Eventually, you're off in the weeds with a dozen "small tasks" standing between you and your original task.
My Virtual PC item (yesterday) was from one such side excursion (Look! A chicken!), but I thought you might be amused by this fresh screen capture:
Here's Windows 3.11 running (yes, running; fully functional) in a virtual PC, hosted on my current Vista system:
(click to enlarge)
Win3.11 ("Windows for Workgroups") was the first "complete" graphical OS from Microsoft, with built-in support for mice, VGA color (that's a 640x480 "full screen" VGA image, above) , CD drives, sound and networking. Before Win3.0, you had to load separate drivers for each of those those.
With that version of Windows, Microsoft brought full functionality and ease of use (previously the domain of the very pricey Mac) to the large installed base of cheap, ubiquitous DOS PCs, and the rest, as they say, is history. Windows became--- and remains today--- the world's dominant operating system. All because of the success of Windows 3.x
BTW, in that screen grab, above, note "Program Manager." That's what eventually became the Desktop. "Control Panel" is still called that, although its functions have expanded enormously. And "File Manager" is what we now call Windows Explorer.
Other things from 3.11 are still present in today's Windows, but morphed almost to nonrecognition. For example, the "PIF Editor" is today's "Compatibility" tab in file Properties.
There are a few other minor differences, too. For example:
The Windows directory in my 3.11 installation contains 149 files and weighs in at 9.21 MB.
The Windows directory in my copy of Vista contains 53,946 files and comprises 12.1 GB.
Yes, minor differences.
I don't want to sit in my virtual rocker, sucking on my virtual gums and reminiscing about the good old days when a complete operating system fit on a floppy. Why I remember when we had to carve our ones and zeros from solid blocks of wood, and were were glad to do it because it was a step up from knotted strings and abaci...
But it's fun to look back, no?
"Windows became--and remains today--the world's dominant operating system. All because of the success of Windows 3.x."
ReplyDeleteYup, that's why. Now define "success".
:)
I call being the native OS for 9 of 10 of the world's PC's "success."
ReplyDeleteI know you were gently joking, and have to agree that the unexpected initial success of Win3.x had the terrible consequence of setting in stone the somewhat slapdash architecture of the early Windows--- a legacy we still deal with today.
But back then, MS made it possible to get Mac-like ease of use at about 1/5th the Mac's price. that's about as pro-consumer as it gets.
Apple, on the other hand, retreated into highest-end boutique technology, and ceased to be innovative for nearly a decade.
And, it must be said, Apple still deals with the legacy of snobbery and elitism that came with its early models.
We're all products and prisoners of our pasts. ;)
Ah, those "but first's" -- they'll divert you every time!
ReplyDeleteYou might be in the early stages of A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
ReplyDeleteThis is how it manifests:
I decide to wash my car.
… As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table.
… I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
… I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.
… So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first.
… But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
… I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left
… My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.
… I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
… As I head toward the kitchen with the coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
… I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
… I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
… I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote.
… Someone left it on the kitchen table.
… I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
… I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.
… So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
… Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
… At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
… Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.
… I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
BillK
Sherman lives!
ReplyDeleteSome Mac people need to get a real religion.
It's a computer folks...lighten up.
And you Lynnuxxx fokes need to check your Mac-ee-ness level and ease up a little as well.
Signed,
and only a little singed,
Mister Peabody
Can-o-worms, or possibly Pandora's box, or both...;)
ReplyDeleteI ran windows 3.11 the same way a year or two back.
ReplyDeleteMore recently I have used a Dosbox to play a few old Dos games that won't run on windows.
On both occasions I ended up having an most enjoyable afternoon of fun and good memories. Its almost like getting out an old photo album.
Thanks for the reminder.
Al
Totally agree Fred that Windows 3.11 was affordable computing. My second computer and first in the post-home computing era was an IBM-compatible driven by Win3.11. Still, boy does it look primitive now!
ReplyDelete