Windows 3.1 hit the market over twenty years ago, and was the very first Windows OS to use a graphical user interface. Since then we have seen a number of new versions of the OS, some better that others -I’m looking at you Windows ME. Still, with technology moving a such a breakneck speed, one would expect people to have moved on from Windows 3.1. Hell, even my eighty-five year-old father is a whiz with Windows 10.
So, it’s weird when you hear that a French airport was temporarily shut down when a glitch in the system caused some issues. This sort of thing tends to happen from time to time, but this is the first time I’m hearing about it happening to an airport running Windows 3.1. Thousands of people on a regular basis are putting their lives on the line on an operating system that hasn’t been supported since Bush Sr. was president.
The glitch affected the DECOR system, which is used during takeoff and landings. It’s incredible to think that one has to turn off their Windows 10 laptop and iPhone while landing so that Windows 3.1 can take over and get you on the ground. Hell, it makes sense now, as running Minesweeper would stress the OS all on its own.
Alexandre Fiacre, Secretary General of France’s UNSA-IESSA air traffic controller union-made the following statement,
“The tools used by Aéroports de Paris controllers run on four different operating systems, that are all between 10 and 20 years old. Some of ADP’s machines run on UNIX, but also Windows XP. The issue with a system that old is that people don’t like to do maintenance work.”
Reminded me never to fly into this airport, especially with people who, and I quote, ” don’t like to do maintenance work.”
Via: (Vice)
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