Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 3.51
Developer	Microsoft
OS family	Windows NT, Windows Server
Codename	Daytona
Source model	Closed source
Announced	May 30, 1995
Final release	3.51 (Build 1057 Service Pack 5) September 19, 1996
Platforms	x86
Licensing	Commercial proprietary software
Released to manufacturing	May 30, 1995
General availability	May 30, 1995
Kernel type	Hybrid
Preceded by	Windows NT 3.5 (1994)
Succeeded by	Windows NT 4.0 (1996) Windows Cairo (1995, cancelled)
Support status
ServerMainstream support ended on September 30, 2000Extended support ended on September 30, 2002 WorkstationMainstream support ended on December 31, 2000Extended support ended on December 31, 2001

Windows NT 3.51 (codenamed "Daytona") is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on May 30, 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly Windows NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the PowerPC architecture. The second most significant enhancement offered through the release was that it provides client/server support for interoperating with Windows 95, which was released three months after NT 3.51. Windows NT 4.0 became its successor a year later; Microsoft continued to support Windows NT 3.51 until December 31, 2001.

Overview

Windows NT 3.51 was dubbed "the PowerPC release" at Microsoft. The original intention was to release a PowerPC edition of Windows NT 3.5, but according to Microsoft's David Thompson, "we basically sat around for 9 months fixing bugs while we waited for IBM to finish the PowerPC hardware". Editions of NT 3.51 were also released for the x86, MIPS, and Alpha architectures.

New features introduced in Windows NT 3.51 include PCMCIA support, NTFS file compression, replaceable WinLogon (GINA), 3D support in OpenGL, persistent IP routes when using TCP/IP, automatic display of textual descriptions when the mouse pointer was placed on toolbar buttons ("tooltips") and support for Windows 95 common controls.

32-bit support

Despite significant differences in its kernel base, Windows NT 3.51 is readily able to run a large number of Win32 applications designed for Windows 95. Most recent 32-bit applications will not work, as the developers have prevented their application from working with any Windows version earlier than Windows 98, and also because some applications do not work properly with the older Windows NT 3.51 interface. Despite this, Microsoft released 32-bit versions of Microsoft Office right up to Office 97 SR2b, but these relied upon 16-bit versions of Internet Explorer technology. This is probably because 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer 4.0 and later integrated with the Windows 95 desktop, and Windows NT 3.51 still used the Windows 3.1 desktop. Later on, new versions of Internet Explorer up to IE 5.0 (but not later 5.x versions) were offered.

NewShell

On May 26, 1995, Microsoft released a test version of a shell refresh, named the Shell Technology Preview, and often referred to informally as "NewShell". This was the first incarnation of the modern Windows GUI with the Taskbar and Start menu. It was designed to replace the Windows 3.x Program Manager/File Manager based shell with the Windows Explorer-based graphical user interface.

The release provided capabilities quite similar to that of the Windows "Chicago" (codename for Windows 95) shell during its late beta phases; however, it was intended to be nothing more than a test release. There was a second public release of the Shell Technology Preview, called Shell Technology Preview Update made available to MSDN and CompuServe users on August 8, 1995. Both releases held Windows Explorer builds of 3.51.1053.1. The Shell Technology Preview program never saw a final release under NT 3.51. The entire program was moved across to the Cairo development group who finally integrated the new shell design into Windows NT code with the release of Windows NT 4.0 in July 1996.

Five Service Packs were released for Windows NT 3.51, which introduced both bug fixes and new features. Service Pack 5, for example, fixed issues related to the Year 2000 problem.

Windows NT 3.51 was the last of the series to run on an Intel 80386 processor. This, its ability to use HPFS partitions (which Windows 2000 and later could not), and its ability to run at least some of the common control API, means that it still finds a place for occasional use on older machines. Windows NT 3.51, like other versions of Windows NT 3.x, has some compatibility with OS/2 1.x Applications; however, the applications were to be in text mode.

Hardware requirements

Windows NT 3.51 hardware requirements

	Windows NT Workstation	Windows NT Server
Processor	386 or 486/25 processor	386 or 486/25 processor
Memory	12 MB RAM	16 MB RAM
Video	VGA video	VGA video
Hard drive free space	90 MB	90 MB

Windows NT 3.51 supports IDE, EIDE, SCSI and ESDI hard drives. The only EIDE addressing schemes supported are Logical block addressing, ONTrack Disk Manager, EZDrive, and Extended cylinder-head-sector.

Screenshots

Windows NT Workstation

Windows NT Server

External links

• Windows NT 3.51 Patches & Updates Guide at HPC:Factor
• Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 at Nathan's Toasty Technology
  • Shell Update Release (file dates: 05/26/95) (archived 2000-08-19)
  • Shell Update Release (file dates: 08/09/95)
• Windows NT 3.51 at Wikipedia