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Quoth · 06-03-2023, 06:36 AM

MS DOS retail was up to 6.22. Windows 95 (which initially didn't have USB) used DOS 7 which was wasn't sold alone.
IBM last version was PC-DOS 7.

Win95 & Win98 could easily be edited to only load DOS and ran DOS programs natively, unlike NT (3.1 in 1993, NT 3.51 in 1995, NT 4.0 in 1998) only ran DOS programs on a VM, so they actually worked on a Power PC, MIPS and Alpha, whereas regular PC Windows (x86) programs did not.

What enforced change to Windows 3.1? Windows 3.1 was in 1992. In 1993 or 1994 there was Win32s, 32 bit drivers, 32 bit TCP/IP etc for WFWG 3.11.

DOS was still sold at least 3 years after Windows 3.1
OS/2 on PC was from about 1985
The Archimedes (ARM based) had Risc OS and UNIX long before 1992.
There was also Xenix on PC 286 and Tandy.
By 1986, 6 years before the Windows 3.1, there was also the Atari ST and Amiga based on 68000. The Mac was nearly 8 years old when win 3.1 came out.

The APIs for Win3.x were available before Windows 3.1 and even from Windows 3.0 I had loads of non-MS software. Wordperfect for Windows was rubbish and both Word and Excel had been on the Mac before Windows was good enough. Word and Excel actually succeeded because they were good.
Lotus 123 and Wordperfect eclipsed Wordstar and Supercalc on DOS, but were never that great. Word for DOS was easier for a novice than Wordperfect.
The budget Amstrad PCW8256 (later PCW8512 and PCW9512) from 1985 to 1998 came with Locoscript and also CP/M 80. Wordstar & Supercalc clones.

Yes, MS Windows became dominant from Windows 3.1 in 1992, but the only popular MS software on it was Word, Excel and sometimes Office (bundle version). Later VB4.
First decent web browser was NCA Mosaic and second was Netscape. Outlook and Internet Explorer didn't become popular till Windows 95.

Almost all application software on Windows 3.1 wasn't from Microsoft. I have a load of it still in the attic.

There was a mantra from MS in about 1998 that Linux was a cancer. Linux was less than 3% of servers then. Now more than 95% and MS Cloud uses Linux.

MS dominated PC desktop from 1981 to now with DOS, then Windows, then NT (though launched 1993, not desktop leader till about 2002 due to Win9x). They have never dominated PC applications, except Word and Excel for wordprocessing and spreadsheets. Spreadsheet use is niche compared to wordprocessor, email, and browser.

Now MS Windows dominance is over because the desktop is eclipsed by phones and tablets which have Google's Android as #1 and Apple iOS as #2.

06-03-2023, 06:36 AM	#52
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,123 Karma: 105211945 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	MS DOS retail was up to 6.22. Windows 95 (which initially didn't have USB) used DOS 7 which was wasn't sold alone. IBM last version was PC-DOS 7. Win95 & Win98 could easily be edited to only load DOS and ran DOS programs natively, unlike NT (3.1 in 1993, NT 3.51 in 1995, NT 4.0 in 1998) only ran DOS programs on a VM, so they actually worked on a Power PC, MIPS and Alpha, whereas regular PC Windows (x86) programs did not. What enforced change to Windows 3.1? Windows 3.1 was in 1992. In 1993 or 1994 there was Win32s, 32 bit drivers, 32 bit TCP/IP etc for WFWG 3.11. DOS was still sold at least 3 years after Windows 3.1 OS/2 on PC was from about 1985 The Archimedes (ARM based) had Risc OS and UNIX long before 1992. There was also Xenix on PC 286 and Tandy. By 1986, 6 years before the Windows 3.1, there was also the Atari ST and Amiga based on 68000. The Mac was nearly 8 years old when win 3.1 came out. The APIs for Win3.x were available before Windows 3.1 and even from Windows 3.0 I had loads of non-MS software. Wordperfect for Windows was rubbish and both Word and Excel had been on the Mac before Windows was good enough. Word and Excel actually succeeded because they were good. Lotus 123 and Wordperfect eclipsed Wordstar and Supercalc on DOS, but were never that great. Word for DOS was easier for a novice than Wordperfect. The budget Amstrad PCW8256 (later PCW8512 and PCW9512) from 1985 to 1998 came with Locoscript and also CP/M 80. Wordstar & Supercalc clones. Yes, MS Windows became dominant from Windows 3.1 in 1992, but the only popular MS software on it was Word, Excel and sometimes Office (bundle version). Later VB4. First decent web browser was NCA Mosaic and second was Netscape. Outlook and Internet Explorer didn't become popular till Windows 95. Almost all application software on Windows 3.1 wasn't from Microsoft. I have a load of it still in the attic. There was a mantra from MS in about 1998 that Linux was a cancer. Linux was less than 3% of servers then. Now more than 95% and MS Cloud uses Linux. MS dominated PC desktop from 1981 to now with DOS, then Windows, then NT (though launched 1993, not desktop leader till about 2002 due to Win9x). They have never dominated PC applications, except Word and Excel for wordprocessing and spreadsheets. Spreadsheet use is niche compared to wordprocessor, email, and browser. Now MS Windows dominance is over because the desktop is eclipsed by phones and tablets which have Google's Android as #1 and Apple iOS as #2.