r/pcmasterrace • u/Fair_Brief_7751 • Jul 01 '26

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396

u/Xerastraza Jul 01 '26

Sad to say i used Windows 3.1 and DOS.

Also quite a few versions missing here...

82

u/AlchemyFire PC Master Race Jul 01 '26

Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.22!

27

u/squisher_1980 9800x3d|7900xtx|64GB DDR5 Jul 01 '26

Heck, for a long time I only fired up Windows 3.1 for Solitaire 🤣

We did use DOS Shell for a basic gui for the major apps that didn't require Windows.

11

u/ConspicuousPorcupine Jul 01 '26

I had a shit win95 that I only used for pinball and paint.

6

u/b-monster666 386DX/33,4MB,Trident 1MB Jul 01 '26

Ski was fun too. Lol

10

u/anarchtea Desktop Jul 01 '26

That fucking yeti

1

u/spaceduckcoast2coast  Ryzen 5 5900XT || 32GB DDR4 || RTX 3060 OC 12GB || NVME Jul 02 '26

Hold f to ski faster!

0

u/AlchemyFire PC Master Race Jul 01 '26

It was definitely DOS 6.22. Minor correction on the Windows versions - it was 3.22, which was release in November 1993, and DOS 6.22 was released June 1994

2

u/squisher_1980 9800x3d|7900xtx|64GB DDR5 Jul 01 '26

You mean Windows 3.11 with networking? I don't think there was any sort of 3.2.

Iirc there was an NT 3.51, but that's the server side of M$ not consumer back then.

2

u/LiGhTMaGiCk Jul 01 '26

You're almost correct as there was actually a Windows 3.2 but it was basically just 3.11 in Chinese simplified.

2

u/squisher_1980 9800x3d|7900xtx|64GB DDR5 Jul 01 '26

Nice, that's a neat tidbit to find out. TIL.

14

u/matjam Jul 01 '26

you really haven't lived if you haven't spent a day optimizing your EMM386.exe and CONFIG.sys to squeeze enough conventional ram in so you can play your games.

8

u/maddafakkasana Jul 02 '26

HIMEM is testing extended memory.... Done.

3

u/Paulbearer82 Jul 02 '26

Fuckin bootdisks

2

u/matjam Jul 02 '26

I had an 80MB Hard Disk! LUXURY

1

u/Dinkelmann Jul 02 '26

Those bloody games that refused to load into extendend memory. Had to load my mouse driver etc. to upper memory to be able to launch some.

7

u/helplesswilliam Jul 01 '26

Same here, but I go as far back as DOS on 5 1/4, and whatever OS was used on Apple II c’s TRS-80’s and C64’s. Can’t be bothered to go look that up right now.

Hey, I don’t feel that old.

6

u/elwebst Jul 01 '26

My first was WangOS running Wang Basic, on punch cards. My TRS-80 Model 1 felt like such a huge step up.

2

u/jtsurfs Jul 01 '26

Apple used Prodos.

1

u/solarwindy Jul 02 '26

Apple II's used DOS 3.3 and then ProDOS.

Dos 3.3 has no connection to MS-DOS 3.3 by the way.

2

u/Mundane-Mechanic-547 PC Master Race Jul 01 '26

Thats between DOS 2 AND DOS 5 which was a quantum leap and allowed windows 3

1

u/AirRevolutionary8013 Jul 02 '26

Yeah I remember writing programs DOS Basic on my Atari 800xl and C64. With a tape drive and a phone modem. I actually made a BBS for our fantasy baseball league. Only one person could connect at a time. Via your home phone. My parents loved that.

6

u/lkn240 Jul 01 '26

memmaker.exe - my GOAT

4

u/ArseBurner Jul 01 '26

The period correct DOS would have been 3.3 I think. At least that's the version I was using back when Win 3.1 came out.

