windows 3.1 ROCKS! I've been looking at the varient out looks of applications I've found freeware,opensource and publicdomain are easy ones to sort out heh some programers I guess think once they create a program there fortune is made or that the world owes them but most commercial and shareware is now abandonware I'm finding programs that were once commercial or shareware being given away by there owners as free usually with no actual change to the program so its difficult to tell for sure the status of the program I've seen various abandonware places but these programs are not exactly abandonware I think if you looked you likly would find that lots of shareware and commercial programs may have changed status with no actual change to the program is anyone actually collecting a database of program staus for investigation? a simple owner query might learn tons of info input requested wat say

This'll keep you busy for awhile... http://oldfiles.org.uk/ Skip

thanks I've been there before and a quite a few other places looking for freeware yes I would say links to links to links... are one of the things that keep me buisy of looking for stuff where on the other hand readily pre sorted and arranged pages with direct downloads of the content you want go much faster some examples freeware I sort out goes here win31.no-ip.org/freeware I've started a database for windows 3.1 compatable compilers http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/... I would prefer keeping buisy with win3x programing but if you think I've missed important data relevant to this subject please point it out even if you only have links to links...

There were actually 4 releases of Windows 3.1 The original Win3.1, which was a big improvement over Win3.0. Win3.1 for Workgroups, which included real mode networking software and extra utilities. Win3.11, an update to 3.1 And then Win3.11 for Workgroups, which has core updates and provides protected mode networking and extra utilities. WfW3.11 was really a significant improvement to the Win3.1 core providing, among other things, 32-bit disk access and much improved DOS virtualization which enabled multi-tasking of DOS programs. Of course, the reality was muliti-tasking of "well behaved" DOS programs, all it took was one DOS program to make a call that Windows couldn't respond to and the whole house of cards came tumbling down. But, still, WfW3.11 did it better than any other Windows version until Win98SE (talking MS stuff here, OS2 could multitask DOS better than any Windows version). The problem with using Windows3.1 is the lack of any driver development for newer hardware. There hasn't been a video card made since around 1998 which included a Win3.1 driver. Same situation with sound cards. While there is some current open source development in hardware drivers for DOS, thanks to the FreeDOS project, there isn't anything for hardware support for Win3.1. So, it's great for older hardware (if you can find the old drivers), but it's not something you can effectivly put on a new computer. It would be great if you could put WfW3.11 on one of those new micro notebooks with all the hardware supported!

thank you for the history I did not have windows 3.1 before 200X always had to look up my drivers yea it works on most old hardware most any where from 8mhz to 1.8ghz with 4mb to 2gb of ram but it can be difficult to use and hard to setup for some I would not recomend it or dos for xp,vista,linux,etc... users the average person always chooses convenience as for new computers... there IS an obvious solution if people want support for old systems they should demand it from what they buy it can be done already has been... 99% of poeople dont ask they just buy this really has little to do with my original post though most program users dont question program status weather it is cabable of change who really made it or owns it and does any one care to check and see win3x is a program and it does not change it just has a lot more software and drivers the amount still grows

Have you tried www.vetusware.com ? I use it to get all of my abandonware. It's where I got Windows 3.1 in the first place! It's awesome, just sign up for a free account (all you need is an email address), and they will send you your logon password in your email. You'll find EVERYTHING. The catch is, you can only download 3 things per day on one account, and sometimes people upload broken software. Other than that, it's great! "If at first you don't succeed, skydiving may not be for you." -Our tour guide at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.