when it is up and running it IS a 32 bit OS

0

Didn't Windows 3.11 have some 32 bit functions? I think accessing the hard drive is 32 bit.

0

Here are the facts: 32 bit OS's use 32 bits per register of the CPU. Likewise, 16 bit OS's use 16 bits per register of the CPU. DOS = 16 bit (all versions) Win 3.1 = 16 bit Win 95 = 32 bit Win NT4 = 32 bit Win 98 = 32 bit Win 2K = 32 bit Win XP = 32 bit Win XP (64 bit edition) = 64 bit Now there is such thing as backwards technology (99% of the time). This means that each OS can emulate or run programs designed for any other older OS (i.e. 32 bit OS's are compatible with 16 bit OS's, 64 bit OS's are compatible with both 32 bit OS's & 16 bit OS's)

0

Steve, On a windows 3.11 / DOS 6.22 - I have a program that runs in DOS. This is the direct quote from the website: ------------ QuickView is a 32 bit protected mode program and therefore needs at least a 80386 processor and a VGA card. ------------ http://www.multimediaware.com/qv/qvdoc.htm So, if DOS 6.22 is 16 bit - then how does this run? Plus, there are settings Windows 3.11 (workgroups) for 32-bit data transfer and 32-bit disk access. sekirt

0

Programs such as that Quickview program (being a 32-bit protected mode program) use a 32 bit extender to allow it to run in the 16 bit DOS environment. This 32 bit extender allows the program to make full use of the 32 bit registers of the CPU as if it were running in a 32 bit OS such as Windows 95. A 32 bit extender is a softare program that allows a 16-bit environment to behave as a 32 bit environment. I was speaking generally in my previous comment about DOS being 16 bit, because DOS IS normally 16 bit. For more detail see: www.vci.com/products/low_power/rtdosext.asp To answer your second query about the certain "32 bit" functions in Win 3.1, this term "32 bit" is rather misleading. It doesn't mean that all 32 bits of the CPU register space is being used, but that the OS (Windows 3.1) is communicating to the hard disk DIRECTLY and not via the BIOS. The purpose of this is to speed data transfer to and from the hard disk. To read more information, go to: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q83325 P.S. Thanks for showing me the Quickview program, it turns out to be a nice useful little utility.

0