Ok guys before you freak this is not another (why still use
win 3.1 questions) This is something that ive been
thinking about lately and so i thought i would ask you all.

Ok lets pretend that the only computer you had access to
was a PC running some flavor of windows 3.x...The
question is based on what you use the computer for
would you be able to use windows 3.x as your main OS
today? if so explain how you would be able to do so and if
not explain why as well. If you dont or cant, do you know
anyone who does use it still as there main OS?

OK now i well tell you my answer to this question. Given
that i never had a computer when win 3.x was king and
that my first PC was a Packard Bell 166MMX with win 95B i
never got to know how computing was done in those days
and what the average user did on the computer before the
net and mp3's and so on.

For me...I dont think that i could use 3.x as my main os
today for a few reasons.

1. The internet...today most websites well not display
correctly with the browsers available for 3.x. so since i use
the web allot and pay all my bills online and things it
wouldn't work. Also there isn't really any IM programs or
webcam utilities.

2. Multimedia stuff...Win 3.x cannot play most current
video files or make use of a digital camera and as far as i
know there really is no audio or video editing programs
for it...best there is is photoshop. Also there is no DVD
player or CD RW programs that im aware of.

For now my conclusion is that I do like windows 3.1 since
it is so simple and light weight and the titlebar text is
centered :) i think it would make a good OS to do real
work on such as load up office 4.3 and publisher and what
not and go from there.

Firstly Windows 3.xx like W9x/ME are not truely an OS, they use a MS-DOS Subsytem, therefore they should be seen as Graphical User Interfaces atop MS-DOS {M$ Disk Operating System(aka CPM86)}

If you use Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with the TCP/IP update and 16bit IE5.5 then compatability to many recent web sites is quite good.

But yes would agree there are issues, but that is down to the software writers not Windows par-se, W9x/ME is going the same way as there is no call for MS-DOS based O/S-GUI.

NT4/5/5.1/6 is based on IBM OS/2 and since the end of the nineties MS decided it was a better platform to develop.

Unfortunately any use of any older O/Ses is for nostalga reasons, lets face it W3 is nearly 20 years old.............

Well I am still giving pc's to people with win3x on them and it is usually their introduction to windows but they use it to play games, use MSoffice or practice their typing skills. It was my first windows experience and I had it on the net with a lot of help from this forum. I also had an IT student friend put IE on it and hook me up with a modem and that was 7 years back now I think. I was studying MsOffice at College and it helped that I had a pc at home that was given to me by a charity so that is why I try to do now myself. I find old pc's(they usually have windows on it) and I check that they are running smoothly, match them with the right peripherals and give them to whoever needs it.

I am the same in that I need the more current Windows to do what I need but from time to time I take the little Toshiba T3400(that has win3.11 on it) to the park and type documents. It is so lightweight and it monochrome. The battery even holds a decent amount of charge. Plus I have music production software that won't work on older systems.

"The meaning of life is to be happy and useful" Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama

For these reasons I use Windows 95 as my main OS for today. It is much more adaptable to today's environment as it was designed as the internet was growing. I have a '94 TI Travelmate 4000M with 3.1 but would not try to use that as my daily machine.

I use Windows 95 version C (with USB support), but I've never used the USB--its a complicated--and I don't really care to set it up, which is very complicated. I simply set up Windows 95 and it works. If most people were like me, Windows 95 is excellent for today's use. You can surf, play multimedia, etc. Just make sure you have a good firewall.

My computer type is actually in my signature, look through my posts and you'll see it displayed. Had since early '98 and still looks like the day I bought it, which adds to the "collector" value. The only thing I've upgraded is the hard drive, which is a Seagate 80GB. Sorry, a 1.5GB Fireball isn't good enough these days.

I enjoy my older machines because I suffer from decade nostalgia, and I can't let go, probably like most in this forum.

Stephen Fox
Windows 95 4.00.950 C
PENTIUM MMX 333MHz; 384MB RAM
GATEWAY 2000 P6-333 DESKTOP 80GB

if i remember 3.1 right, i used it mainly to play games and and make "pretty pictures" in paint. we didnt have internet, or anything like that. we bought a $3000 Gateway in March 1993, we were the kings of the block, we had almost 50mb of memory, so we could do anything. now im writing you this message on my monster cpu with xp pro, but thx Netboy76 for the memories...

Holy crap! That's quite something. Though 50 megs of RAM in 93 would've cost a LOT more than $3000. I had 16MB in my 1994 computer, and it cost around $3800. (the Pentium-66 processor is what really jacked up the price, though)

hey jack, that was our slave hard drive, we had like 8meg ram

If at first you dont suceed in opening a computer, get a hammer and a chisel like i do...

I have it on 2 desktops and one laptop why, because it works and thats all I need from those machines....

Keep the old stuff running

"hey jack, that was our slave hard drive, we had like 8meg ram"

Well you said 50MB of memory, and "memory" usually refers to RAM, not disk space.

