BetaWiki:Featured article/2024-03
Windows/386 2.01 is an early release of Windows 2.x for Compaq i386-based computers. It predates the earliest known retail release of Windows 2.0 by about three months, as this release was rushed likely to coincide with the launch of the Compaq Portable 386 in October 1987.
This is the first release of the Windows/386 series, which uses the virtual 8086 mode of the i386 to provide better compatibility for MS-DOS applications. Compaq was heavily involved in the development of Windows/386, having introduced the first i386-based IBM PC compatible machine in 1986, almost a year before IBM itself.