Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!microsoft!philba
From: philba@microsoft.UUCP (Phil Barrett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MS Windows 2.x and 286 - what's the difference
Message-ID: <1144@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 2 Nov 88 17:25:42 GMT
References: <386@fauern.UUCP>
Reply-To: philba@microsoft.UUCP (Phil Barrett)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 65

In article <386@fauern.UUCP> roderus@fauern.UUCP (Helmut Roderus) writes:
>I've seen now three different versions of MS Windows
>   - a 386 version, seems to have real multitasking and is
>     ruuning in protected mode
>   - the 2.x versions, which I suppose are to run on all
>     XT/AT ...
>   - a 286 version.
>
>Who can answer the following questions to me?
>
>   Does the 286 version run in protected mode of the 80286?
>   Does it support multitasking?
>   Will all MS Windows Applications run on this special version?
>
>Thanks for your answers,
>
>Helmut Roderus
>roderus@fauern.uucp


There are 4 products that you may have seen:
	Microsoft Windows     2.03
	Microsoft Windows/386 2.03
	Microsoft Windows/286 2.1
	Microsoft Windows/386 2.1
There were 2 versions: 2.03 & 2.1.  Version 2.1 is the current USA/International
English one.  There are adaptations for a number of languages.  The ones I
am aware of are: French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and Italian.

The differences/similarities:
	Windows/286 2.1 and Windows 2.03 will run on 8088/8086/80286/80386
	machines.  Windows/286 will take advantage of extended memory on
	a 286 or 386 to provide better performance.  (That, perhaps, is the
	subject of a seperate article but I'll wait until a real group is
	created).  If you have 2.03, you might want to upgrade to 2.1 to get
	better performance.  (Please, no flames about advertising, I said
	might want).

	Windows/286 DOES NOT run in protected mode.

	Windows/386 does run in protected mode. Windows & DOS Applications
	run in V86 mode.

	Windows/386 runs on the 80386sx.

Compatibility:
	In general, there is application compatibility across the 2.xx
	versions of MS Windows.  The exceptions will be due to specific 
	machine configuration differences (like not enough memory & such)
	and applications requirements (like expanded memory).  Applications
	written for Window 2.03 will run on Windows/386 2.1.

Multitasking:
	All versions of MS Windows support multitasking of Windows Apps.
	Windows/386 supports multitasking of DOS applications while Windows/286
	(and Windows 2.03) only allow 1 DOS application to execute at a time.
	Under Windows/286 (and 2.03), you can load more than 1 DOS app but only
	the visible application (focus app) will actually run.  The exception
	is windowed DOS apps under Windows/286 (& 2.03).


Phil Barrett
Microsoft Corp.

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