Windows 2.1 is a major release of

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. It was

released to manufacturing A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

on May 27, 1988, as a successor to

Windows 2.0 Windows 2.0 is a major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical operating systems for personal computers developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on December 9, 1987, as a successor to Windows 1.0. The product includ ...

. It was released with two different variants with differing

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

compatibility, also known as Windows/286 and Windows/386, so the versions are considered to be similar to its predecessor. In comparison, the Windows/386 variant is considered to be better than the 286 one, since it provides support for EMS emulation and is designed to use both conventional and extended memory. Changes to the

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

did not occur in this version, and rather, its performance was increased and enhanced memory management was added. The version is also noted to be the first one to require a

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

. A minor update version, Windows 2.11, was released in March 1989. Enhancements that were introduced were considered to have improved the

operating environment In computer software, an operating environment or integrated applications environment is the environment in which users run application software. The environment consists of a user interface provided by an applications manager and usually an app ...

, while the Windows/386 variant was noted to have a good level of functionality. It was considered to be one of the most popular 80386-based systems. The sales of Microsoft Windows continued to go up after its release, and in May 1990, it was succeeded by

Windows 3.0 Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, launched in 1990. It features a new graphical user interface (GUI) where applications are represented as clickable icons, as opposed to the list of file names seen in its predecesso ...

, which is considered to be the first Windows version to perform well both critically and commercially. Microsoft ended its support on December 31, 2001.

Release versions

Windows 2.1

Like its predecessor,

, the

was released with two different variants with differing

compatibility. However, the cosmetic naming convention was changed to "Windows/286" and "Windows/386". It was released on May 27, 1988, and it was the first version of Windows to require a

. Despite its name, Windows/286 was fully operational on an

8088 The Intel 8088 ("''eighty-eighty-eight''", also called iAPX 88) microprocessor is a variant of the Intel 8086. Introduced on June 1, 1979, the 8088 has an eight-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers and ...

8086 The 8086 (also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and June 8, 1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released July 1, 1979, is a slightly modified chip with an external 8-bit data bus (allowi ...

processor, although, it would not use the

high memory area In DOS memory management, the high memory area (HMA) is the RAM area consisting of the first 65520 bytes above the one megabyte in an IBM AT or compatible computer. In real mode, the segmentation architecture of the Intel 8086 and subsequen ...

since it did not exist on an 8086 processor. It is a rehash of its predecessor, Windows 2.03. The variant uses additional 64KB of the extended 286 KB memory in

real mode Real mode, also called real address mode, is an operating mode of all x86-compatible CPUs. The mode gets its name from the fact that addresses in real mode always correspond to real locations in memory. Real mode is characterized by a 20-bit seg ...

. In order to access the additional memory,

HIMEM.SYS HIMEM.SYS is a DOS device driver which allows DOS programs to store data in extended memory according to the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). The memory beyond the first 1 MB of address space is required by Windows 9x/ Me in order to load ...

is needed. A few PC vendors shipped Windows/286 with Intel 8086 hardware; one such example was IBM's PS/2 Model 25, which included Windows/286, resulting in some customer confusion. The other variant, Windows/386, is more advanced since it had introduced a

protected mode In computing, protected mode, also called protected virtual address mode, is an operational mode of x86-compatible central processing units (CPUs). It allows system software to use features such as virtual memory, paging and safe multi-tasking d ...

kernel, and it allows several

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

programs to run in a parallel in "virtual 8086" CPU mode, rather than suspending background applications. It has also provided support for EMS emulation, in order to make the

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * Ra ...

beyond the 640 KB limit. It has spruced-up rendering of the 80386 version, and its setup program is considered to be better than the Windows/286 one. Windows/386 is designed to use both conventional and extended memory, although it ignores expanded memory. The facilities for converting extended memory into expanded memory are built into Windows/386, although, any EMS that is separately controlled would not be available on Windows/386. In order to customize Windows/386, users would have to manually change the

CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS and OS/2 operating systems. It is a special ASCII text file that contains user-accessible setup or configuration directives evaluated by the operating system's DOS BIOS (typically residing ...

file. Microsoft ended its support for Windows 2.1 on December 31, 2001.

Windows 2.11

Windows 2.11 was released on March 13, 1989. As the successor of Windows 2.1, it was also released in Windows/286 and Windows/386 editions, with some minor changes in memory management and updates regarding printing options. It was noted that costs for organizations that ran Windows 2.11 were lower.

Features

Changes to the

did not occur in this version, and instead, Microsoft had increased its performance and added enhanced memory management. The Windows/286 variant introduced

LIM 4.0 In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory (640 KiB). ''Expanded memory'' is an umbrella term for several incompatible techn ...

boards to store and swap executable code. Both variants had also introduced support towards more devices, while its printer support has been improved. Windows/386 allows sharing a single printer to multiple windows. Microsoft has also introduced a disk-caching program,

SmartDrive SmartDrive (or SMARTDRV) is a Page cache, disk caching program shipped with MS-DOS versions 4.01 through 6.22 and Windows 3.0 through Windows 3.11. It improves Data transfer rate (disk drive), data transfer rates by storing frequently accessed d ...

, while third-party developers had introduced more apps to Windows 2.1 and 2.11.

System requirements

The official system requirements for Windows 2.1 include the following: Windows 2.1 is shipped with 1.2 MB 5¼-inch or 720K 3½-inch floppy disks. The Windows/386 variant also comes with user's guides, a quick-reference card and a manual that explains the features of the 386 variant.

Reception

The enhancements that were introduced in Windows 2.1 are considered to have had improved the operating environment. The Windows/386 variant has good level of functionality, and it lets applications run in full- or partial-screen windows, while the operating environment also slows down when running graphic-based applications. ''

InfoWorld ''InfoWorld'' (abbreviated IW) is an information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a web-only publication. Its parent company today is International Data Group, and its siste ...

'' rated Windows/386 an excellent value. Alongside

DESQview 386 DESQview (DV) is a text mode multitasking operating environment developed by Quarterdeck Office Systems which enjoyed modest popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Running on top of DOS, it allows users to run multiple programs concurrentl ...

, they were considered to be the most popular 386 environments by 1989, although DESQview 386 is considered to be more flexible than Windows/386. Compared to other 80386-based systems, Windows/386 requires less DOS memory. The price tag for Windows/286 sat at , while the Windows/386 variant cost . By January 1990, the sales of Microsoft Windows had reached less than two million. It was succeeded by

released in 1990, and after that,

Windows 3.1 Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0. Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a shell on top of MS-DOS. Codenamed Janus, Windows 3 ...

in 1992, and is considered to be the first version of Microsoft Windows to perform well both critically and commercially.

References

External links

Microsoft Windows Version History

YouTube upload of Windows/386 promotion video
{{Microsoft Windows family 1988 software Products and services discontinued in 2001 2.1x History of Microsoft History of software Products introduced in 1988 DOS software