first time. like

Program Manager

Before Windows Explorer, there was Program Manager, where you could group application icons together any way you wanted, allowing for primitive program organization. (For viewing files on your computer, you ran File Manager.) It worked well enough, but juggling the many windows could prove tricky--and you could end up with 50-plus program groups filling your screen.

File Manager

File Manager let you explore the file system of your computer visually, using a directory tree and an icon-based view of files. Copying between folders was as easy as a drag and drop, which attracted many novice PC users to Windows. Microsoft combined File Manager and Program Manager into Windows Explorer in Windows 95, and the arrangement has been that way ever since.

TrueType Fonts

The TrueType font system marked the most important visual innovation in Windows 3.1. True Type was actually developed by Apple Computer, which--if you can believe it--licensed the technology to Microsoft for free. Why? Apple didn't want Adobe to monopolize digital type. Rather than using blocky pixels in a bitmap, TrueType described fonts as curves and lines, which allowed fonts to scale smoothly to any size. This capability produced amazing printed documents, a big reason why Windows 3.1 flourished as a desktop publishing platform. Win 3.1 included 15 fonts with now-familiar names such as Arial, Courier, System, and Times New Roman.

Built-In Screensavers

Prior to Windows 3.1, if you wanted to save your monitor from CRT burn-in, you either turned it off or installed a third-party screensaver such as After Dark. In version 3.1, Microsoft included four screensavers: Blank Screen (oooh!), Flying Windows (assorted Windows logos soaring by), Marquee (a phrase of your choice scrolling across the screen), and Starfield Simulation (a flight through space, with the stars streaking past). Of course, users could install many more screensavers, which spawned a back-of-the-magazine cottage industry of screensaver plug-ins that functioned more as eye candy than as a genuine means to protect your monitor.

The Registry Is Born

Windows 3.1 brought many improvements, but it also introduced a feature that would become the bane of many Windows users: the Registry. We all know how easy it is for this custom database of hidden system settings to become jumbled and wreak havoc on our machines. The Registry has survived all the complaints, though: Behind the modern-looking, Metro touch interface of Windows 8, the Registry still lurks.