Program Manager is the

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

of Windows 3.x and

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 ...

3.x

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 ...

s. This shell exposed a task-oriented

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 ...

(GUI), consisting of ''

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s'' ( shortcuts for programs) arranged into ''program groups''. It replaced ''MS-DOS Executive'', a

file manager A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening (e.g. viewing, playing, editing or pr ...

, as the default Windows shell.

OS/2 OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...

2.0 and later included the Program Manager as part of its Win-OS/2 compatibility layer. Win-OS/2, including the Program Manager, are still included in later derivatives of OS/2 such as ArcaOS.

Overview

Program Manager descends from ''Desktop Manager'' (also known as Presentation Manager), the shell for

1.2. Unlike Desktop Manager, which presents its program groups in a simple list, and opens each group in a separate window, Program Manager opens program groups in child windows using the new

multiple document interface A multiple-document interface (MDI) is a graphical user interface in which multiple windows reside under a single parent window. Such systems often allow child windows to embed other windows inside them as well, creating complex nested hierarchies ...

in Windows 3.x. The icons used to represent Program Manager itself, program groups, and DOS applications in

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 predeces ...

are carried over from OS/2 1.2. Windows 3.1 uses updated versions of these icons. When executables were dropped into Program Manager from

File Manager A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening (e.g. viewing, playing, editing or pr ...

, Program Manager automatically used the executable's default icon embedded as data inside the .EXE file. Additionally, the Windows Setup program, which populated Program Manager with the standard icons of a fresh install, could also be used to add new icons in bulk after installation. Using SETUP /P from the

command line A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

, a standard layout could be installed on many machines in an enterprise using a single SETUP.INF configuration file. Beginning with Windows 3.1, Program Manager contained a StartUp group. Programs and files placed into that group would be loaded when Windows starts. Holding down the shift key while selecting File then Exit Windows will save the current configuration of Program Manager to PROGMAN.INI, including the position of all program group icons, assuming that auto-arrange has been disabled. This allowed Microsoft testers to try many different configurations, but the feature remained in the shipped version. In later versions of Microsoft Windows, starting with

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...

and Windows NT 4.0, Program Manager was replaced by

Windows Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file ...

as the default shell. Specifically, the

Start Menu The Start menu is a graphical user interface element used in Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 and in other operating systems. It provides a central launching point for computer programs and performing other tasks in the Windows shell. It is name ...

took over program organization and launching duties. However, Windows 95 still gave the user the option to start Program Manager at boot. Program Manager was still included in later versions of Windows, and could be accessed by executing PROGMAN.EXE from the command line or ''Run'' dialog. It could be used as the default shell by specifying the ''Shell'' value in the registry at either HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon (per machine) or HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon (per user). Microsoft replaced Program Manager in Windows XP Service Pack 2 with a compatibility stub that simply redirects to Windows Explorer. In

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

and later, PROGMAN.EXE was permanently removed from the operating system.

References

Cited works

{{Microsoft Windows components Windows components Graphical user interfaces Discontinued Windows components

Overview

See also

References

Cited works