The standard Windows application "beep" from the PC speaker is now replaced with a nice "ding" sound from the sound card.

A help system was added in Windows 3.0 and 3.1 includes a newer version.

This help system uses links, bookmarks, and page navigation, but thankfully it is not a web browser.

Because of its increased popularity with people that had never used a computer or Windows before, Windows 3.1 also comes with a built in tutorial that demonstrates how to use the mouse and basic application functions.

Windows 3.1 adds Apple's TrueType font technology. TrueType fonts are glyph based rather than being made up of square pixels like screen fonts. Truetype fonts can be enlarged infinitely or printed on high resolution devices and not look blocky.

Similar scalable fonts had been previously available for Windows using third party tools such as Adobe Type Manager.

The above screen shot shows a comparison of enlarged text using a TrueType font and a screen font.

In Windows 3.0 and earlier applications had to each implement their own "open", "save as",  and "print" dialogs. This potentially led to user interface inconstancy as well as programming redundancy.

Windows 3.1 adds a set of common dialogs that provide the basic functionality for these operations. All of the included accessories are converted to use them, and third party applications are encouraged to use them.

Note that because Windows 3.1 runs as a regular application on top of DOS it is limited to short "8.3" style filenames.

Windows 3.1 introduces registry services. The registry in Windows 3.1 is used for storing file type information and OLE registration data.

A short lived feature of the Windows 3.x series is the Macro Recorder. Because all applications operate on a global event que, events such as keystrokes and mouse clicks can be recorded and played back to an application. Due to randomness of appearance and timing in various applications this would not always work as expected.

Just a few more accessories included in Windows 3.1.

Of course it has to have games. Windows 3.1 includes solitaire and Minesweeper.

In Windows 3.1 printers are installed and configured from the control panel, while managing print jobs is done separately in the Print Manager.