Interesting Chicago/Cougar document from 1992

[DiskingRound]

http://tech-insider.org/windows/researc ... 920930.pdf
Don't know if it's been posted/found before me, but I came across this confidential document just recently, and it is a really interesting read. I posted it in the Win95 beta 1 reskit topic but because my post didn't get a lot of attention I created a separate topic for this. It mentions "Cougar" at least 8 times. Unfortunately the document hasn't really been deciphered yet, and therefore I can't search for all of the text. Anyway, could this mean Chicago and Cougar was in planning stages in 1992? Any more info about this document? Thanks.
Edit: known already: http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... X05516.pdf

[user99672]

Why don't you read it then, instead of asking others to do the work for you, if you're so genuinely interested. If you have the time to research and find it, you have the time to read it.

[DiskingRound]

OK, I've read the document, and I found these for now. I will edit this post with my findings as I move on.
-Cougar is the codename for the enhanced mode kernel for codename Chicago, which included PnP support, Win32s+, it maintains compatibility with MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 apps, and smoother multitasking.
-It supposedly introduces new CPLs, including Add/Remove Components, something not in Chicago... until build 216!
As the first page of the document says, it is a "Chicago Feature Specification, Revision 1.00 9/30/92" document. I have never seen Chicago material earlier than January 1993, so this is particularly interesting for me as it would be awesome to have more Chicago planning material from 1992.

[Daniel]

I have never seen Chicago material earlier than January 1993, so this is particularly interesting for me as it would be awesome to have more Chicago planning material from 1992.

http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... 0309_A.pdf
http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... X01263.pdf
http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... X01308.pdf

[DiskingRound]

I have never seen Chicago material earlier than January 1993, so this is particularly interesting for me as it would be awesome to have more Chicago planning material from 1992.

http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... 0309_A.pdf
http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... X01263.pdf
http://www.windowswiki.info/wp-content/ ... X01308.pdf

Interesting documents, thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware of them. Although that was Windows 4.0/Win93 before it was renamed Chicago. The document I linked to is from September 1992, and has a name of Chicago. Now only if we could get prototypes from that period...

[ExplicitNuM5]

We don't have Build 28? That had the Cougar bootscreen. And I'm sure that is part of the Cougar prototype.

[Archenemy]

We don't have Build 28? That had the Cougar bootscreen. And I'm sure that is part of the Cougar prototype.

We have Windows Chicago builds on the FTP from build 58.

[ExplicitNuM5]

Oh. Then I guess I'll just have to email some guys from YouTube... There seem to be a few with the hidden build 28.

[DiskingRound]

Oh. Then I guess I'll just have to email some guys from YouTube... There seem to be a few with the hidden build 28.

All copies of build 28 floating around the net are fake, and I have that fake as well. Cougar was the codename for the 32-bit kernel of Chicago, not an early codename for the Chicago OS.

[Overdoze]

That bootscreen was in fact used on early builds almost for sure, and it's still present in early leaked builds.

[Battler]

Cougar was the codename for the 32-bit kernel of Chicago,

Wrong. According to the Anti-Trust Documents and other sources, Cougar was the codename of the planned 32-bit DOS version that would have been released alongside Jaguar (16-bit MS-DOS 7.00), and I forgot what was the new Win32 kernel's codename. Then all three were merged into Chicago alongside Stimpy which was the codename for the new Windows UI.

[rthdribl]

Wrong. According to the Anti-Trust Documents and other sources, Cougar was the codename of the planned 32-bit DOS version that would have been released

http://groklaw.net/pdf/iowa/www.iowacon ... X01285.pdf calls Cougar "32-bit DOS kernel" but it seems that it's an imprecise name for an MS-DOS VMM, which is a 32-bit kernel, but for Windows. It's a development of Windows 386 VMM, so Cougar was actually to become the next Windows after 3.11, but retaining the fashion of being an "operating enviornment" installed on MS-DOS, rather than standalone OS package.

Also, SETUP31.VER:
"Windows Version 3.20 (Cougar)"

[SoftPCMuseum]

Cougar was the codename for the 32-bit kernel of Chicago,

Wrong. According to the Anti-Trust Documents and other sources, Cougar was the codename of the planned 32-bit DOS version that would have been released alongside Jaguar (16-bit MS-DOS 7.00), and I forgot what was the new Win32 kernel's codename. Then all three were merged into Chicago alongside Stimpy which was the codename for the new Windows UI.

According to Raymond Chen, the Win32 kernel was codenamed Panther:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/arc ... 26823.aspx

I also read the documents mentioned above, and not only would they suggest that development of Microsoft Chicago began in around late-1992, but I also saw something somewhere that confirmed that the toolbar in MS-DOS windows was part of the Cougar project (you can see the same toolbar in MS-DOS windows in Chicago itself, obviously...). There were a lot of other details mentioned, but there are too many of them to possibly describe here, and I would need to look back at the document itself to be sure.