aaron@jessica.Stanford.EDU (Aaron Wallace) (04/14/90)
As I understand the Windows 3.0 protected mode compatibility problem, most "well-behaved" Windows 2.xx programs should run fine under Windows 3.0, and I've heard that roughly half the popularly available freeware/shareware utilities in fact work fine under Windows 3.0 in protected mode. The two important criteria for Windows 3.0 compatibility were 1) not doing segment arithmetic and 2) tolerance of a proportional system font--although from screen shots that have appeared in InfoWorld/PC Week it looks like Windows 3.0 retains the fixed-width font for Windows 2.xx programs. I should add the all Windows 2.xx programs should run under Windows 3.0 in its real mode as long as there is enough free comventional/EMS memory. Windows 3.0-aware programs have a marker in their .EXE file; when non-Win 3 programs are run under 3.0, a compatibility warning is displayed. Some programs like Excel refuse to run in protected mode; others seem to have no problem. Currently the only two Windows 3-aware programs I've heard of are Actor 2.0 and Word for Windows--no warning is displayed when they are run. It seems like it might be a good idea to post Windows 3.0 compatibility findings (i.e. "I've found that XXX works fine under beta 3.0" or "XXX bombs") Aaron Wallace