Anyone remember Windows Gizmos book & floppies (Windows 3.1)?

[npjg]

Also Windows 3.1 Secrets. They were books that described 15-20 Windows shareware pieces and had accompanying floppies. Some of these programs are real gems - Makeover, Mile Bones, and Jewel Thief come to mind.

My computing days actually began well after Windows 3.1, but I got these books & disks at a library surplus sale when I was very young and was captivated to learn of a world before the Start Menu. Somehow plain DOS seemed less alien than Windows without the Taskbar. Windows 3.1 (as well as other GUIs just before my time, like Macintosh System 7/Mac OS 8 and OS/2) has always held a certain mystique. Most of the systems I own now are from that era.

Back in the day, how popular were book/floppy combos like these? Any other memorable ones? Did folks mostly ignore books and go to their favorite BBSs first? Note that I’m asking about the time somewhat before shareware on CD-ROM.

 

[Al Kossow]

Index of /pdf/microsoft/windows_3.1

it would be nice to find the disks that went with them

 

[krebizfan]

I know I got a lot of them back in the early 90s. Programming books had the example programs on disk while the Secrets books were padded out with hundreds of pages of printed documentation of the various shareware programs included. When CDs arrived, it got fairly ridiculous with Win95 Secrets including 4 CDs of stuff.

 

[npjg]

Index of /pdf/microsoft/windows_3.1

it would be nice to find the disks that went with them

I've imaged the floppies for both Gizmos and Secrets - see https://archive.org/details/windowsgizmos0000livi-disks for Gizmos. Probably should update with a picture though Looks like someone else has published Secrets: https://archive.org/details/floppy-disk-images-for-windows-3.1-secrets-book. Are you you looking for the actual disks though? Might be able to arrange that

 

[Al Kossow]

thanks! will put them in http://bitsavers.org/Media_From_Books

 

[bburley]

Found this book in my collection - no idea where the floppies went.

 

[bburley]

Found another one - same issue with missing floppies