Editing Windows NT 3.1 (section)

{{Short description|First major release of Windows NT}}
{{About|the major release of Windows NT|the consumer operating system|Windows 3.1}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox OS
| version of = [[Windows NT]]
| name = Windows NT 3.1
| logo = Microsoft Windows NT 3.1 logo with wordmark.svg
| logo_alt = Logo of Windows NT 3.1
| logo size = x100px
| screenshot = Windows NT 3.1.png
| caption = Screenshot of Windows NT 3.1
| developer = [[Microsoft]]
| family = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| source_model = [[Closed-source]]
| first release date = {{start date and age|1993|7|27}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.technet.com/b/mrsnrub/archive/2009/08/04/windows-nt-history.aspx|title=Windows NT History|author1=Paul Adams|date=August 4, 2009}}</ref>
| latest release date = {{start date and age|1994|10|29}}
| latest release version = Service Pack 3 (3.1.528)
| supported_platforms = [[IA-32]], [[DEC Alpha|Alpha]], [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]]
| kernel_type = [[Hybrid kernel|Hybrid]] ([[Windows NT kernel|NT]])
| userland = {{ubl|[[Windows API]]|[[NTVDM]]|[[Microsoft OS/2 subsystem|OS/2 1.x]]|[[Microsoft POSIX subsystem|POSIX.1]]}}
| license = [[Commercial software]]
| preceded by = [[Windows 3.1]] (1992)
| succeeded by = [[Windows NT 3.5]] (1994)
| support_status = Unsupported as of December 31, 2000<ref>{{cite web|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040611115848/http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;%5bln%5d;LifeWin|url= http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;%5bln%5d;LifeWin|website=Microsoft|access-date=2021-08-24|archive-date=2004-06-11|title=Product Lifecycle Dates - Windows Product Family}}</ref>
}}
'''Windows NT 3.1''' is the first major release of the [[Windows NT]] [[operating system]] developed by [[Microsoft]], released on July 27, 1993. It marked the company's entry into the corporate computing environment, designed to support large [[Computer network|networks]] and to be portable, compiled for [[X86|Intel x86]], [[DEC Alpha]] and [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]] based [[workstation]]s and [[Server (computing)|servers]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=May 24, 1993 |title=Microsoft Soft-Pedaling Its Latest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/24/business/microsoft-soft-pedaling-its-latest.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> It was Microsoft's first [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] operating system, providing advantages over the constrictive [[16-bit architecture]] of previous versions of Windows that relied on [[DOS]], but retaining a [[desktop environment]] familiar to [[Windows 3.1]] users.<ref name=":1" />

Windows NT began as a rewrite of the [[OS/2]] operating system, which Microsoft had co-developed with [[IBM]] but failed to gain much traction against [[Unix]], with vendor [[Sun Microsystems]] dominating the market for powerful desktop workstations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 5, 1993 |title=Sun launches technology to run Windows programs - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/05/Sun-launches-technology-to-run-Windows-programs/1826736574400/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=[[UPI]] |language=en}}</ref> For several reasons, including the market success of [[Windows 3.0]] in 1990, Microsoft decided to advance Windows rather than OS/2 and relinquished their OS/2 development responsibilities. By [[Brand extension|extending]] the Windows brand and beginning NT at [[Software versioning|version]] 3.1, like Windows 3.1 which had established [[brand recognition]] and [[market share]], Microsoft implied that consumers should expect a familiar [[user experience]]. The name ''Windows NT'' ("New Technology") advertised that this was a re-engineered version of Windows.

First publicly demonstrated at [[COMDEX|Comdex]] 1991, NT 3.1 was released in 1993 in two editions: Workstation and Advanced Server. When Windows NT premiered, their sales were limited by high [[#System requirements|system requirements]], and a general lack of 32-bit [[Application software|applications]] to take advantage of the OS's data processing capabilities. It sold about 300,000 copies before it was succeeded by [[Windows NT 3.5]] in 1994. On December 31, 2000, Microsoft declared Windows NT 3.1 obsolete and stopped providing support and updates for the system.

Windows NT 3.1 was the first version of Windows to use 32-bit flat virtual memory addressing on 32-bit processors. Its companion product, Windows 3.1, used segmented addressing and switches from 16-bit to 32-bit addressing in pages.