Windows NT 3.5
Version of the Windows NT operating system
Screenshot of Windows NT 3.5
DeveloperMicrosoft
Source modelClosed source
Released to
manufacturing		September 21, 1994; 29 years ago (1994-09-21)[1]
Latest releaseService Pack 3 (3.5.807) / June 21, 1995; 28 years ago (1995-06-21)[1]
Marketing targetBusiness and Server
PlatformsIA-32, Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC[2]
Kernel typeHybrid
UserlandWindows API, NTVDM, OS/2 1.x, POSIX.1
LicenseCommercial proprietary software
Preceded byWindows NT 3.1 (1993)
Succeeded byWindows NT 3.51 (1995)
Support status
Unsupported as of December 31, 2001

Windows NT 3.5 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was released on September 21, 1994, as the successor to Windows NT 3.1 and the predecessor to Windows NT 3.51.[3]

One of the primary goals during Windows NT 3.5 development was to improve the operating system's performance. As a result, the project was codenamed "Daytona", after the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.[4]

On December 31, 2001, Microsoft declared Windows NT 3.5 obsolete and stopped providing support and updates for the system.

Features

Windows NT 3.5 comes in two editions: NT Workstation and NT Server. They respectively replace the NT and NT Advanced Server editions of Windows NT 3.1.[5] The Workstation edition allows only 10 concurrent clients to access the file server and does not support Mac clients.[6]

Windows NT 3.5 includes integrated Winsock and TCP/IP support.[7] (Its predecessor, Windows NT 3.1, only includes an incomplete implementation of TCP/IP based on the AT&T UNIX System V "STREAMS" API.) TCP/IP and IPX/SPX stacks in Windows NT 3.5 are rewritten.[8] NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) support as a compatibility layer for TCP/IP was introduced as also the Microsoft DHCP and WINS clients and DHCP and WINS servers.[9][10]

Windows NT 3.5 can share files via the File Transfer Protocol, and printers through the Line Printer Daemon protocol. It can act as a Gopher, HTTP, or WAIS server,[11] and includes Remote Access Service for remote dial-up modem access to LAN services using either SLIP or PPP protocols.[12] Windows NT 3.5 Resource Kit includes the first implementation of Microsoft DNS.[13]

Other new features in Windows NT 3.5 include support for the VFAT file system, Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) version 2.0 and support for input/output completion ports.[14] Microsoft updated the graphical user interface to be consistent with that of Windows for Workgroups 3.11. NT 3.5 shows performance improvements over NT 3.1, and requires less memory.[3]

Limitations

A lack of drivers for PCMCIA cards limited NT 3.5's suitability for notebook computers.[11]

To install Windows NT 3.5 on a computer that has a sixth-generation or later x86 processor,[15] one has to modify files on the installation CD-ROM.[3]

Reception

In July 1995, Windows NT 3.5 with Service Pack 3 was rated by the National Security Agency as complying with Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC) C2 criteria.[16]

Source code

In May 2020, the full source code for the second release candidate build (build 782.1) of Windows NT 3.5, along with source code for the original Xbox leaked onto the Internet. Microsoft stated it had nothing to share about the leaks.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Adams, Paul (August 4, 2009). "Windows NT History". if (ms) blog++;. Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  2. ^ "Windows NT 3.5 for PowerPC". Internet Archive. November 9, 1994.
  3. ^ a b c "Microsoft Windows NT 3.5". Old Computer Museum. Old Computer Museum. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Russinovich, Mark; Solomon, David A. (December 8, 2004). Microsoft Windows Internals (4 ed.). Microsoft. ISBN 978-0-7356-1917-3. The first release of Windows NT was larger and slower than expected, so the next major push was a project called "Daytona", named after the speedway in Florida. The main goals for this release were to reduce the size of the system, increase the speed of the system, and, of course, to make it more reliable.
  5. ^ "Microsoft Windows NT 3.5". Old Computer Museum. Old Computer Museum. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  6. ^ "Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 Server". Old Computer Museum. Old Computer Museum. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  7. ^ "TCP/IP in Windows NT 3.5". Yale.edu. Yale University. April 9, 1995. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  8. ^ "How to Optimize Windows NT to Run Over Slow WAN Links w/TCP/IP". Archived from the original on February 27, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  9. ^ "TCP/IP in Windows NT 3.5". Yale.edu. Yale University. April 9, 1995. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Basics". Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  11. ^ a b "TCP/IP in Windows NT 3.5". Yale.edu. Yale University. April 9, 1995. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  12. ^ "Files Needed to Set Up Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 RAS". Microsoft. Microsoft. November 1, 2006. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  13. ^ DNSSETUP.EXE for Beta DNS Service included in ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/reskit/nt35/i386/i386.exe[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ Russinovich, Mark (November 1, 2006). "Inside I/O Completion Ports". Sysinternals. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007.
  15. ^ "Windows NT 3.5 Setup and the Pentium Pro Processor". Microsoft. November 1, 2006. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  16. ^ "Windows NT Server 4.0 – Maintain – Revision 1.1". Microsoft. 1998. Archived from the original on February 28, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  17. ^ "Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online". May 21, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.

External links

Microsoft Windows
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