OT: Win 3.11, 95/98

Bit like builders rubble, if anybody wants it then it's free to go :-)

If only it were as simple as builders rubble! Concrete and wood aren't patented or copyrighted ;)

M

MS closed the 90's with winCE,winME and winNT.......CEMENT!

I used to have a W95 CD that came with the computer (since retired) and a W98 "upgrade" CD that I got from a coworker, and I've tossed them both.

They worked good on the old 6X86-P150 with 32MB of RAM, but when it died, I had no use for either.

Cheers! Rich

Rich Grise wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@example.net:

What was the first Windows version that accepted RAM over 512MB?

BTW,I know a business that uses W95 on their POS terminals.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

I think this rumour is incorrect. Whilst MS no longer provides support for these products, they still own them. However, i doubt they would ever chase you and prosecute for holding an illegal copy. I dare say they would prefer to target new producs such as XP and Vista, however I could be wrong.

I am just looking at my MSDN susbscription and I see that both MSDOS (5 & 6.22) and Win 3.11 are still available for download. Which begs the questions, why the hell would you want windows 3.11 anyway?

Wow, compare the file sizes.

Windows 3.11 (English) Date/Time Posted

2000-03-07 18:41:00 (UTC) File EN_WIN311.exe Self-Extracting Executable File Size 5 MB SHA-1 Hash e6ce405e2cbbeb187ad5e6de532078a7d669f12d Description

Windows Vista Beta 2 (x86) - DVD (Checked Build) (English) Date/Time Posted

2006-06-08 22:18:43 (UTC) File en_windows_vista_beta2_x86_chk_dvd.iso ISO-9660 DVD Image File Size 2251 MB SHA-1 Hash ba27bf130e691349ff55e86884f23c5c46ada101 Description This single download includes the following versions of Windows Vista:

Windows Vista Ultimate Beta 2 Windows Vista Business Beta 2 Windows Vista Home Premium Beta 2 Windows Vista Home Basic Beta 2 The product key used to install Windows Vista will determine which version will be installed. The product keys can be found on the Product Keys page by clicking the Get Product Key button above.

Ooh, I need to download MS-DOS 3.2 or 3.3. And install a 5 1/4" floppy drive so I can write the boot disks (low density, baby). Can't seem to find the originals (or copies) I used to have around somewhere.

Hmm. Speaking of installing drives, this thing doesn't seem to have a 3

1/2" drive installed at the moment, either. Tsk!

Tim (has most of Windows 3.0 saved on an ST-238R, because, why bother with boot disks...)

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

[snip]

Because its a POS O/S? ;-)

My dentist just upgraded from W95 to XP. The older version of his office app. reached the end of its license

My doctor still uses W98. His office apps. have no expiration date and upgrading would cost him too much.

-- Paul Hovnanian mailto: snipped-for-privacy@Hovnanian.com

------------------------------------------------------------------ A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. -- George Wald

I don't think it is. There is, however, an 'open source' Windows emulator, which does pretty well with most W 3.11 apps. Its called 'Wine'.

Microsoft will bother anybody with an attorney if its worth their while. If you have one copy, no. If you are a large company that has hundreds and they can not only fine you, but sell you upgrades for everything, then probably yes.

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Rube Goldberg is alive and working for Microsoft.

While it is possible to formally release something into the public domain prior to the normal copyright expiration, I very much doubt that MS would do that with any of their software. Even things they give away for free usually require a license agreement.

If you really want to know, ask Microsoft.

--Mac

if you need to access a corrupted windows install.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

It would be pretty hard for them to prove you don't have the license for this if you have a book and the original disks. That pretty much was the license. The same is true with win/95, W/98 and SE that I have several copies of. I have the CDROM and the halogram stamped book for each of them.

You can use driver.sys to make 360kb disks on a 1.44 drive.

That's a good idea. Though I figured they probably wouldn't want the average Joe to know, if it's true.

Thanks all for the comments

Michael D.

Because if you are running DOS (say 6.22) then bringing up Win3.11 is faster than a eyeblink; no bloat or flim-flam; exiting is as fast.

Not as far as I can determine. Some early Borland products, such as Turbo Pascal 3, have been released as freeware (still copyrighted, but you can use them free of charge). Someone may have been misremembering *that*.

"Public domain" means "not copyrighted." Software can be copyrighted and free, if the copyright owner chooses to give it away free.

That doesn't make a lot of sense. If they've chosen to give up their rights, why (and how) would they keep it secret?

I am just wondering if someone was confusing the limit on patents (which is, I think, 17 years) with the limit on copyrights (which, with renewal, last more than 50 years, I think).

And there are some pretty dandy programming tools, such as the first version of Delphi; and you have more low-level access to the hardware.

Hmmm... MSDN is offering Win 3.11 for download to its subscribers? I wonder why...