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Windows 3.0

1990 · Windows

Announced on 22 May 1990 with Program Manager, File Manager and 16 colors. With Windows 3.1, it sold 10 million copies in two years.1

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Announced
22 May 19901
New in it
Program Manager, File Manager, Print Manager1
Colors
161
Sales
10 million copies in two years, with Windows 3.11

What was new

Windows 3.0 ran much better than before, with 16 colors and improved icons.1 Program Manager, File Manager and Print Manager all arrived in this version.1 It fully supported the Intel 386 processor, so programs ran noticeably faster, and a wave of new 386 PCs helped make it popular.1

A gray Windows 3.0 desktop. Program Manager, with a pale yellow background, holds a Main group window with icons for File Manager, Control Panel, Print Manager, Clipboard, DOS Prompt, Windows Setup and Read Me, plus Accessories and Games group icons. In front, a Solitaire window with a green table and playing cards runs off the right edge. File Manager and Clock sit as icons at the bottom left.
Illustration · not a screenshot Our drawing of Windows 3.0: Program Manager with its Main group, a game of Solitaire in front, and File Manager and Clock shrunk to icons on the desktop. See the real screen

Time to play

Solitaire made its first appearance in Windows 3.0.2 One advertisement even joked: "Now you can use the incredible power of Windows 3.0 to goof off."1 Thirty years later, in 2020, Microsoft said its Solitaire still had over 35 million players every month.2

Close-up of a Solitaire window with a dotted blue and teal title bar, a Game and Help menu, and a green table: a face-down deck, a seven of clubs, the ace of hearts, and seven columns of cards, with the mouse pointer on the four of hearts.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: a game of Solitaire in Windows 3.0. See the real screen

Key moments