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Weird Intel Windows 3.1

saifbadri

saifbadri

Experienced Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
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90
I got this weird sealed new old stock Intel Windows 3.1
I honestly jumped on it thinking its a different flavor of the windows for the intel inboard similar to this one which was posted here before by Mike.

Unfortunately I don't think its for the inboard but rather generic one. It does say for the 386/486 intel isa compatible pcs

Anyone knows more about it? I could not find any info online about this. It's still sealed by the way and I'm willing to keep it that way for now.
 

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Isn't that a Windows 3.0 box that someone put a 3.1 sticker on? The screenshot shows Reversi, which was replaced by Minesweeper in 3.1.
 
I tried a quick search of the trades to see if Intel had offered Win 3.1 alongside 487 upgrades. I didn't turn up any such ad.
 
This version is adding more questions every day, wonder who is going to solve the mystery for us ;)
 
The side of the box has System requirements
-2 MByte memory
-One high density double-sdied disk drive
-VGA grapphics support
-40 MByte hard disk

Wikipedia says https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_3.1
Windows 3.1 System Requrements are:
-1 MB memory (640 conventional memory)
-A hard disk with at least 6.5 MB of free space (8 MB for enhanced mode users), and at least one floppy disk drive
-VGA adapter
-MS-DOS 3.1 or higher

I'm more confused now especially by the memory requirements lol
Then I saw Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions
-2 MB of memory
- Hard drive with 30 MB of total space
-A CD-ROM drive is essential
-VGA graphics card or better

So could be that since it's close? but they never mentioned the CD-ROM
 
If Intel was pairing them with other upgrade products, there would have been millions of Win 3.1 boxes from Intel. If it was an internal Win 3.1 using unsold Win 3.0 boxes, there might only be a few thousand similar boxes. Rarer than the standard retail box but not exactly unique.
 
krebizfan said:
If Intel was pairing them with other upgrade products, there would have been millions of Win 3.1 boxes from Intel. If it was an internal Win 3.1 using unsold Win 3.0 boxes, there might only be a few thousand similar boxes. Rarer than the standard retail box but not exactly unique.
Click to expand...
Millions of them yet I can't find a single search match except for a reddit post by the seller that sold it to me 🤦‍♂️
 
How many people actually kept the external shrink wrap or remembered that their 3.1 disks came in a box printed for 3.0? It wouldn't have been much work to fake stickers but the back label shows signs of extended wear. The other option would be that Intel printed an excess of 3.0 boxes and put the first few months of Win 3.1 into those Win 3.0 boxes.

The only way to be sure would be break the shrink wrap and see what is inside. Either it will have Win 3.0 disks and manual or it will have 3.1 disks and manual.
 
I gave up and opened it lol
Its windows 3.1 and have 7 x 5.25" disks
With a operating manual
 

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That's a pretty interesting copy because it uses a fairly rare (in the PC world) disk format: double-density 96-tpi (i.e., 80-track) 5.25" floppies.

I know of only one PC clone (from South America, I think) that used this format. (The DEC Rainbow used 80-track diskettes, but they were only single-sided.) But surely there must have been something else out there that was more common that did.

(These are sometimes mistakenly referred to as "quad density," but they are just the same recording format as standard PC double-density (MFM) diskettes, but with twice as many tracks per side.)
 
It's probably just an OEM copy that they bundled with their machines. Intel made and sold generic machines for a while. I'm not sure the timeframe, but I am not aware of that far back.
 
Intel made a lot of very good motherboards but complete systems were not available under the Intel name in the US. So seeing Win 3.1 inside an Intel box is a bit of a surprise.

I hope whoever buys the disks archives any Intel specific files.
 
krebizfan said:
Intel made a lot of very good motherboards but complete systems were not available under the Intel name in the US. So seeing Win 3.1 inside an Intel box is a bit of a surprise.

I hope whoever buys the disks archives any Intel specific files.
Click to expand...

Intel was selling boxed systems at least as far back as 1989.
Daisy Systems OEMed Intel 386 boxes for the Personal Logician, ca. late 80s
lists the 301 and 302 systems
 

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