Microsoft Windows 3.0

1990, May 22

Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical user shells and operating systems, launched on May 22, 1990. It introduces a new graphical user interface (GUI) that represents applications as clickable icons, instead of the list of file names in its predecessors. 3.00a with Multimedia Extensions added capabilities, such as multimedia support for sound recording and playback, and support for CD-ROMs. This is all unified in Windows 3.1.

Windows 3.0 was the first version of Windows to perform well both critically and commercially, and was considered a major improvement over its previous Windows 2.0 offering. Its GUI was considered a challenger to those used and popularized by the Macintosh. Other praised features are the improved multitasking, customizability, and especially the utilitarian memory management that troubled the users of Windows 3.0's predecessors.

The software was a major success, achieving 10 million sales. However, Microsoft was criticized by third-party developers for bundling its separate software with the operating environment, which they viewed as an anticompetitive practice. Support for Windows 3.0 ended on December 31, 2001.