More Operating System Nostalgia

Moving forward with the screen shots I posted the other day of CPM and Windows 1.01 - here are a few more:

Windows 2.03:

This was the first version of Windows that actually displayed its UI in a 'window' (odd - isn't it?). Windows 2.03 runs just fine under Virtual PC 2004 - with no specific configuration needed. Also - it had what is quite possibly the hardest computerized version of Reversi that I have ever played (and in an odd fact of life - I happened to have played a *lot* of computerized Reversi games):

Windows 2.03 running under Virtual PC Windows 2.03 running under Virtual PC

Windows 3.0:

Windows 3.0 will always hold a nostalgic place in my memory - for it was the first version of Windows that I ever used (running on my 286 with a CGA screen). Now don't get me wrong - I did hate it - but it was the first version that I used none the less :-). An interesting point about Windows 3.0 is that there is a drastic difference between Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1. The drivers for these operating systems are incompatible - and there are a whole set of applications that were written for Windows 3.0 that will not run under Windows 3.1. Windows 3.0 was also the first version of Windows to ship with the now infamous 'Solitaire' - it did not, however, have Mine Sweeper.

Windows 3.0 running under Virtual PC Windows 3.0 running under Virtual PC

As you can see from the screen shots - there is a palette bug with running Windows 3.0 under Virtual PC. As Windows 3.1 does not have this problem - and pretty much no one actually runs Windows 3.0 these days - I have not been able to convince anyone that this is worthwhile fixing (myself included). If you keep up to date on my blog - you will probably get used to me saying 'This is a bug - and as I am one of the three people in the world to ever hit it - it has not been fixed yet'. This is one of the downsides of being an uber-geek - and don't worry - each one of these bugs do sincerely annoy me - and I open up bugs on each release of Virtual PC for these items (of course - these days I am usually also responsible for making the call that they should not be fixed this time around - sigh).

Cheers,
Ben