Microsoft Windows 3.0; the newest version finally delivers the goods. (Software Review) (New Products) (evaluation)

MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.0: The Newest Version Finally Delivers the Goods

What does Microsoft Windows 3.0 have in common with such films as The Ten Commandments, Gone with the Wind, and Apocalypse Now? Like those epic films, Windows 3.0 is the result of a multiyear effort that was besieged by technical setbacks, runaway budgets, controversial hearsay, and abundant skepticism. In fact, Windows 3.0's sign-on marquee informs us that this product was five years in the making.

The result is a graphical computing environment that comes closer to the original vision of Windows than anything yet seen. Comparing the 1990 version of Windows with previous incarnations elicits the question: Were Windows 1.x, 2.x, /386, and /286 all prototypes of this most-recent effort? It would not be too unreasonable for Microsoft Corp. simply to forget the past and call the new product Windows II version 1.0. This version is, after all, the first version that seems to work …