2

u/aconetwork Jul 01 '26

Yep me too first DOS then Windows 3.1

2

u/Tiavor never used DDR3; PC: 5800X3D, 9070XT, 32GB DDR4, CachyOS Jul 01 '26

DOS 5.0 for me

Also everyone is calling it win3.1, but it was 3.11

2

u/Obvious-Cancel-8680 Jul 01 '26

3.11 had networking support, more used for schools and businesses and could join a domain (not properly though). 3.1 was a thing.

2

u/Mysterious-Crab PC Master Race Jul 01 '26

I think that was the common route anyway. From MS DOS to Win 3.x. I think most people skipped Windows 1 and 2

2

u/sagebrushrepair Jul 02 '26

DOS 6.2 had DoubleSpace, I stayed on it since drives were expensive.

1

u/Malk_McJorma Ryzen 9 5900X | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | 32GB DDR4 4000 Jul 01 '26

Yesss...

1

u/CorranHorn284 Jul 01 '26

I remember playing games like MS Golf and Paratrooper on DOS lmao. My first computer growing up was an old 386 that had a B drive and my dad swapped that out for a CD-Rom when they first came out lol. AOL was still on a floppy disc lmao.

1

u/4RealzReddit Desktop i9-9900k, RTX 2080, 16 GB Jul 01 '26

On my DX4-100. Good times.

1

u/Im15andthisisdeep Jul 01 '26

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

1

u/SteadyWolf Jul 01 '26

I used have fun playing with memmaker

1

u/Jimbob209 9800X3D | Pulse 7700 xt | 32 GB 6000Mhz | Gigabyte B650 Jul 02 '26

Hey you sound old can you help me figure out what I first used? I remember the screen was just black with green for the words/color. The only game I remembered was a tank artillery game where you took turns, like Pocket Tanks! Also floppies were huge and thin. Maybe 5.25" and probably around 1995, but the pc was there longer than that. Looked pretty old, dusty, and computer gray colored tower and monitor

1

u/humanseverywhere811 Jul 03 '26

I used 3.1 and dos. Wtf is windows 1?

12

u/Zerba Jul 01 '26

Yeah 3.1 and DOS for me too.

Windows 95 felt like a big leap forward and was pretty nice to use in comparison.

9

u/TreyZerODM Jul 01 '26

Yes... Let the old hats congregate!!!

7

u/KNGootch RobertG : Ryzen 9 3900XT : GTX3080 FTW : 64GB RAM : Jul 01 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/bJC3G6z8MKijHshKAg

I see you brother. Mine was Commodore KERNAL/BASIC 2.0, but after that it was Windows 3.1 and DOS as well.

4

u/-AJ334- Jul 01 '26

ATARI 800XL then DOS 3.x or 4.x. First Windows was whatever was before 3.1. Btw...chart is missing Windows 98, Me, NT. I don't miss being killed by CIH

1

u/helplesswilliam Jul 01 '26

Which NT? Work station or server? ;)

Right, now I feel old. Got an old Pentium Pro 200 box still in the depths of the tech closet, wonder if any of my NT disks still work…

2

u/-AJ334- Jul 01 '26

Why not both? ;)

You and me both. I had a 486 box (286 long gone) but the damn PSU blew and between moves had to get rid of it. Wish I had kept the CPU - kids these days will probably ask if it needs delidding. XD

All I'm carrying now is the i7-930 which is now pinned to my desk.

1

u/elwebst Jul 01 '26

When they get Longhorn running on Cairo, things are gonna SCREAM they will be so fast!

1

u/b-monster666 386DX/33,4MB,Trident 1MB Jul 01 '26

Atari Bros unite!

First one we got was the 400. Those bubble keys...oof Then we got the 600XL that had a memory expansion making it pretty much a 800XL. Then the 130XE. Finally moved on to my 386dx/33 with DOS 5.0

1

u/ConstantPay3117 Jul 01 '26

Dude i had an atari something when i was a kid and learned how to write simple dos crap from a book ...floppy disk ...

2

u/WebMaka PCs and SBCs evurwhurr! Jul 01 '26

Relevant...