I once considered going back to using Win 3.1 from using Win 9x for reasons I won't get into. Got ahold of an old Win 3.1 system, used it for a few days and decided against it. Mainly because the graphics are horrible and the Program manager is very hard to work with and because it only supports dialup and I use DSL.
Faris,

I am building a new computer (my other thread) and I plan to triple-boot Windows for Workgroups 3.11, WIndows NT 3.51, and Windows XP. I got my first PC back in 1998, a used 486 running Windows for Workgroups 3.11. I loved that machine. Unfortunately I had problems with the hard disk. I guess for me I am trying to reclaim a lost era although I do prefer the Win 3.x interface as opposed to the newer systems. Basically, the only real reason why I am installing XP on my new computer is so that I can play the latest games, like Civilization 4, which require XP along with a high-end system. I plan to do the bulk of my work, school reports, etc. in the 3.x environment. I am also accumulating vintage software on eBay, like Office 4.3 for example. I want to have it so that I can use 3.x to the fullest extent on a high-end PC. The problem with newer OS's and software alike is that despite the faster hardware, the programs run slower than ever due to sloppy code. Third-party software is the worst, in my opinion. I plan for 95% of my software to be licensed Microsoft. Of course they are guilty of this, too, albeit to a lesser degree than the others. That's why Win 3.1 loads in the blink of an eye on a Pentium II while XP still takes forever to load on a Pentium 4. Long live retro computing, my friends. But there is more than just having and old PC with older programs... it's having older stuff that is still usable today. People will be like "wow you're still using Windows 3.1!" All the girls are gonna love me, and it will be nice to have a computer that for once processes quite fast and efficiently. That is why I want to go backward, to a simpler time.

"But there is more than just having and old PC with older programs... it's having older stuff that is still usable today."

That is EXACTLY why I love my computer. Everyone in this forum has beat the odds...OTOH, it really has nothing to do with odds. It has more to do with the ability to take care of things and make them last. People that hit their computer whenever there is a minor problem likely do not have the kind of patience to appreciate and 'survive' in the Windows 3.x, 95 world.

Stephen Fox
Windows 95 4.00.950 C
PENTIUM MMX 333MHz; 384MB RAM
GATEWAY 2000 P6-333 DESKTOP 80GB

I don't mean to be a prude but all you guys in here know alot about 3.11 which I have just aquired and have never used it, I am having problems with getting it past the boot screen I have tried ever combination of syntax addition for C:\Win D:cvfxe and others but NOGO the system has a trident card and other stuff. It is an old ZEOS Pantera Tower with scsi seagate HD. Has old Phoenix 4.04 Bios. I have no boot disks or any software for this system any directions or TS would be great and Advice other than trash or scrap. I would love to use it for whatever maybe but first i want to know it's capabilities and it's Possibilities.
Thanks, Rob
cobra35y@yahoo.com

Hello Everyone,
My father brought a 386SX based computer in 1992 and we used it for Drafting "Autosketch", writing letters and playing games.
my father gave it to me in 2000 and I used it a little until i brought a new XP computer in 2003.
It sat idiol until 2 weeks ago when i decide to go and relive the 3.1 experience.
What I found was it simplicity and speed without all the frills XP gived you.
I think Microsoft should make a version of Windows that allows hardware detection, internet use etc, but doesn't fill up your hard drive with all these lovely extras that are slowing the system down.
I plan to experiment more with 3.1 and use it mainly for Games.
Live on 3.1 !!!! your days aren't numbered yet!!!

I used windows 3.11 (not for workgroups) up until about 1998 as my main system and used it on and off for various tasks up until 2001. I have to say Windows 3.11 did support video capture (I had an Aigotcha 2.0) It did take digital photos, it ran a scanner and it did go online and I could play avi & mpeg movies. MGI photosuite ran as did all my name etymology software for my craft business I wrote poetry, etc and still use works 3.0 due to its simplicy. So long as I had enough hard disk space I could still use it as my main OS today, the main issue then and now is that windows 3.11 had to be exited and reentered every once and a while when you were doing some heavy work and you did have to save more often (not much different than 98) to be honest the program manager was easier to use for me than the start button, I like icons & windows and you could always switch to it using alt+tab. I still use 98se as my main OS now, I had to move up from 98fe due to my stupid $25 burner. I can't upgrade past windows 98 at least for my business machine because the name software & dongle WILL not run under XP without running virtual PC or the like even then the dongle doesn't want to work reliably. Honestly for what I do there really isn't any appeal to going beyond what I have as 98 does the job it scans, edits images and runs my business software and goes online perfectly, I have often thought about going back to 3.11 but haven't taken the time or effort to move all my crapola backward, there are claims from the original himem.sys creator that both 3.11 & 98 become almost completely stable with a non hacked updated himem.sys (microsoft just kept hacking & moddng the original from 85 without buying a license for the new versions available)

Cheers