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Information about Windows Nt 3.1

Windows NT 3.1
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot

Windows NT 3.1 desktop
Developer
Microsoft
Release information
Release date:July 27 1993 [citation needed]
Current version: 3.10.528 SP3, November 10 1994 [citation needed]
Source model:Closed source
License:Microsoft EULA
Kernel type:Hybrid kernel
Support status
Unsupported as of December 31, 2000 [1]


Windows NT 3.1 is the first release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server and business desktop operating systems, and was released to manufacturing on July 27 1993. The version number was chosen to match the one of Windows 3.1, the then-latest GUI from Microsoft, on account of the similar visual appearance of the user interface. Two editions of NT 3.1 were made available, Windows NT 3.1 and Windows NT Advanced Server.

It could run on Intel x86, DEC Alpha, and MIPS R4000 CPUs.

Overview

Development of Windows NT started in November 1988, after Microsoft hired a group of developers from Digital Equipment Corporation led by Dave Cutler. Many elements of the design reflect earlier DEC experience with VMS and RSX-11. The operating system was designed to run on multiple instruction set architectures and multiple hardware platforms within each architecture. The platform dependencies are largely hidden from the rest of the system by a kernel mode module called the HAL.

Windows NT was originally intended to be OS/2 3.0, the third version of the operating system developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. When Windows 3.0 was released in May 1990, it was so successful that Microsoft decided to change the primary application programming interface for the still-unreleased NT OS/2 (as it was then known) from an extended OS/2 API to an extended Windows API. This decision caused tension between Microsoft and IBM, and the collaboration ultimately fell apart. IBM continued OS/2 development alone, while Microsoft continued work on the newly-renamed Windows NT.

The first public demonstration of Windows NT, at the time called "Windows Advanced Server for Lan Manager", was at a developer conference in August 1991,[1] and was formally announced at the Spring 1993 Comdex in Atlanta, Georgia.

Application programming interfaces in Windows NT are implemented as subsystems atop the undocumented Native API; it was this that allowed the late adoption of the Windows API. Windows NT was the first operating system to use Unicode internally.

The project had a codename of just "NT OS", which is preserved in the filename of the Windows NT kernel, ntoskrnl.exe. Since it was targeted to become the next version of OS/2, a more official name of the project was "NT OS/2". This name is preserved up to now in some Windows NT driver development kit files.

Though "NT OS/2" was finally released as "Windows NT", it is largely compatible with HPFS disk volumes and the x86 version supports character-mode 16-bit OS/2 applications.

N-Ten

Originally the OS was targeted at the Intel i860 CPU, codenamed N10 (or "N-Ten"). However, the i860 was "horribly behind schedule", so the NT team used an emulator before i860 prototype hardware (code-named Dazzle) was available. Support for the other platforms followed later. The rationale for targeting the i860 first was to improve portability and avoid producing an x86-centric design.[2]

Similarities to Windows 3.1

Windows NT 3.1's UI is so similar to Windows 3.1's UI that people sometimes mistake it for Windows 3.1. This makes the OS very easy to use for people with prior experience with Windows 3.x.

Versions

NT 3.1 had only two versions:
  • Windows NT Advanced Server
  • Windows NT

References

External links

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A software license agreement is a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software which grants the user a software
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Hybrid kernel is a kernel architecture based on combining aspects of microkernel and monolithic kernel architectures used in computer operating systems. The category is controversial due to the similarity to monolithic kernel; the term has been dismissed by some as just
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Microsoft Corporation

Public (NASDAQ:  MSFT )
Founded Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (April 4 1975)[1]
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Key people Bill Gates, Co-founder and Executive Chairman ;
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Windows NT

Company/developer: Microsoft
Source model: Closed source / Shared source
Stable release: +/-
Preview release:
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An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the
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July 27 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

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Windows 3.1x
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot

A typical Windows 3.1x workspace
Developer
Microsoft

Release information
Release date: March 18, 1992 [
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Microsoft Corporation

Public (NASDAQ:  MSFT )
Founded Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (April 4 1975)[1]
Headquarters Redmond, Washington, United States

Key people Bill Gates, Co-founder and Executive Chairman ;
Paul Allen, Co-founder ;
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The generic term x86 refers to the "CISC" type instruction set of the most commercially successful CPU architecture[1] in the history of personal computing, used in processors from Intel, AMD, VIA, and others.
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central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer capable of executing a program.(Knott 1974) It interprets computer program instructions and processes data.
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Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering American company in the computer industry. It is often referred to within the computing industry as DEC. (This acronym was frequently officially used by Digital itself,[1] but the official name was always DIGITAL.
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David Neil Cutler, Sr. (born March 13, 1942) is a noted software engineer, designer and developer of several operating systems including the RSX-11, VMS and VAXELN systems of Digital Equipment Corporation and Windows NT from Microsoft.
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OpenVMS[1] (Open Virtual Memory System or just VMS) is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX[2] and Alpha[3]
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instruction set is (a list of) all instructions, and all their variations, that a processor can execute.

Instructions include:
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OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as the preferred operating system for IBM's "Personal System/2 (PS/2)" line of
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Windows 3.0
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot

A typical Windows 3.0 workspace
Developer
Microsoft

Release information
Release date: May 22 1990 info
Current version:
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