Windows NT 3.5 is a major release of the

Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released on July 27, 1993. It is a processor-independent, multiprocessing and multi-user operating system. The first version of Win ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

and oriented towards businesses. It was released on September 21, 1994, as the successor to

Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.1 is the first major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, released on July 27, 1993. At the time of Windows NT's release, Microsoft's Windows 3.1 desktop environment had established brand recognition ...

and the predecessor to Windows NT 3.51. One of the primary goals during Windows NT 3.5 development was to improve the operating system's performance. As a result, the project was codenamed "Daytona", after the

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

in Daytona Beach, Florida. On December 31, 2001, Microsoft declared Windows NT 3.5 obsolete and stopped providing support and updates for the system.

Features

Windows NT 3.5 comes in two editions: ''NT Workstation'' and ''NT Server''. They respectively replace the ''NT'' and ''NT Advanced Server'' editions of

. The Workstation edition allows only 10 concurrent clients to access the file server and does not support Mac clients. Windows NT 3.5 includes integrated

Winsock In computing, the Windows Sockets API (WSA), later shortened to Winsock, is an application programming interface (API) that defines how Windows network application software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standar ...

and

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...

support. (Its predecessor, Windows NT 3.1, only includes an incomplete implementation of TCP/IP based on the

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

UNIX System V Unix System V (pronounced: "System Five") is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by AT&T and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, numbered 1, 2, 3, an ...

" STREAMS" API.) TCP/IP and IPX/SPX stacks in Windows NT 3.5 are rewritten.

NetBIOS over TCP/IP NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT, or sometimes NetBT) is a networking protocol that allows legacy computer applications relying on the NetBIOS API to be used on modern TCP/IP networks. NetBIOS was developed in the early 1980s, targeting very small network ...

(NetBT) support as a compatibility layer for TCP/IP was introduced as also the Microsoft DHCP and WINS clients and DHCP and WINS servers. Windows NT 3.5 can share files via the

File Transfer Protocol The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

, and printers through the

Line Printer Daemon protocol The Line Printer Daemon protocol/Line Printer Remote protocol (or LPD, LPR) is a network printing protocol for submitting print jobs to a remote printer. The original implementation of LPD was in the Berkeley printing system in the BSD UNIX oper ...

. It can act as a

Gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...

, or WAIS server, and includes

Remote Access Service A remote access service (RAS) is any combination of hardware and software to enable the remote access tools or information that typically reside on a network of IT devices. A remote access service connects a client to a host computer, known as a ...

for remote dial-up modem access to LAN services using either

SLIP Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

or PPP protocols. '' Windows NT 3.5 Resource Kit'' includes the first implementation of Microsoft DNS.DNSSETUP.EXE for Beta DNS Service included in ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/reskit/nt35/i386/i386.exe Other new features in Windows NT 3.5 include support for the

VFAT File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system developed for personal computers. Originally developed in 1977 for use on floppy disks, it was adapted for use on hard disks and other devices. It is often supported for compatibility reasons by ...

file system,

Object Linking and Embedding Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) is a proprietary technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. For developers, it brought OLE Control Extension (OCX), a way to develop and use custom user i ...

(OLE) version 2.0 and support for

input/output completion port Input/output completion port (IOCP) is an API for performing multiple simultaneous asynchronous input/output operations in Windows NT versions 3.5 and later, AIX and on Solaris 10 and later. An input/output completion port object is created and ...

s. Microsoft updated the

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...

to be consistent with that of

Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was Released-to-manufacturing, 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 (computing), shell ...

. NT 3.5 shows performance improvements over NT 3.1, and requires less memory.

Limitations

A lack of drivers for PCMCIA cards limited NT 3.5's suitability for notebook computers. To install Windows NT 3.5 on a computer that has a sixth-generation or later

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was intr ...

processor, one has to modify files on the installation CD-ROM.

Reception

In July 1995, Windows NT 3.5 with Service Pack 3 was rated by the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

as complying with

Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC) is a United States Government Department of Defense (DoD) standard that sets basic requirements for assessing the effectiveness of computer security controls built into a computer system. The ...

(TCSEC) C2 criteria.

Source code

In May 2020, the full source code for the second release candidate build (build 782.1) of Windows NT 3.5, along with source code for the original

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

leaked onto the Internet. Microsoft stated it had nothing to share about the leaks.

References

External links

Guidebook: Windows NT 3.51 Gallery
– A website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces {{Microsoft Windows family 1994 software Products and services discontinued in 2001 3.5 IA-32 operating systems MIPS operating systems