CrowdStrike Falcon is one of the topics of conversation in recent dayswhile Windows 3.1 hasn’t been around for decades. The first is furiously current, the second reeks of nostalgia from afar, the time that separates the latest update of both binaries is 11,158 days, or 30 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 5 days. And now we can say that the former left many aircraft on the ground, while the latter allowed others to remain operational.

So, What relationship can there be between them? Maybe CrowdStrike has a version of Falcon for Windows 3.1? Or is Microsoft’s old GUI compatible with the latest 64-bit software? No, it’s actually neither, and in fact, as you’ve probably already guessed, the message comes precisely from the absolute incompatibility between the one and the other. And that explains this story.

As we can read in Tom’s Hardware, Southwest Airlines was spared the CrowdStrike incident because many of its systems still use MS-DOS and Windows 3.1. Yes, you read that right, one of the four largest airlines in the United States still maintains software from more than three decades ago in its systems. Now, not all the credit goes to Windows 3.1, as systems used to plan employee schedules, for example, were able to take a step forward… but only one, as it currently works with Windows 95.

The incompatibility of these systems with current tools such as the CrowdStrike Falcon sensor, renders these systems unaffectedbut of course it does so at a very high cost as the obsolescence of MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95 et al. it makes maintenance hell and any security issue can be very difficult to solve.

This is nothing unique, you may remember that a few months ago we told you that a German railway company was looking for a Windows 3.11 expert, and a few years ago we reported on another news related to retrocomputing and aviation, namely a French airport that for those So it continued to depend on Windows 3.1 (but we don’t know if it will be updated in recent years, even if only to Windows XP).

Outdated software was and is a problem, for more than obvious reasonsand although they are expensive, the update plans translate into improvements in security, performance, reliability, etc. However, and on this occasion, those responsible for these infrastructures can afford a sly smile, because obsolescence saved them from falling.