Nina KalininaOct 17
The weekend is close, I don't feel like I have energy to work on my little(?) game, so I'm going to try and do the weirdest Windows 3.1 setup out there.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 17

First step of getting cool Win 3.1 install these days is VBESVGA driver. Kudos to https://github.com/PluMGMK/vbesvga.drv

I think 16M colours looks pretty great, but it is noticeably slower than 256 colours.

Show threadNina KalininaOct 17
If you follow me, you probably know that there's an open-source clone of Windows NewShell for 3.1 called Calmira. There's a version called Calmira XP, which looks really out of the place on 3.1. But my goal is to get the most unhinged, sick, abominable, overpowered and power-hungry Windows 3.1 install, so here we go.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 17

A bit of a technicality, but it makes a lot of sense in terms of UX: doslfn to add Long File Name support in Calmira, and IFA to add Long File Name support to the basic Windows applications.

And while we're at it, let's get some sort of a wallpaper. This one is 256 colours, because Paintbrush 3.x and Paint 95+ aren't really compatible, and the only way I can convert images to this old system (for now) is ImageMagick gif 256 colours -> pcx -> bmp

Show threadNina KalininaOct 17

Shocking Windows 3.1 development continues. Now I have win32s, which will allow me to run some Win32 applications on top of DOS and Win16 kernel. Freecell looks like any other app, but it is Win32 app, very MVP.

And IE 5.0 is being installed but still needs a bit of tweaking. It has a 128-bit encryption module, but it's useless, because no one supports SSL anymore.

Note WinRAR behind the IE50 installer.

Show threadNina KalininaOct 17

It's taking longer than it should have, but I have working TCP/IP on Windows 3.1, and it plays along with IE 5.0. Google stopped supporting IE5 recently, but I learned about Wiby not that long ago, and I like it.

But we're far from being done.

Show threadNina KalininaOct 17
Okay, this is the most cursed Windows 3.1 screenshot so far. I'm not saying things are working, but I'm not saying they're not working either. Sort of a limbo.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
Sometimes it feels like Microsoft intentionally made Win32s incompatible with lots of apps (or the other way around). Only Calc and Real Audio player from Windows 95 are working with Win32s - even Freecell doesn't. Despite it being almost the same thing as Freecell shipped with Win32s itself.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
Woah, a CD-based game for Windows 3.1! Released in 1997, "Pilot Bros" comes with win32s on the CD, and has music, video and audio that all work under Windows 3.1. From what I can tell, it is highly inspired by Gobliiins
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18

Day 2 of abnormal Windows 3.1 functions. Internet Explorer 5 decided to stop working after I tweaked some thing, so it's Netscape Navigator time. It looks so sleek...

(What you're seeing here is Windows 3.1 with Calmira XP shell that adds taskbar and desktop, and a VBESVGA driver)

Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
There is an X11 server for Windows 3.1, but it only supports telnet or rsh. I think some of my X11 apps would have been working, if only my network was working correctly.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
While I'm thinking about other unhinged things to do with this half-broken unusual Windows 3.1 install, here's some QuickTime for you.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
As mentioned before, Windows 3.1 has very limited compatibility with 32-bit applications, including Paint from Windows 95. However, it can run Paint from Chicago just fine. It cannot run Chicago's Notepad, but Paint sort of works. Neat.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18

Okay, this totally should count as an abomination. I associate Space Cadet Pinball with Windows XP, because it was not shipped with Windows 95/98 by default.

But this Space Cadet is actually a win32s application from 1995, and works just fine on Windows 3.1. It looks especially "normal" because of Calmira XP adding Windows XP decorations to Win 3.1. The only tell is window title bars. Woah.

Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
Okay, I figured out what to do with the network, and I have semi-working X11 on my abomination of Windows 3.1. It is so unstable I had to reboot at least 20 times to take these two screenshots.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18

I was trying to do something about Java on Windows 3.1, and I sort of did. First things first, JRE doesn't work. Even when forced to install, it doesn't work. It relies on MSVCRT and long file name support in the kernel, which... Is not great. But I won't give up.

Both Netscape 4 and IE 5.0 have Java 1.1 support, so I can run some Java programs if I explain the browsers how to run them.

But there aren't that many Java 1.1 programs, are there...

Show threadStéphane Charette 🇨🇦
@nina_kali_nina At the time, Microsoft wanted people to move from 3.1 to 95, so they intentionally did not support Java on 3.1. But IBM still had OS/2 with Windows support, so IBM itself came out with a version of Java for Windows 3.x. MS was pissed. So there might be the IBM version of Java still floating out there somewhere.
Oct 18 at 6:22pmWeb
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
@charette Editing for clarity: in 1996-97? Absolutely. But shortly after both MS and Netscape shipped browsers with JVM, so, my IE 5 has Java support, and in fact better Java support than Windows 95B had out of the box. :> But for some reason it doesn't want to accept signed jar files.
Show threadStéphane Charette 🇨🇦Oct 18
@nina_kali_nina https://www.infoworld.com/article/2170004/ibm-brings-java-to-windows-3-1.html
IBM brings Java to Windows 3.1

David Gee, Java marketing coordinator for IBM, said that what they have online is fairly early beta code, which for the most part performs as expected for a beta, but they are continuing development to make it more stable. "We are working feverishly to port HotJava to the environment so that you can browse without Netscape," said Gee. "Our feeling is that if you want to experience the full effect of Java-enhanced Web, IBM will bring it to you. I classify it as bringing Java to the Java challenged. You have tons of people with Windows 3.1 still on the desktop. There is an enormous opportunity for us to Java-enable these people."

InfoWorld
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
@charette this is nice info, thanks!
Show threadStéphane Charette 🇨🇦Oct 18
@nina_kali_nina Why say "that's not true"? I was working at IBM at the time. I was an OS/2 developer back then.
Show threadNina KalininaOct 18
@charette that's because I misunderstood your message, sorry. At first I read "at that time" as "back in the 90s" in general, not "when java was hotness of 96-97". But that's not what you meant...