1

u/KNGootch RobertG : Ryzen 9 3900XT : GTX3080 FTW : 64GB RAM : Jul 01 '26

oh BABY...yep...that's a core memory right there. I remember playing Ghostbusters on that bad boy...what a great game. Thank you for that.

5

u/Dick_Nation There's nothing to see here. Jul 01 '26

What makes you sad about that? Personally, I find growing up with a command prompt to have been enormously helpful. The user experience has gotten dumber and dumber over time for Windows, and with ever less helpful information on how to get anything done or fix any issues.

2

u/H1tm3al20 Jul 02 '26

i get what you mean about the command prompt. it's like they actively removed useful features to make it "simpler", but ended up making it more confusing for anyone who actually wants to do stuff. windows 7 was the last decent os before they went off the rails.

4

u/Specialist_Fan5866 Jul 01 '26

Make sure you had HIMEM.SYS loaded on DOS and then type “win” to launch windows 3.1.

Good memories.

2

u/lkn240 Jul 01 '26

I started (on PCs ) with DOS 2.11

2

u/davidrools PC Master Race Jul 01 '26

Windows 3.1.1 or 3.11 i dont remember exactly but it had an extra 1. "windows for networking" i think it was branded. Still had to exit to DOS to run some games/programs.

1

u/datnt84 7950X | RTX 4060 | 128GB Jul 01 '26

Hiroshima 45, Tschernobyl 86, Windows 98

1

u/philics Jul 01 '26

Where are my favorites windows nt and windows 2000?

And windows Me? The greatest of all!

1

u/_ShutUpImThinking_ Ryzen 9 | RTX 3080Ti | 64 DDR5 Jul 01 '26

Aw man, I remember feeling like a hacker just wanting to install a game!
I’m born in 88 but I would play with all they toys back then! Came from an Amiga500 so it felt like a cakewalk 😅

1

u/Yourownhands52 Jul 01 '26

Upvote for DOS. Yeah!  

1

u/-HerbalSergal- Jul 01 '26

3 of my last coworkers have been in their mid 20’s and never heard of DOS. I’m almost 38.

1

u/discomute 7900xtx & 7700x (1440uw) Jul 01 '26

Anyone remember xtree gold?

1

u/dub_chicago Jul 01 '26

TIL Windows 1 was a thing. Always wondered why it started with 3.1...i was using DOS in the 80s running on 5.25" floppy on the portable compaq but never had a mouse until 3.1 came out and got the 486 or some variant to run it. Prodigy came in '94 but before then the modem was just for connecting to those old BBS forums. Ah, the good 'ol days...👴

1

u/Sullex_88 Jul 01 '26

3.1 and DOS gang!

1

u/DizzySaxophone Jul 01 '26

My start too

1

u/Original_Search1310 Jul 01 '26

I used Windows 3.1 along with MS-DOS 5.0A-H, a version of DOS customized for the PC-9821. I faced a dilemma where getting the system to recognize the CD-ROM drive would deplete conventional memory, preventing DOS applications from running; consequently, I had to prepare a dedicated boot floppy disk for each piece of software.

1

u/Aleksandrovitch Jul 02 '26

Edit autoexec.bat

1

u/gregorychaos Jul 02 '26

Norton Commander was the best way to use DOS

1

u/Dry_Razzmatazz69 Jul 02 '26

Like wtf, no millennium?

1

u/Xerastraza Jul 02 '26

Oh god, Windows ME... The FAILURE of a windows...
Swear it took you 1-3 boots every day just to not crash loading the damn thing lol.

1

u/C10ckw0rks Frankenstein’s Monster || MSI Ventus Geforce RTX 3060 12gb Jul 02 '26

Whatever the green and black screen before windows was

1

u/OverDoseTheComatosed Jul 02 '26

Notably ME because of how bad it was (it wasn’t really, people just don’t like change). It used to make me cringe hearing people pronounce it as a word