Microsoft Windows 2.x
| Windows 2.x | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
| developer | Microsoft |
| License (s) | Microsoft EULA ( Closed Source ) |
| First publ. | December 9, 1987 |
| Current version | 2.11 (March 13 1989) |
| Kernel |
PC compatible DOS ↳ Windows kernel |
| ancestry |
Windows 1.0 ↳ Windows 2.0-2.11 |
| timeline |
Windows 1.0 Windows 2.x Windows 3.0 Windows 3.1 Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows Me |
| Others | Development stopped |
| www.microsoft.com | |
Microsoft Windows 2.x is a graphical user interface for PC-compatible DOS developed by Microsoft . It was published at the end of 1987. As the successor to Microsoft Windows 1.0 , it was the second version of Windows . The release of Windows 2.03 sparked a lawsuit with Apple that lasted until 1992.
Features and versions
Windows 2.x is also an extended graphical user interface for the DOS operating system on IBM PC-compatible computers . It ran on the operating systems MS-DOS , PC DOS and OEM versions licensed therefrom, for example from Compaq or NEC, and can therefore in principle run on any PC-compatible DOS. In contrast to pure DOS, Windows offers the option of starting several programs at the same time - graphically, separately in windows . What is new in contrast to Windows 1.x is that the windows can overlap and are resizable. Windows 2.x also offers new functions, such as B. communication between individual programs with Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), Smartdrive, warning tones (via the PC loudspeaker), VGA support, new screen fonts and, for the first time, the option to switch between programs via Alt+ ↹ (Tab). New input devices for 1987 , such as the PS / 2 mouse, are now also supported.
Windows 2.03 is the last Windows that can be installed on floppy disks and used without a hard disk . Windows 2.1 offers renewed and several new drivers (graphics, computer, printer) and better supports extended memory (XMS and EMS). With Windows 2.11 there are again minimal improvements in memory and printer access.
Windows 2.x is tailored to the properties of the processor and was distributed accordingly in the versions Windows / 286 and Windows / 386 . Version / 386 uses the protection mode of the Intel 386 processor for the first time , is not compatible with earlier processors and with version 2.1 supports higher-resolution screens.
Windows / 386 2.01 was sold as an OEM version from September 1987 before the first version 2.03 (/ 286 and / 386) was available commercially, as Compaq was releasing systems such as the Compaq Portable 386 with 80386 processors at that time wanted to equip them with a Windows that can also use the advantages of the processors that were new at the time. A public version 2.02 is not known.
Development history
The progress made by Windows itself, which appeared in different language versions, was limited at the time: With the help of the graphical user interface, which at that time still largely had the appearance of a text-based user interface, mostly only DOS programs were started, so that switching between individual tasks was the only real benefit of Windows.
Since most software manufacturers were not ready to port their programs to Windows, Microsoft began to develop the first Windows applications itself. Part of the success of Windows 2 is due to the program PageMaker in its first Windows version, which was already available for Windows 1.x. This was delivered with a Windows Runtime limited to one compatibility layer and thus offered the option of starting this application on a DOS computer even on computers without a Windows license.
At the same time as Windows 2.03, the spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel 2.0 appeared , the first application program developed by Microsoft that was specifically geared towards the capabilities of Windows and contributed to the wider spread of Windows. In 1989, the word processing program Word followed at the same time as Windows 2.11 . All three programs were ported from Mac OS to Windows and then further developed for both operating systems. Excel in particular helped Windows achieve a breakthrough, but also led to the legal dispute with Apple described below.
Apple's copyright lawsuit
On March 17, 1988, Apple Computer Inc. announced that it would take legal action against Windows 2.03 and against Hewlett-Packard's Windows-based object-oriented graphical user interface NewWave . Apple accused Microsoft of violating the 1985 joint license agreement and of copying the look and feel of the Apple Macintosh's user interface (such as overlapping windows ). Apple demanded the cessation of sales of Windows 2.03 and the prohibition of the release of Hewlett-Packard's NewWave . Judge William Schwarzer (* 1925) on July 25, 1989 only allowed ten of the 189 points listed by Apple for the court proceedings. It was not until April 15, 1992, that Judge Vaughn Walker (* 1944) in San Francisco decided that the remaining elements in question were not copyrightable .
System requirements
Windows was available on different diskette formats with different storage densities. The MEMSET.EXE tool, which is executed immediately after installation, is also responsible for the memory configuration (RAM, Smartdrive) of Windows 2.x. If the memory configuration of the computer is changed, Windows 2.x - in contrast to today's versions - must be reinstalled, which is indicated each time the graphical user interface is started.
| / 286 | / 386 | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 8086-4.77 MHz or better (286 recommended) | 386-16 MHz or better |
| R.A.M. | 512 KB (2 MB EMS recommended) | 2 MB (XMS or EMS) |
| graphic | CGA or better (VGA recommended) | CGA or better (VGA recommended) |
| Drives | 5¼-inch version: A 1.2 MB floppy disk drive and a hard disk
3½-inch version: A 3½-inch drive 720 KB and a hard disk |
Floppy disk drive 3½ 720 KB or 5¼-inch 1.2 MB
A hard drive with 2MB of free space |
| DOS version | DOS 3.0 or newer | DOS 3.1 or newer |
literature
- Daniel Ichbiah: The Microsoft story . Bill Gates and the world's most successful software company. (Original title: The Making of Microsoft , translated by Patricia Künzel, with a chapter on: Microsoft in Central and Eastern Europe by Christian Wedell), Campus , Frankfurt am Main / New York, NY 1993, ISBN 3-593-34806-3 ( As paperback: 6th edition, Heyne , Munich 1996, ISBN 3-453-08161-7 ).
- Michael Miller: Microsoft Windows 2 and Windows / 386. Two New Windows Prove Ever More Useful Programs Add Features, Speed, and Better Compatibility . In: InfoWorld . Volume 10, Number 3, January 18, 1988, pp. 50-52.
Web links
-
PCjs Machines - Windows 2.0x (English) allows the execution ( emulation ) of Windows 2.01 on a COMPAQ DeskPro 386 in the web browser . The input
win86starts the Windows / 286,win386starts Windows / 386.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Microsoft Knowledge Base - Windows Version History . Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ↑ Dirk Makowski: Windows 2.xx . www.winhistory.de. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
- ^ Microsoft Corporation: Windows History . www.microsoft.com. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
- ↑ Peggy Watt: PC Vendors Plan To Bundle Windows 386 . In: InfoWorld . 9, No. 39, September 28, 1987, pp. 1, 105.
- ↑ DiskingRound: BetaArchive Wiki Windows: 2.01. BetaArchive, August 19, 2017, accessed on August 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Peggy Watt: Microsoft Windows 386 To Beat Windows 2.0 Out the Door . In: InfoWorld . 9, No. 38, September 21, 1987, pp. 1, 117.
- ↑ Tom Hormby: The Apple vs. Microsoft GUI Lawsuit . www.lowendmac.com. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
- ^ Daniel Ichbiah: The Microsoft Story: Bill Gates and the Most Successful Software Company in the World . Pp. 259-265
- ↑ For a detailed description with pictures is to winhistory.de seen
- ↑ PC (386+) DOS Application (Non Game) Screenshot / File Listing. Retrieved August 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Dirk Makowski: Winhistory.de Windows 2.x. In: Winhistory.de. Dirk Makowski, August 19, 2017, accessed on August 19, 2017 .